OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME

The objective of TDR is to foster an effective global research effort on infectious diseases of poverty in which disease endemic countries play a pivotal role. The objectives of the partnerships and global engagement strategic priority area are to manage and coordinate external relations, governing bodies, resource mobilization, and research policy matters, and to oversee all global engagement activities. This includes the mainstreaming of gender and equity considerations across the programme.

DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

The incumbent will have overall responsibility for administrative support for TDR’s partnerships, external relations, and governance and for guiding, training and briefing other administrative staff within the department as required.

He/she will be responsible for the efficient organization of all high-level governance committees and associated meetings of the Special Programme, both in Geneva and in host countries, collaborating with senior staff from all teams within the department to ensure the smooth operation of the meetings, and to ensure that administrative recommendations of the committees are addressed in a timely manner, quality-assuring documentation for meetings and meeting reports, ensuring good and timely communication, correspondence and distribution of documentation and ensuring that issues of the diplomatic protocol are fully observed.

He/she will also be responsible for quality assuring donor specific documentation.

The duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Manages the preparation of the three senior advisory bodies of the Programme, the Joint Coordination Board (JCB), the Standing Committee (SC), and the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC), as well as their sub-committees, and deals with the administrative aspects of coordination between them.
• In carrying out this work, the incumbent serves as the lead, collaborating with senior staff from all teams within the department to ensure the smooth operation of the meetings, and to ensure that the technical recommendations of the committees are addressed in a timely manner.
• The incumbent is also responsible for direct liaison with counterparts in cosponsoring agencies, ministries, donor agencies, and individual committee members. More specifically, the incumbent will:
• Draft the programme and annotated agenda for the annual meetings of the SC, JCB, and STAC, including assessing previous committee decisions and recommendations from the Director and TDR staff in order to develop the proposed programme and agenda.
• Strengthen JCB outreach and relations with co-sponsors through high-level liaison with representatives of existing and prospective co-sponsors and partners, including UNICEF, UNDP, and the World Bank.
• Review on a continuing basis all issues relating to membership of the JCB, SC, and STAC, and take action as required.
• Regular communication with the WHO regional offices is required regarding the membership of the JCB.
• The incumbent continually monitors and reviews committee membership status and makes recommendations for all changes in membership, including extension and termination.
• Ensure that letters of invitation to members and observers of the JCB, SC, and STAC are prepared in accordance with WHO procedures and sent out in a timely manner and in appropriate official languages, ensuring that issues of diplomatic protocol are fully observed;
• Prepare working papers and briefing documents concerning administrative or policy matters, in collaboration with the Manager Partnerships and Global Engagement and the Unit Head PIM of TDR, Director TDR, and WHO Legal Counsel, concerning the election of JCB members, and administrative, financial, or policy matters for consideration by JCB and SC.
• Responsible for coordinating the work of the administrative staff and other support staff relating to TDR’s governing bodies; ensuring that documentation for the meetings is correctly prepared, translated, printed, and distributed on time. This means ensuring that all papers (usually prepared by TDR staff) are written and prepared in an appropriate format and are consistent in substance with the draft annotated agenda; ensuring that certain papers (e.g. JCB invitation letters and agenda) are translated on time and distributed by the due date.
• These tasks involve liaison with the WHO Legal Office for the Membership Note, staff in TDR regarding the drafting of documentation and preparation of presentations, and with other WHO services for translation of JCB documentation.
•  Ensure adequate provision of ancillary general support staff for servicing of committee meetings, working with staff seconded from teams in TDR for these committee meetings;• Attendthe JCB and STAC and assist with finalization of the formal reports and minutes of the governing body meetings covering policy, technical and administrative matters.
• Coordinate with Professional Category staff within the Department, ensuring that appropriate action is taken in relation to the recommendations made by committee meetings.
•  Organized hoc side events related to the work of the governing bodies at high levels (e.g. JCB, World Health Assembly, etc.); and
• Perform all other related duties as assigned.
• Coordinates and supervises the work of other support staff assigned to the team on an ad-hoc basis, in consultation with the Manager Partnerships and Global Engagement.
• To check and quality assure that high-level correspondence dispatched by or cleared through the Director’s office meets the requirements of TDR and WHO process.
• To check and quality assure documentation to be shared with donors and partners(including, but not limited to, agreements, proposals, and reports).
• Ensure that financial contributions to TDR are acknowledged in a timely manner.
• Takes the lead in fostering teamwork among the administrative staff in TDR, organizing regular meetings and updating as required the TDR Administrative Handbook(Admin Wiki) which was developed by TDR administrative staff following a recommendation of the 2013 TDR staff retreat.
• Performs other related duties as required or instructed, including providing support to other areas of work and teams of the Programme as necessary.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: Completion of secondary school education or its equivalent.

