The WHO Office at the United Nations (WUN) represents the interests of WHO at the United Nations (UN) and functions as the Organization's main interlocutor with the UN system in New York. The WHO Office at the United Nations facilitates the participation of WHO and its Director-General in meetings of the UN Security Council, the General Assembly of the UN, the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) as well as other intergovernmental forums, interagency briefings, events and interaction with media including the UN Press Corps. The objectives of WUN are to: improve, on behalf of all WHO, its engagement with the UN system; better position health in the debates and decisions of the UN and inter-governmental bodies; anchor health in the global 2030 sustainable development agenda; strengthen WHO's effectiveness and leadership role in health as part of the UN humanitarian system; create and sustain effective networks and coalitions with relevant UN agencies and other stakeholders, based on shared agendas for substantive work; and contribute to a coherent and effective UN system at global, regional and country levels.
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES
GENERAL
Receive visitors and telephone calls with tact and discretion,and acts according to the nature and urgency of each, including redirecting as appropriate.
Provide background information for appointments with official visitors and/or staff members.
Monitor requests for goods and services, including receipt, payment and inventory requirements.
CORRESPONDENCE
Draft general or administrative correspondence on own initiative or on the basis of instructions; finalize correspondence/reports for signature/clearance.
Verify that outgoing correspondence is presented in accordance with WHO and department styles and checking language, grammar and accuracy prior to submitting for signature and clearance.
Analyze incoming correspondence and requests in the light of background material, instructions, policies and precedents, researching, obtaining and attaching background information in anticipation of the responsible officer's needs, or redirecting them as appropriate; identify and highlight incoming documents and attach background information and identify areas requiring action by professional staff, drawing their attention to specific items.
Ensure that technical reports and documents are in line with WHO standards, rules, practices and procedures, editing and correcting them as necessary prior to their submission for signature or clearance of relevant authority.
Using appropriate tracking tools, follow-up on and ensure that target dates and deadlines are met, and that correspondence and queries are responded to in a timely manner.
HUMAN RESOURCES
Ensure the timely appointment/renewal of contracts, initiating requests for temporary and fixed-term staff in the HR Action Plan.
PROCUREMENT
Initiate, through Oracle/GSM procurement module, contracts for consultants, Agreements for Performance of Work (APW), and other contract modalities.
Monitor and record receipt of deliverables, and initiate and monitor payments as needed.
Initiate, through Oracle/GSM procurement module, requisitions for goods procurement, and monitor and receipt of deliverables.
BUDGET &FINANCE
Assists in the monitoring and progress review of projects and tasks in the GSM/Oracle work plan.
Provides team members with timely information on project and task budget ceilings, award budgets, expenditure, and funds available, as required.
Monitors income and expenditures for planning purposes.
Promptly follows-up on financial, budgetary and any outstanding issues concerning the team/department, including ensuring timely processing of committal documents.
Assists in the preparation of financial and technical progress reports to donors.
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
In close collaboration with other support staff, create and/or maintain filing systems; continual review of filing system to ensure information is up to date and effectively and efficiently used.
Obtain documents and information from in-house and external sources as required; perform information searches (library, internet) as requested.
MEETING ADMINISTRATION
Arrange, coordinate and lead administrative preparation for meetings, seminars, workshops, including letters of invitation, costs calculation and travel requests; assisting with preparation of documents, dispatching of materials and liaising with participants and others involved.
Prepare presentations using PowerPoint and other software packages on own initiative or on the basis of instructions.
Schedule weekly team and ad hoc meetings, according to schedules and need; taking and preparation of minutes.
Obtain briefing and background materials for meetings, seminars, workshops, etc. to be attended by the team's professional staff, checking their availability and ensuring they have the appropriate briefing files and documents.
TRAVEL
Using GSM/Oracle, prepare travel requests for official WHO travel. Make flight and hotel reservations, prepare travel files and deal with other related matters as requested or on own initiative.
OTHER DUTIES
Coordinate and support WHO high level meetings, seminars, etc. with UN HQ meeting services; including reserving conference rooms, sending and tracking invitations, requesting technical support, booking Webcast services and ensuring the meeting is documented in the United Nations Journal if needed.
Process accreditation of meetings through UN Protocol Department and working with United Nations Department of Safety and Security on requesting for Special Events Tickets for access of non-staff to meetings.
Facilitate the procurement process by conducting research and gathering information from a variety of vendors and create an analysis of the offers received to share with team members in order to make an informed decision on purchasing needs.
Serve as note taker for health-related meetings at the UN Secretariat.
Perform other related duties as required or instructed, including providing support to other areas of work.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Education
Essential:
Completion of secondary school education or equivalent.
Desirable:
University Degree in business administration, social sciences or related field is an asset.
Experience
Essential:
A minimum of 5 years of experience in secretarial or administrative positions.
Desirable:
Relevant experience in WHO or another UN agency an asset.
Experience in Oracle-based or other ERP systems an asset.
Skills
Strong skills to work independently.
Strong organization and office skills, as well as skills in note taking and minute writing.
Sound knowledge and skills using a variety of office and computer packages.
Sound knowledge of WHO and/or UN administrative rules and regulations, procedures and practices.
The ability to multitask and work under pressure.
The ability to exercise discretion at all times in judging the importance, urgency and confidential nature various issues and tact when dealing with staff and external partners.
