Project Management Officer

Contract

This is a P-1 contract. This kind of contract is known as Professional and Director staff. It is normally internationally recruited only. It's a staff contract. It usually requires 1 years of experience, depending on education.

Salary

The salary for this job should be between 44,593 USD and 61,628 USD.

Please keep in mind that the salary displayed here is an estimation by UN Talent based on the location and the type of contract. It may vary depending on the organization. The recruiter should be able to inform you about the exact salary range. In case the job description contains another salary information, please refer to this one.

PURPOSE OF POSITION

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), is the cancer agency of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and is based in Lyon, France.

The role of the Section of Support to Research (SSR) is to support the achievement of IARC’s scientific objectives through efficient and effective management of the Agency’s resources and provision of administrative services, ensuring accountable risk mitigation and implementing strategies to strengthen capacities and maximize IARC’s impact.

The Finance Office is a unit within the Budget and Finance Office (BFO), Section of Support to Research (SSR), responsible for providing supports to various programmes and activities of IARC in respect of financial services.

In view of the growing number of complex grants managed at IARC, it is planned to strengthen and expand its support to the Scientific Branches both at the pre-submission level as well as at the implementation phase of projects with the addition of a Project Management Officer who will perform project management support which includes portfolio maintenance, project development, progress monitoring, methodology compliance, financial compliance verification, action item tracking, risk log tracking and support for report preparations. The incumbent will work with other professionals, to ensure a global and consistent approach to project planning, review and monitoring. The incumbent will provide project management support expertise and services to project managers/business leads in IARC’s Scientific Branches.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

1. Coordinate IARC Project Management community by:

2. Design and deliver briefing sessions, training activities and exchanges of best project management practices

3. Maintain and optimize central repositories and tracking tools for more efficient project’s implementation.

4. Participate in the development of relevant procedures, internal guidelines and templates.

5. Contribute to the development of a streamlined and effective proposals methodology, in synergy with IARC medium-term strategic objectives.

6. Work as the primary focal point for all matters related to European Commission “EC” funded projects, this includes:

7. Responding to EC funds related questions

8. Keeping abreast of EC streams of funding, related developments and communicating changes to concerned parties across the agency

9. Monitor the compliance with Certificate of Financial Statements “CFS” requirements;

10. Ensure effective and efficient streamlined processes, customized templates in accordance with project and/or donor types, sources of internal and external primary and secondary information, update of the database of partners, drafting and review records, quality controls, etc.

11. Ensure project managers’/leads' adherence to agreed processes, quality, standards, and reporting requirements by:

12. Establishing working relationships

13. Ensuring accuracy and validity of submitted project reporting information in line with the countersigned agreements.

14. Develop and maintain the project portfolio whilst adhering to the project management methodology, through the use of guidelines, procedures, processes, standards, reports, metrics, tools, and templates. Gather, consolidate and update project and portfolio data as well as monitor project status for regular reporting.

15. Maintain appropriate internal repositories of documents, including, but not limited to, biosketches, conflict of interest forms, budget justifications, timesheets, etc.
16. For a selection of projects, advise on the drafting of project plans (milestones, dependencies and resources), project budget monitoring, and develop dashboards ensuring that detailed information are kept up-to-date on a regular basis.
17. Participate in some projects’ kick-offs and progress review meetings assuring that all programme and project documentation are up-to-date and available.
18. Assist in the daily operation of Resource Mobilisation Office “RMO”.
19. Back stop RMO colleagues to ensure smooth operations; perform other related duties as assigned by supervisor.

COVID-19 MEASURES

Due to the evolving situation resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, and depending on work requirements, this position may be partly occupied remotely, from the home of the candidate selected in the region Lyon, according to the teleworking clause for force majeure currently in force as part of the IARC teleworking policy during this pandemic period.

WHO COMPETENCIES

• Teamwork*
• Respecting and promoting cultural differences*
• Communication*
• Ensuring the effective use of resources
• Producing results

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

Essential: First-level university degree in Project Management, Business Administration, Information Management, International relations, Communications, Political Science or other related discipline.

Desirable:

• Training in WHO’s Project Management Methodology (from Project Management Centre of Excellence)
• Project management qualification i.e. PRINCE2, APM, AgileSCRUM, SAFE and/or PMI.
• Training in Software Development LifeCycles, DevOps, or any application based lifecycle management.
• Certification on Lean, Six Sigma, or ITIL v.4.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Essential:

• At least 1 year of professional experience in project management and successful delivery of complex cross-functional or interdependent projects in an international environment, including planning, project monitoring, status reporting, financial monitoring and action tracking.
• Experience in writing project-related documentation or technical papers.

Desirable:

• Experience in managing funds from the European Commission
• Experience in managing small to medium scale projects
• Experience in project estimation, establishment of tracking systems and improvement initiatives.
• Experience working in a UN Organization or other specialised agency.

USE OF LANGUAGE SKILLS

Expert knowledge of English and working knowledge of French is essential. Another UN official language is desirable.

FUNCTIONAL SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

Essential:

• Ability to build successful working relationships with internal and external collaborators and stakeholders and coordinate activities across multiple parties.
• Capable of maintaining a high degree of effectiveness in a multi-tasking role, managing priorities, and working to challenging timescales.
• Ability to adapt and manage deliverables and resources in a climate of change and to think and act quickly, sometimes under pressure yet remain effective.
• Ability to effectively collaborate with teams in an international, multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary environment; separated by geographical locations and working under different time-zones.
• Ability to promote best practices, advise on improvements, and apply information from a broad range of sources.
• Excellent communication (both oral and written), problem solving and analytical skills.
• Careful attention to detail coupled with the ability to continuously monitor progress of plans, actions and other initiatives.
• Ability to identify issues and risks, escalating these to the RM Officer or the AFO in a timely and effective manner.
• Proactive, flexible, resourceful and able to work independently with limited supervision.

Desirable:

• Knowledge of public health fields, preferably cancer related topics/subjects.
• Experience in website/content development
• Knowledge of basic accounting or financial reporting

OTHER SKILLS ( IT SKILLS)

• Knowledge of Microsoft 365 package.
• Knowledge of ERP system, Workflow systems.

REMUNERATION

WHO salaries for staff in the Professional category are calculated in US dollars. The remuneration for the above position comprises an annual base salary starting at USD 38,523 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable), a variable post adjustment, which reflects the cost of living in a particular duty station, and currently amounts to USD 1,296 per month for the duty station indicated above. Other benefits include 30 days of annual leave, allowances for dependent family members, home leave, and an education grant for dependent children.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

● Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

● A written test and/or seminar presentation may be used as a form of screening.

● In the event that your candidature is retained for an interview, you will be required to provide, in

advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. IARC/WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of

Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.

● Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to IARC/WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and Manual.

● WHO staff members in other duty stations are encouraged to apply.

● For information on IARC’S operations please visit: www.iarc.who.int

● IARC/WHO is committed to workforce diversity.

● IARC/WHO's workforce adheres to the WHO Values Charter and is committed to put the WHO Values into practice.

● IARC/WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.

● Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Participating States are particularly encourage.