Programme Assistant

OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST

The Executive Office of the Culture Sector provides strategic advice, quality control and management support to the Assistant Director-Generalfor Culture (ADG/CLT) and ensures the overall coordination of the development, implementation and monitoring of the approved programme and budget of the Culture Sector, as well as the communication with other sectors at UNESCO, with other agencies of the UN System and with external partners.

The post works under the overall authority of the Assistant Director-General for Culture (ADG/CLT), and the direct supervision of the Chief of the Executive Office (Chief CLT/EO).

As a team member, the Programme Assistant contributes to the work of CLT/EO, particularly with regards to information gathering, dissemination and analysis functions, in the framework of the Medium-Term Strategy and Programme and Budget of the Organization (C/4 and C/5 documents). The focus is on knowledge and information management, monitoring and support to coordination functions. There is also a need to closely collaborate with the Executive Assistant to ADG/CLT.

In particular, the incumbent shall:

Assist in coordinating the Culture Sector’s knowledge management system and in ensuring the delivery of quality knowledge products by:

• Launching and coordinating the contributions of the Culture Sector Entities, notably for briefings, talking points, speeches, drafting correspondence; receiving and consolidating inputs and contributions; monitoring work progress, ensuring in particular timely circulation of information for visa and any follow up required.
• Monitoring timeliness and reviewing completeness of responses prepared by the Sector’s Entities and Units prepared in French and/or English; making or recommending changes to style, format, spelling or grammar, proof-reading and editing, and making informal translations of documents; managing the production of circular letters; establishing first drafts for meetings’ minutes; summarizing background materials, or preparing technical responses when requested, in line with internal practices.
• Facilitating information and interaction, responding to queries; reviewing the efficiency of communication flows and procedures and making recommendations for improvement.
• Researching information and fact-checking contributions when requested, and preparing draft materials meeting minutes and reports for the Supervisor.
• Providing guidance to colleagues in the Sector on procedures and practices; automated systems; computer applications, knowledge management standards.

Contribute to the implementation of the Executive Office coordination role by:

• Facilitating the information flow with the Culture Sector Entities, other Sectors and central services as well as other partners. Working in cooperation with the Culture Sector Entities and consolidate strategic and urgent files.
• Providing assistance for the coordination of the work of the Executive Office team, including with regards to the management of the agenda and appointments, travel and mission arrangements; replies to queries and correspondence, often of a sensitive, confidential or technical nature.
• Assisting in organizing meetings, events and workshops by providing the necessary administrative and logistical support. Providing administrative support for the events; collating/formatting information and data for presentation in final form; informing participants; organizing the distribution of documentation; drafting minutes, collecting information/documentation and prepare associated documentation.
• Assisting in coordinating programme and project implementation.

Support the archiving knowledge management function by:

• Participating in and assisting in developing means and tools for exchanging, storing, retrieving and making available quality data, documents and information to staff and other partners.
• Establishing and maintaining/operating files, databases and archiving systems for documents, correspondence, speeches, interviews, briefings, talking points, policy documents, etc. according to the rules as well as Sectoral procedures for processing and approving documents.
• Keeping information-sharing platforms active and operational.
• Providing guidance to staff across the Sector on the preparation of knowledge products and documents, and the creation and maintenance of files, archives and database.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Completed secondary, technical or vocational school.

Work Experience

• Minimum of three (3) years of relevant work experience in programme assistance, and/or administrative support tasks or related tasks, preferably in an international environment.

Skills & Competencies

• Good interpersonal and communication skills.
• Good skills in drafting correspondence and documents in English and French, with strong attention to detail.
• Good organizational and coordination skills with the ability to take initiative, establish priorities and monitor own work plans.
• Ability to work under tight deadlines, to deal with complex and sensitive situations and flexibility to adjust work schedules.
• Diplomacy and politeness in dealing with external and internal partners requesting information.
• Ability to work efficiently in a multi-cultural environment, with team spirit.
• Good IT skills, including MS Office software (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint etc.).

Languages

• Excellent knowledge (written and spoken) of English or French and good knowledge of the other language.

Source: https://careers.unesco.org/job/Paris-Programme-Assistant-(Culture)/799348202/