Team Associate

The Team Associate supports the Pacific Health Systems and Policy team in administrative and secretarial functions to facilitate health sector development and universal health coverage in Pacific Member States. Responsibilities include correspondence management, procurement, budget monitoring, meeting administration, travel arrangements, and general office support.

Responsibilities

• Receive visitors and telephone calls with tact and discretion and act according to the nature and urgency of each, including redirecting as appropriate.
• Provide background information for appointments with official visitors and/or staff members.
• Monitor requests for goods and services, including receipt, payment and inventory requirements.
• Draft general or administrative correspondence on own initiative or on the basis of instructions; finalize correspondence/reports for signature/clearance.
• Verify that outgoing correspondence is presented in accordance with WHO and department styles and checking language, grammar and accuracy prior to submitting for signature and clearance.
• Analyze incoming correspondence and requests in the light of background material, instructions, policies and precedents, researching, obtaining and attaching background information in anticipation of the responsible officer's needs, or redirecting them as appropriate; identify and highlight incoming documents and attach background information and identify areas requiring action by professional staff, drawing their attention to specific items.
• Ensure that technical reports and documents are in line with WHO standards, rules, practices and procedures, editing and correcting them as necessary prior to their submission for signature or clearance of relevant authority.
• Using appropriate tracking tools, follow-up on and ensure that target dates and deadlines are met, and that correspondence and queries are responded to in a timely manner.
• Ensure the timely appointment/renewal of contracts, initiating requests for temporary and fixed-term staff in the HR Action Plan.
• Initiate, through Oracle/GSM procurement module, contracts for consultants, Agreements for Performance of Work (APW), and other contract modalities.
• Monitor and record receipt of deliverables and initiate and monitor payments as needed.
• Initiate, through Oracle/GSM procurement module, requisitions for goods procurement, and monitor and receipt of deliverables.
• Assist in the monitoring and progress review of projects and tasks in the GSM/Oracle workplan.
• Provide team members with timely information on project and task budget ceilings, award budgets, expenditure, and funds available, as required.
• Monitor income and expenditures for planning purposes.
• Promptly follow up on financial, budgetary and any outstanding issues concerning the team/department, including ensuring timely processing of committal documents.
• Assist in the preparation of financial and technical progress reports to donors.
• Create and/or maintain filing systems; continual review of filing system to ensure information is up to date and effectively and efficiently used.
• Obtain documents and information from in-house and external sources as required; perform information searches (library, internet) as requested.
• Arrange, coordinate and lead administrative preparation for meetings, seminars, workshops, including letters of invitation, cost calculation and travel requests; assist with preparation of documents, dispatching materials and liaising with participants and others involved.
• Prepare presentations using PowerPoint and other software packages on own initiative or on the basis of instructions.
• Schedule weekly team and ad hoc meetings, according to schedules and need; take and prepare minutes.
• Obtain briefing and background materials for meetings, seminars, workshops, etc. to be attended by the team's professional staff, checking their availability and ensuring they have the appropriate briefing files and documents.
• Using GSM/Oracle, prepare travel requests for official WHO travel.
• Make flight and hotel reservations, prepare travel files and deal with other related matters as requested or on own initiative.
• Perform other related duties as required or instructed, including providing support to other areas of work.

Requirements

• Completion of secondary school education.
• Training in secretarial tasks and/or in an administrative field, preferably in the area of health and public health.
• A minimum of 5 years of experience in secretarial or administrative positions.
• Relevant experience in WHO or another UN agency is an asset.
• Experience in Oracle-based or other ERP systems is an asset.
• Strong skills to work independently.
• Strong organization and office skills, as well as skills in note taking and minute writing.
• Sound knowledge and skills using a variety of office and computer packages.
• Sound knowledge of WHO and/or UN administrative rules and regulations, procedures and practices.
• The ability to multitask and work under pressure.
• The ability to exercise discretion at all times in judging the importance, urgency and confidential nature various issues and tact when dealing with staff and external partners.
• Expert knowledge of English.

Skills

• Secretarial responsiblities
• Administrative Support
• Health Sector Administration
• Oracle ERP
• ERP Systems
• Office Management
• Note Taking
• Minute Writing
• Microsoft Office Suite
• Budget Monitoring
• Procurement
• Travel Arrangements
• Correspondence Management
• UN Administrative Procedures
• Multitasking
• Confidentiality Management
• Independent Work

Languages

English