Senior Programme Assistant (Culture)

OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST

Under the overall authority of the Assistant Director-General for Culture (ADG/CLT), the general supervision of the Chief of the Living Heritage Entity and the direct supervision of the Head of the Programme Management Unit or the assigned Programme Specialist, the incumbent is responsible for the treatment of nominations, proposals, requests and reports submitted as part of the international and cooperational mechanisms of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Treat nominations to the Lists of the Convention, proposals in the sense of Article 18 of the Convention, requests for International Assistance combined with nominations and periodic reports submitted by States Parties in line with the statutory timetable and related decisions from the governing bodies of the Convention. Prepare quality feedback, draft correspondence, identify issues and propose follow-up actions in response to queries. Coordinate the translation process of the documents and ensure their timely availability to the governing and consultative bodies.

Ensure the registration and management of nominations, proposals, requests, correspondences and other relevant documents linked to the international cooperation mechanisms of the Convention, in the knowledge management system and their preparation for assessment by the Evaluation Body and examination by the governing bodies of the Convention. Maintain electronic and hard-copy files up-to-date and coordinate their timely archiving in line with UNESCO’s record management policy.

Contribute to and advise on updating, revising and publishing forms, instructions, publications and other documents to be used for the international cooperation mechanisms of the Convention. Ensure that the website of the Convention is maintained up-to-date.

 In collaboration with members of the entity, contribute to the preparation and running of statutory meetings organized by the Living Heritage Entity, including those of the governing and consultative bodies of the Convention.

Contribute to the supervision of temporary staff hired for carrying out specific tasks, ensuring that workflows established within the entity are clearly explained and followed. Prepare and ensure the timely execution of contracts related to the management of documents submitted within the international cooperation mechanisms of the Convention.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

• Completed secondary, technical or vocational school.

Work Experience

• Minimum of eight (8) 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.
• High level of discretion, tact and diplomacy in interactions with external stakeholders.
• 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-Senior-Programme-Assistant-%28Culture%29/792074802/