Team Assistant at World Health Organization

Background and Justification

Purpose of the Position

To provide a variety of secretarial/administrative work in support of project/programme activities.

Job Description

Objectives of the Programme and the immediate Strategic Objective

To ensure that effective WHO country presence is established to implement WHO country cooperation strategies that are aligned with Member State’s health and development agendas, and harmonized with the United Nations country teams.

Organizational context (Describe the individual role of incumbent within the team, focusing on the intricacy and difficulty of working environment)

Under the direct supervision of the Admin. Officer, and the overall guidance of the Medical Officer, the incumbent is a team member in the administrative unit. Work is assigned by the supervisor who gives instructions on non-routine matters. Routine tasks are performed independently with some discretion in non-routine matters related to office procedures only.

Established procedural and office guidelines are available, but where guidelines are incomplete, limited interpretation may be required to select a course of action on approach to work

Summary of Assigned Duties (Describe what the incumbent has to do to achieve main objectives; include main achievements expected)

The incumbent will perform the following duties:

• Receive, screen and process correspondence and requests, and follow up on implementation of all administrative actions, ensuring adherence to deadlines and timely response to correspondence and queries.
• Type, ensuring correctness of language as well as format, and in accordance with WHO Style Guide, correspondence, reports, documents and presentations upon written/verbal instructions, and independently compose correspondence of purely routine administrative nature.
• Make necessary arrangements regarding duty travel of staff in the unit, submit travel requests (TRs) in the Global Management System (GSM), arrange for flight and hotel reservations and deal with other related matters.
• Type documents and presentations for preparation of meeting, workshops, training courses, etc., send invitation letters to participants, photocopy documents and prepare files; follow up with logistics units regarding arrangements. Provide secretarial support during meetings.
• Screen and receive visitors and telephone calls, make appointments, answer queries of and/or redirect visitors and callers. Update and maintain records and reference files.
• Submit different administrative transactions in GSM, including procurement of goods and services, and follow up with concerned parties for the receipt of deliverables and finalization of payments.
• Replace other assistants within the department, as required.

Difficulty, Sensitivity, Nature and Importance of Work Relations

With whom (indicate title only) and for what purpose does the job require contacts?

Title of person Subject and purpose of

contacted contact

Within the unit/division

Admin staff and Technical staff in the project.

To follow up on programmatic aspects of the project.

Within Organisation at duty station

Admin staff, WR and Technical staff

As above

Within Organisation outside duty station

Sub Offices EMR and GSC

• To follow up on WRO correspondence.
• To follow up on common programme activities.

Outside the Organisation

MoH, UN agencies

• To follow up on WRO correspondence.
• To follow up on common programme activities

Recruitment Profile Competencies: Generic

Describe the core, management competencies required - See WHO competency model - list in order of priority, commencing with the most important ones.

• Teamwork
• Communication
• Producing results
• Knowing and managing yourself
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences

Functional Knowledge and Skills

Describe the essential knowledge and the skills specific to the position:

• Good filing and organizational skills.
• Ability to maintain good working relationships with national and international staff.
• Good knowledge of WHO rules, manuals, practices, procedures and WHO Style Guide as applicable to the secretarial level an asset.

Education Qualifications

Essential

Completion of secondary education supplemented by secretarial/administrative training.

Desirable

University degree in business administration, social sciences or related field is an asset.

Experience

Essential

At least three years of relevant secretarial/ administrative experience.

Desirable

Relevant experience in the UN system

Use of Language Skills

Languages:

Very good knowledge of English and local language. French is an asset.

Other Considerations (e.g. Physical Workplace Condition, if other than normal office environment; IT Skills; etc.)

• Very Good knowledge of Microsoft applications.
• Knowledge of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)/Oracle applications is an asset.

Female candidates are encouraged to apply for this position.