UNFPA recrute 01 Special Assistant to the Regional Director
Job Description
The Position
The Special Assistant provides operational, planning, managerial, technical and coordination support to all aspects of the work of the Regional Director. S/he acts as a key interface with various units within and outside the Regional Office, coordinating the flow of management information between units and the Directorate and thereby ensuring smooth and timely operations, allowing better planning and more predictable delivery by the Directorate while optimizing the time of the Regional Director.
S/he reports directly to the Regional Director for the West & Central Africa Region.
How you can make a difference
UNFPA is the lead UN agency for delivering a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. UNFPA’s strategic plan (2022-2025), reaffirms the relevance of the current strategic direction of UNFPA and focuses on three transformative results: to end preventable maternal deaths; end unmet need for family planning; and end gender-based violence and harmful practices. These results capture our strategic commitments on accelerating progress towards realizing the ICPD and SDGs in the Decade of Action leading up to 2030. Our strategic plan calls upon UN Member States, organizations and individuals to “build forward better”, while addressing the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, recover lost gains and realize our goals.
In a world where fundamental human rights are at risk, we need principled and ethical staff, who embody these international norms and standards, and who will defend them courageously and with full conviction.
UNFPA is seeking candidates that transform, inspire and deliver high impact and sustained results; we need staff who are transparent, exceptional in how they manage the resources entrusted to them and who commit to deliver excellence in programme results.
Job Purpose
The Special Assistant performs a range of administrative functions and engages in special projects and assignments in order to maximize the Regional Director’s time and effectiveness. S/he will also play a role in communications including speech writing, preparing presentations using the most appropriate software/digital tool and other event planning, meeting support and cross-organizational initiatives with sister UN agencies. This includes carrying out substantive analysis and providing summaries to the Regional Director on major documentation covering all aspects of the West & Central Africa Regional Office work, and policy and programme activities from within UNFPA and the UN system requiring the Regional Director’s involvement.
This role requires outstanding professionalism and discretion, organization and attention to detail, energy and initiative, the ability to deftly multi-task and a willingness to work on a wide variety of projects and tasks.
You would be responsible for
Administrative and Operations support for the Regional Director
- Provide support in preparation for internal and external meetings, attend and take notes during meetings and conduct follow-up on the Regional Director’s behalf.
- Draft and disseminate correspondence including letters, memos, and emails.
- Coordinate the Director’s participation in key events, missions, and regional groups, including on the UN reform and 2030 and 2063 Development Agenda: Regional UNDG.
- Provide and organize relevant briefings for the Regional Director.
- Follow up on decisions related to political, managerial and development processes, key corporate priorities of the organization, Executive Board participation and other key initiatives and field queries related to these issues.
- Provide support to the overall Regional Office management; serve as secretariat to the regional management team meetings.
Technical Support
- Prepare and/or facilitate the preparation of briefing sheets for meetings, conferences, press appearances, etc.
- Provide the Regional Director with substantive analysis and summaries of management reports and documents requiring review, comment, clearance, and approval, thus reducing the Regional Director’s time on routine management activities and focusing on critical strategic matters.
- Produce a continuing stream of useful information between the Directorate and the Regional Office teams and units, facilitating planning activities, meeting coordination, report production, review, and clearances.
- Coordinate preparation of position papers and facilitate completion of major reports for the Regional Director on financial and management issues for presentation at internal and external fora.
- Advise the Directorate and teams on emerging external policy and programme priorities affecting the
- Regional Office work, in order to facilitate quicker adaptation to changing business imperatives.
- Co-ordinates the Director’s participation in UN Reform; follows up on decisions related to UN reform, regionalization and other key initiatives, and field queries related to these issues
- Prepares background papers/briefing documents for the Director
- Conducts research on organizational thematic areas and other topical issues for the Director and management.
External Relations
- Support the development of a variety of external communications on behalf of the Regional Director, including letters, mailings, and proposals.
- Serve as a liaison between the Regional Director and a variety of external constituent groups.
- Support the Regional Director and organization in relevant field-wide advocacy initiatives.
- Support the Regional Director and organization’s active public relations’ campaigns, coordinating as needed with the Communication and Advocacy unit, social media consultants and print and broadcast journalists.
Special Projects
- Lead or participate in a variety of the Regional Director’s special projects as needed.
- Play an active “citizenship” role in organization-wide initiatives across functions.
Undertaking any other tasks as assigned by the Director.
Qualifications and Experience
Education
Advanced university degree in Political Science, International Relations, Communication, English and or French Literature, Marketing, Social Sciences or a related subject.
Knowledge and Experience
- 5 years of increasingly responsible professional experience in the substantive technical area, of which at least two years at the international level;
- Strong organizational, planning, and analytical ability and professional experience in policy analysis and development work;
- Familiarity with UN development programmes and working methods, particularly with UNFPA agenda, policies, and programming procedures;
- Excellent writing and strong oral communication skills;
- Capacity to work well within a multi-cultural team;
- Ability to form strategic partnerships and to collect and analyze strategic information in the field of Population and Sexual and Reproductive Health;
- Strong interpersonal and networking skills;
Languages
Fluency in English and French is required to enable effective communication with English speaking and French speaking country coordination groups and local organizations (West and Central Africa region)
Required Competencies
Values:
- Exemplifying integrity,
- Demonstrating commitment to UNFPA and the UN system,
- Embracing cultural diversity,
- Embracing change,
Core Competencies:
- Achieving results,
- Being accountable,
- Developing and applying professional expertise/business acumen,
- Thinking analytically and strategically,
- Working in teams/managing ourselves and our relationships,
- Communicating for Impact,
- High level of Emotional Intelligence,
Functional Competencies
- Planning, organizing, and multitasking,
- Internal and external relations and advocacy for resources mobilization,
- Creating visibility for the organization,
- Generating, managing, and promoting the use of knowledge and information,
- Manage documents, correspondence, and reports,
- Manage information and workflows,
Compensation and Benefits
This position offers an attractive remuneration package including a competitive net salary plus health insurance and other benefits as applicable.