Project Officer — NO-A

About UN University

For the past four decades, UNU has been a go-to think tank for impartial research on the pressing global problems of human survival, conflict prevention, development, and welfare. With more than 400 researchers in 13 countries, UNU’s work spans the full breadth of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, generating policy-relevant knowledge to effect positive global change. UNU maintains more than 200 collaborations with UN agencies and leading universities and research institutions across the globe.

About UNU International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH)

UNU-IIGH is one of 14 research and training Institutes that comprise the UNU system. UNU-IIGH was established in 2005 with the mission to advance evidence-based policy on key issues related to sustainable development and global health. UNU-IIGH aims to build knowledge and capacity for decision making by UN agencies, UN programmes, and Member states towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

UNU-IIGH is hosted in Malaysia, thanks to an endowment by the Malaysian Government. The status of UNU-IIGH in Malaysia is as a resident UN agency. However, its mandate is global, with a focus on global health priorities linked to sustainable development in lower- and middle-income countries.
As a neutral convener, and leveraging its position within the UN, UNU-IIGH works with a network of academic, policy, and civil society experts to serve as a platform for critical thinking and exchange of knowledge and tools for policy influence and capacity building.

Responsibilities

Under its current strategy (2019-2023), UNU-IIGH has prioritised the generation of policy-relevant analyses on gender and health. As part of this work, it is launching a Policy Hub to provide a platform for collaboration, practice-based learning, and co-production of critical analyses and evidence, as well as brokering new partnerships and alliances to extend the sources of evidence and support dissemination and policy translation.

The Project Officer will provide programmatic, communications, and grants-management support for the implementation of the Policy Hub. Reporting to the Project Manager, the Project Officer will be involved in the project design, M&E, donor reporting, and coordination of support activities for the Policy Hub.

Related to project and grant support, the Project Officer:

• supports the preparation of presentations, documents, project briefs, and reports with advice from the Project Manager
• ensures that all aspects of project management and administration of the Policy Hub are in accordance to the project plan
• supports the planning of all activities (annual and quarterly work plans and operational budgets)
• supports the implementation of all activities and the preparation of project deliverables
• develops terms of reference for project consultants/experts hired on a short-term basis and ensures proper delivery of technical services and submission of technical and other reports
• supports the quality and timely preparation of all technical reports and documentation
• develops, monitors, and revises annual work plans
• liaises with the funder and other stakeholders on all matters related to the project reporting

Related to supporting management of the project, the Project Officer:

• manages information flow to meet all reporting requirements, and prepares and ensures timely submission of progress reports
• provides assistance to the team members to prepare, produce, and disseminate project-related documents and research reports
• performs other duties as required

Related to financial management support, the Project Officer:

• liaises with UNU’s finance team to ensure timely project related payments
• responsible for tracking and monitoring the expenditures and payments related to the project
• coordinates with UNU’s finance team for preparing financial reports on the status of expenditure in accordance to the UN and UNU’s procedures

Related to management and coordination of workshops/discussions and meetings, the Project Officer:

• assists in organising and managing meetings, discussions, and workshops related to the project
• assists in preparing minutes and notes of discussions of meetings/discussions
• ensures proper filing system for documents and other information related to the project

Qualifications and experience

Required qualifications and experience include:

• an advanced university degree (masters degree or equivalent) in public health, business administration, international development, social science, or a related field
• at least two (2) years of progressively responsible experience with project management support, preferably in an academic institution, research think-tank, international organisation, or NGO
• excellent communication skills, including writing, editing, and preparing documents
• evidence of organisational skills, preferably in a research or higher education field
• strong IT skills and experience with MS Office software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
• fluency in spoken and written English is required

Desired qualifications and experience include:

• work experience in administrative support of development programmes/projects is an advantage
• working knowledge of another official UN language is an advantage; proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia is desirable
• knowledge of Atlas/Peoplesoft or another ERP system is a plus
• work experience within the UN is an asset

UNU is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious, and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities to apply and become part of the organisation. Women applicants are particularly encouraged to apply.

UNU has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNU, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination.

Remuneration

Remuneration will be commensurate with qualifications and experience in accordance with UNU guidance for appointments at the NO-A level of the National Professional Officer salary scale for the Malaysia duty station. Remuneration also includes benefits accorded in the salary agreements. For more information, please visit:

https://www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/salaries_allowances/salaries/malaysia.htm

This is a locally recruited position and only Malaysian nationals are eligible to apply.

The Rector reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a level below the advertised post.

This position carries an annual leave entitlement of 2.5 working days per month (a total of 30 days of paid annual leave).

Duration of contract

This is a full time fixed-term appointment. The initial appointment will be for a period of one (1) year with the possibility of renewal on a fixed-term appointment basis, subject to funding and satisfactory work performance. The mandatory age of retirement for United Nations staff is 65 years.

Starting date  

1st July 2020.

Application Procedure:

Interested applicants should submit their application materials by email to iighrecruit@unu.edu

Applications must include the following:

• a complete UNU Personal History (P.11) form
• a cover letter detailing how your qualifications and experience match the requirements of the position and the specific contributions you can make to the UNU; please include the vacancy announcement reference number (2020/UNU/IIGH/FTA/PO/00156651)

You may also refer to the following websites when you are compiling your application:
https://careers.un.org/lbw/home.aspx?viewtype=CYJA
https://careers.un.org/lbw/media/jobapplication/en-US/index.htm
https://www.humanrightscareers.com/magazine/how-to-prepare-properly-for-a-competency-based-interview-at-the-un/

Vacancy Announcement: UNU-IIGH Project Officer (259.1 KB PDF)

By email: iighrecruit@unu.edu