Programme Management Assistant

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) is a global intergovernmental treaty aimed at the conservation and sustainable use of migratory species and their habitats. Numerous additional intergovernmental instruments on migratory species conservation have been adopted under the broad umbrella of CMS which are supported by the CMS Secretariat. In addition, two regional agreements on migratory species adopted under CMS have their own Secretariats which are co-located with the CMS Secretariat in Bonn – the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) and the Agreement on the Conservation of European Populations of Bats (EUROBATS).

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the United Nations system’s designated entity for addressing environmental issues at the global and regional level. Its mandate is to coordinate the development of environmental policy consensus by keeping the global environment under review and bringing emerging issues to the attention of governments and the international community for action. In the present context, UNEP provides the administrative functions for the CMS, AEWA and EUROBATS Secretariats.

This post is located in the CMS Secretariat at the Bonn duty station in Germany. Under the supervision of the Legal Officer and Head of Conference Services, the incumbent will be assisting with the preparation and coordination of the CMS Secretariat projects and meetings as well as providing general administrative support to professional staff. The incumbent will be responsible for the following duties:

Responsibilities

Assists in the coordination of CMS projects and programmes by:

• Assisting in project planning and preparation work; monitoring status of programme/project proposals and receipt of relevant documentation for review and approval.
• Creating and processing grants and partners’ information, including due diligence and agreements, in the Partnership Portal, as necessary.
• Reviewing project documents, especially budgets and agreements, for completeness and compliance with relevant rules and procedures prior to submission for final approval and signature; identifying inconsistencies; distributing project documents to relevant parties upon approval.
• Serving as the focal point for administrative coordination of programme/project implementation activities, involving extensive liaison with the units to initiate requests, obtain necessary clearances, process and follow-up on administrative actions, e.g. recruitment and appointment of personnel, travel arrangements, payments, disbursement of funds, procurement of equipment and services.
• Compiling, summarizing and entering data on projects; drafts related status reports, identifying shortfalls in delivery, budget overruns, and bringing them to the attention of management.

Assists in the planning, operational organization and logistics of CMS Secretariat meetings:

• Organizing meetings and workshops, including travel and logistics arrangements.
• Serving as the focal point for administrative coordination of meetings, involving extensive liaison with the units to initiate requests, obtain necessary clearances, process and follow-up on administrative actions, e.g. recruitment and appointment of personnel, travel arrangements, payments, disbursement of funds, procurement of equipment and services.
• Preparing the meeting webpage and registration form and managing registrations; preparing participants lists.
• Supporting the translation of documents and making documents available for interpreters and chairs.
• Ensuring documents and reports meet the UN document standards, including formatting, translating short texts and posting documents online.
• Supports podium, Secretariat Staff and participants during meetings.

Provides general Secretariat office support:

• Reviewing, logging and routing incoming and outgoing mailing and correspondence; managing the organization’s e-mail account, formatting and sending notifications and correspondence.
• Drafting meeting invitations and correspondence on a range of issues for clearance and preparing and updating periodic reports, briefing notes, graphic and statistical summaries, accounting spreadsheets.
• Assisting with the collection and analysis of data as well as preparation of data presentations and reports for information sharing, responding to queries, knowledge management, planning and decision making.
• Assisting with visualizations and updating information material such as web pages or brochures.
• Responding to complex information requests and inquiries.
• Setting up and maintaining contacts, files and records.
• Utilizes and maintains various document databases and systems.
• Prepares files for meetings and missions.
• Providing guidance to new staff.
• Performing other duties as assigned.

Education

• High school diploma or equivalent is required.

Work Experience

• A minimum of five (5) years of experience in programme or project administration, meeting organization or related area is required. The minimum years of relevant experience is reduced to three (3) years for candidates who possess a first-level university degree or higher. At least two (2) years of experience working in the secretariat of a multilateral environmental agreement is desirable. Experience working with UMOJA or another Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems is desirable. One (1) year or more of experience in data analytics or related area is desirable.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in English is required. Knowledge of French and Spanish is desirable. Knowledge of another official United Nations language is desirable. NOTE: “Fluency equals a rating of “fluent” in all four areas (read, write, speak, understand) and “Knowledge of” equals a rating of “confident” in two of the four areas.

Source: https://careers.un.org/jobSearchDescription/208175?language=en