Post vacancy: Assistant to the Director

OVERVIEW OF THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POST

This post is located in the Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe (Venice, Italy) and works under the overall authority and direct supervision of the Regional Bureau Director. This post coordinates and performs the full range of office and management support and administrative tasks, and provides direct assistance to the Director in order to ensure quality and consistency of the flow of office work and management of the information of the Regional Bureau.

The incumbent shall provide administrative and secretarial assistance to the activities of the Director’s office, which includes the following tasks:

Screens requests for appointments with supervisor according to the nature of the requests and their urgency; maintains supervisor’s calendar; confirms mutually convenient schedules and arranges appointments or rearranges schedules disrupted by unexpected events; receives visitors; and places and screens telephone calls. Responds to queries and correspondence, often of a sensitive, confidential or technical nature.

Coordinates and leads secretarial support services for high-level meetings, service- or Office-wide training and special projects/ events. Attends meetings, prepares minutes, monitors follow-up activities; makes arrangements for formal editing, translation, etc., of documents and publications. Coordinates the work of other support staff, establishes priorities and ensures equitable distribution of work.

Reviews, records, distributes and processes incoming mail and correspondence; follows up on pending actions; prepares draft technical responses to a wide range of correspondence and other communications, often requiring knowledge of technical terminologies and/or detailed office procedures. Carries out quality control functions for outgoing documents; proofreads and edits texts for adherence to format, grammar, punctuation and style. May coordinate/ guide the work of other support staff and ensures equitable distribution of work. 

Performs a variety of administrative duties (e.g., leave and attendance recording, arrangements for meetings and other events, reservations, budget preparation and follow-up, etc.). Coordinates with other units to ensure smooth running and expedition of work within the unit (e.g. following up contract extensions and requests for temporary staff). Orients new staff to relevant administrative procedures and practices and provides general assistance to other office support staff as required.

Searches, compiles, and organizes background information and reference materials from various sources for reports, briefs and speeches. Generates a variety of statistical and other reports from various databases.

Creates and maintains the Regional Bureau filing and reference systems. Periodically reviews the efficiency of office procedures and makes recommendations for improvement. Updates office websites, knowledge management tools/ databases etc.

COMPETENCIES (Core / Managerial)

Accountability (C)

Communication (C)

Innovation (C)

Knowledge sharing and continuous improvement (C)

Planning and organizing (C)

Results focus (C)

Teamwork (C)

For detailed information, please consult the UNESCO Competency Framework.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• Completed secondary, technical and/or vocational education.

WORK EXPERIENCE

• Minimum 5 years of relevant work experience in administrative and/or secretarial tasks, of which at least 2 years working for a supervisor responsible for managing a unit, section and/or team.

SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including ability to draft correspondence and correct documents.
• Excellent organizational and coordination skills; ability to establish priorities and monitor own work plans; flexibility to adjust work schedules and priorities.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work under pressure, to deal with complex situations and to provide quality and timely support and services.
• Discretion and capacity to deal with people of different cultural backgrounds efficiently and tactfully.
• Ability to work as part of a team, to take initiatives and to provide quality and timely support and services.
• Flexibility to adjust work schedules and priorities; capacity to work effectively under pressure.
• Excellent ICT skills with proficiency in the use of MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).
• Professional integrity and good sense of judgement.

LANGUAGES

• Excellent knowledge of English or French and good knowledge of the other language

DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• General secretarial and/or administrative training.

WORK EXPERIENCE

• Working experience in similar functions within the UN system.

SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

• Excellent proofreading skills.
• Knowledge of UNESCO rules, administrative procedures and standard practices.

LANGUAGES

• Excellent knowledge of Italian.