World Organisation for Animal Health recruits 01 Head of the Capacity-Building Department

The OIE, previously known as the « Office international des épizooties », was created on 25 January 1924. Its headquarters are based in Paris. It comprises 182 Member Countries and is present on all continents through 12 Representations or Bureaus in total. The OIE maintains permanent relations with over 70 international and regional organisations and has 12 regional offices around the globe.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) is an intergovernmental organisation recognised by the World Trade Organization as a reference Organisation for intergovernmental standards concerning the sanitary safety of international trade of animals and products of animal origin and zoonoses, and oversees improving animal health, veterinary public health and animal welfare worldwide, as well as transparency of the global animal disease situation.

In addition to international standard setting, the OIE is actively engaged in supporting its Member Countries to strengthen their national veterinary services (VS) in order to be able to effectively implement those standards relative to animal and zoonotic disease control.  The key OIE programme in this regard is the Performance of Veterinary Services (PVS) Pathway which mainly involves expert missions to Member Countries upon request to systematically evaluate their VS. This assessment is based on the PVS Tool, which methodically evaluates a range of critical competencies including human resources, education, legislation, technical capacity, stakeholder engagement and infrastructure, among others.

Positioning and reporting

Under the authority of the Director General and the supervision of the Deputy Director General (Institutional Affairs and Regional Activities), and in close coordination with the Heads of other Departments. Supervising a team of 10 to 12 staff members.

Job purpose

The Head of the Capacity-Building Department contributes to the strengthening of Veterinary Services by ensuring the relevance and impact of assessment and capacity-building activities for Members. He/she is responsible for developing, implementing and continually improving a comprehensive strategy for the delivery of capacity-building activities to Members, in line with their needs and the OIE’s resources. He/she is in charge of the implementation and continuous improvement of the PVS Pathway programme to support the countries’ compliance with OIE standards, as well as the development of the relevant training programme and tools for Delegates, national focal points and other targeted public, according to identified needs.

Missions and activities

Provide strategic guidance regarding the OIE activities related to the work of the Department

• Provide support to the design and implementation of strategic initiatives and define the Department’s roadmap in alignment with organisational goals;
• Participate in OIE management meetings and report to the General Directorate on the implementation of activities;
• Promote the OIE mandate and represent the Organisation at relevant international conferences, missions, meetings, workshops etc.;
• Manage relationships with and coordinate/interact with a range of stakeholders, including colleagues, resources partners, Member Countries, other organisations and external parties.

Provide leadership and management of the Capacity-Building Department team

• Translate strategic goals into team objectives and monitor collective performance;
• Foster a positive and productive work environment through the provision of constructive feedback;
• Motivate and communicate for the team to convey information continually up, down, and around the Organisation
• Organise and oversee tasks to ensure delivery of the team’s missions;
• Participate in the recruitment process of staff members as well as staff competency development and annual performance appraisal;
• Manage, improve and, where necessary, identify and formalise the different procedures of the Department.

Participate in and ensure the management and delivery of the team’s missions

Provide overall management of the capacity-building function of the OIE

• Assess Member needs using information across other organisational functions, including the OIE observatory of standards, institutional event reports and feedback, etc.;
• Provide a comprehensive framework for the delivery of capacity-building activities;
• Ensure advocacy of the capacity-building activities and drive Member interest;
• Monitor and evaluate performance of the activities to ensure continuous improvement;
• Develop knowledge management of PVS Pathway and training, analyse results, share lessons learnt and ensure communication of this insight within the organisation and to relevant stakeholders.

Ensure implementation and development of the PVS Pathway related tools and capacity building activities

• Coordinate and participate in the delivery of sub-regional Orientation workshops;
• Ensure the organisation and monitoring of PVS Pathway Evaluation and Planning missions and related activities
• Ensure oversight of targeted support delivery, including

1. Organisation and monitoring of Veterinary Legislation Support Programme
2. Implementation of activities targeting the education of veterinarians and veterinary paraprofessionals
3. Development of Veterinary Statutory Bodies-related support.
4. Development of Public-Private Partnership-related support

• Ensure coordination across the Organisation with the leads on the Sustainable Laboratories Programme and Laboratory Twinning Programme
• Ensure coordination with the WHO regarding the connection between the PVS Pathway and the International Health Regulation (IHR) Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (MEF)
• Contribute to all programmes and initiatives that include capacity-building components.

Develop the Veterinary Services training programme

• Ensure the development of a training strategy, targeting specific audiences and needs;
• Build a comprehensive training plan for prioritised needs, in line with Member expectations and organisational priorities and resources;
• Liaise with the OIE network of Collaborating Centres as well as regional and global partners to identify the most adapted training delivery (training engineering);
• Ensure the development and improvement of a Training of Veterinary Services platform,
• Assist internal and external stakeholders to design training objectives and develop high-quality relevant content.

Required qualifications

• A post-graduate qualification in veterinary sciences, veterinary public health, public administration or equivalent
• At least 15 years of professional experience, including at least 5 years in the management or implementation of public programmes for the development of national capacities across various countries;
• Professional experience with a National Veterinary Authority;
• At least 8 years of experience in management;
• At least 5 years of experience in an international environment.

Additional qualifications and experience (assets)

• Experience working with a One Health and intersectoral approach.

Requirements

Technical skills

• Knowledge of pedagogical engineering methods and digital training tools/formats;
• Excellent writing skills and ability to summarise complex technical discussions into clear and concise reports;
• Ability to work in English at a high level including excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Proficiency in a second OIE official language (Spanish or French);
• Good computer skills in a Microsoft environment.

Additional skills (assets)

• Good working knowledge a third OIE official language (Spanish or French).

Interpersonal skills

• Excellent leadership skills and the capacity to motivate and develop team members;
• Excellent communication skills (verbal, written, interpersonal, presentations);
• Demonstrated initiative, including ability to think strategically and achieve results;
• Organisational awareness: strong ability to establish priorities and work within tight timelines;
• Attention to detail and capacity for global overview;
• Courtesy, tact and ability to establish and maintain good working relations in a multinational and multicultural environment;
• Strong confidentiality awareness.

Salary:  Base salary at 5 000 € net / month

• Salary – totally or partially – exempt of French income tax
• Benefits (annual quality bonus)

Duration :  Two (2) years – renewable for an unlimited number of times

If you are interested in the position, please complete your application online by 24 December at noon (Paris local time) at the latest by clicking on the link below.