Experience

Essential:

• At least 8 years of administrative experience in WHO or the UN system or another International Organization in coordinating high-level meetings/conferences.
• Demonstrated experience in drafting correspondence, meeting agendas reports/minutes, and other administrative documentation.

Desirable:

• Experience in committee work at the international level.

Skills

• Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills.
• In-depth knowledge of TDR governance structure and proven ability to interact effectively with stakeholders.
• Administrative competence to plan and organize large-scale meetings
• Full understanding of the background to meetings and the relationship of the activities of the Science Division and WHO policy-making organs.
• Ability to objectively analyze situations and proceedings of meetings and to review meeting reports in English for accuracy.
• Ability to supervise team assistants.
• Tact, courtesy, discretion, and ability to adapt to evolving demands and a heavy workload during certain periods are essential personal attributes.

WHO Competencies

• Teamwork
• Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
• Communication
• Ensuring the effective use of resources
• Producing results

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English. Intermediate knowledge of French.

REMUNERATION

WHO offers staff in the General Services category an attractive remuneration package, which for the above position includes an annual net base salary starting at CHF 86,236 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable) and 30 days of annual leave.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level

• Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.

• A written test and/or an asynchronous video assessment may be used as a form of screening.

• In the event that your candidature is retained for an interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review.

• According to article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity. Due regard will be paid to the importance of recruiting the staff on as wide a geographical basis as possible.

• Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and E-Manual.
• The WHO is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. The WHO recruits and employs staff regardless of disability status, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, race, marital status, religious, cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, or any other personal characteristics.
• The WHO is committed to achieving gender parity and geographical diversity in its workforce. Women, persons with disabilities, and nationals of unrepresented and underrepresented Member States (https://www.who.int/careers/diversity-equity-and-inclusion) are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Persons with disabilities can request reasonable accommodations to enable participation in the recruitment process. Requests for reasonable accommodation should be sent through an email to [email protected]
• An impeccable record for integrity and professional ethical standards is essential. WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice.
• WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of short-listed candidates.
• WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco.
• WHO also offers wide range of benefits to staff, including parental leave and attractive flexible work arrangements to help promote a healthy work-life balance and to allow all staff members to express and develop their talents fully.
• The statutory retirement age for staff appointments is 65 years. For external applicants, only those who are expected to complete the term of appointment will normally be considered.
• For information on WHO’s operations please visit: http://www.who.int
• This post is subject to local recruitment and will be filled by persons recruited in the local commuting area of the duty station.
• Please note that WHO’s contracts are conditional on members of the workforce confirming that they are vaccinated as required by WHO before undertaking a WHO assignment, except where a medical condition does not allow such vaccination, as certified by the WHO Staff Health and Wellbeing Services (SHW). The successful candidate will be asked to provide relevant evidence related to this condition. A copy of the updated vaccination card must be shared with WHO medical service in the medical clearance process. Please note that certain countries require proof of specific vaccinations for entry or exit. For example, official proof /certification of yellow fever vaccination is required to enter many countries. Country-specific vaccine recommendations can be found on the WHO international travel and Staff Health and Wellbeing website. For vaccination-related queries please directly contact SHW directly at [email protected].
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