The BMPT Country Management Unit (CMU), manages the World Bank’s programs in Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, four dynamic countries in South East Asia. There is considerable variation in the program across the four countries – the Philippines continues as an IBRD Borrower with a strong analytical and technical assistance program; Thailand has a new and growing RAS program and a number of trust funded operations; Malaysia is the home of a Malaysia-government financed WBG Knowledge and Research Hub and an established RAS program; and Brunei is a high income country with an emerging RAS program.
The common thread is the importance of the knowledge partnership among the Bank and the host governments and other partners. This knowledge partnership is vibrant and innovative and has exciting potential to bring the development experience of all four countries to the Duties and Responsibilities:
Program Assistant (PA) positions are held by experienced staff whose acquired knowledge and skills enable them to independently undertake diverse and complex work assignments.
The PA is part of the Administrative and Client Support (ACS) team in the country office. With only routine supervision, the PAs work closely with other staff within the unit to make a significant contribution to the overall achievement of the unit’s work program.
The PA reports to the Country Manager and coordinates with the Executive Assistant who provides day to day guidance on the work priorities of the ACS team. The Program Assistant will provide a wide range of administrative support to a Program Manager and Unit/Team as assigned by the Country Manager.
Her/his duties and responsibilities will include, but not limited to, the following:
Fully responsible for time management and scheduling on behalf of the Practice Manager, to include effective prioritizing and resolving related conflicts and competing demands.
Works with the highest level of discretion in providing wide-ranging executive assistance support, setting and managing priorities and the workflow of the Practice Manager, as well as administrative coordination within the VPU or equivalent organizational structure.
Serve as an information resource on project processing and drafts a variety of standard project-related correspondence.
Provide administrative support to workshops/conferences, missions, set up meetings, organize group trips of counterparts, make extensive travel arrangements, prepare trip requests and reimbursement, flight/vehicle arrangement.
Attend meetings, draft minutes and ensures timely clearance and distribution.
Work typically requires interpreting existing procedures and processes, independently determining which should be used, and applying these appropriately. Work requires extensive coordination with other Bank Group Units and frequent liaison with team members, regardless of location, and external counterparts.
Monitor budget/milestones for specific projects on behalf of the team.
Process consultant contracts, consulting firms, ensure the fulfilment of statutory requirements for onboarding, organize their travel arrangements and reimbursements.
Use word processing or desktop publishing skills to produce complex text, reports, figures, graphs, etc., according to standard Bank formats and distribution
Coordinates schedules taking priorities into account, monitors changes, and communicates the information to appropriate staff, inside and outside the immediate work unit, including officials outside the Bank Group
In conjunction with and under guidance from staff in a specific discipline (i.e., Resource Management, etc.) monitor specific activities, (i.e., task, budget, etc.) within teams or clusters.
Maintain current distribution lists, phone/address lists of project/product contacts, and distributes documents for the team
Maintain up-to-date work unit project and other files (both paper and electronic)
Assist team or work unit by translating/drafting a variety of routine documents, applying effective proofreading and grammar skills in English and Thai language
Independently perform various system-related and process-related tasks unique to the World Bank
Maintain relationship with Country Office staff and external counterparts
Suggest ways to enhance work organization and effectiveness
Selection Criteria:
Bachelor’s degree and 5 years of professional working experience in related field with international development institutions or other donor organizations would be an advantage.
Excellent communication skills and excellent command of Thai and English both written and spoken
Computer literate e.g. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, e-mail, and ability to search as well as extract information on the internet
Excellent skill in preparing PowerPoint and other visual presentation
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with ability to interact diplomatically with clients and staff at all levels, recognized ability to exercise good judgment in interpersonal dealings at all levels and in handling confidential information;
Excellent organizational, administrative and time management skills;
Effective analytical, research and problem-solving skills.
Able to coach less experienced staff on relevant technology and systems.
