The United Nations/United Nations Development Programme (UN/UNDP) Representation Office in Brussels, Belgium represents the UN and UNDP both vis-à-vis the EU and the Government of Belgium, and plays an active role in facilitating a unified and coherent action of the more than 25 UN organizations represented in Brussels. Representing the UN in main constituencies, the Office supports and promotes partnerships with key stakeholders such as the Host Government, the EU institutions, the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACP), civil society and think-tanks.

The Executive Associate reinforces the Office’s capacity in dealing with the administration, general organization and follow up of a range of representational, policy and programme initiatives.

With excellent communications and interpersonal skills, the Executive Associate must be self-motivated, with the capacity to take initiatives. S/he must have a good sense of self-organization and flexibility, with an ability to work effectively under pressure, propose solutions to resolve a wide range of complex issues, and meet tight deadlines within a team. Displaying a client and results-oriented approach and promoting the values of the United Nations, the individual will deliver the following:

Administrative and logistical support

• Undertake all logistical, administrative and financial arrangements for the organization of meetings, workshops, events, missions and retreats organized by the Office; interact with catering companies and suppliers; draft invitation letters; prepare meeting rooms and archive documents.
• Support the Bureaux units in managing calendars, scheduling appointments and meetings, including for incoming missions; arrange mission travel/hotel accommodation and other logistics.

Ensure effective and efficient functioning of the UN/UNDP Director / Deputy Director’s office:

• Maintenance of Senior Management calendars, contacts with high-ranking visitors, arrangement of appointments and meetings, acting as an interpreter when required and/or taking minutes.
• Maintenance of protocol procedures.
• Preparation of high-quality briefing materials for supervisor for appointments, meetings, missions.
• Preparation of Management Meeting minutes and other minutes when required.
• Assists in the organization of high-level meetings.
• Preparation of Office Reports.
• Management of Senior Management missions and representation schedule.
• Maintenance of rosters of high-level partners, telephone lists.
• Preparation of correspondence, directives, comments on behalf of Senior Managment for their signatures and making follow-up when required.

Facilitate effective communications and information management support

• Review, prioritize and route correspondence to and from the Office; follow-up action, keeping respective personnel informed; review correspondence for internal clearances and signatures; respond and/or direct inquiries to the appropriate offices for timely action and/or response.
• Maintenance of the filing system ensuring safekeeping of confidential materials. Use of automated filing system.
• Follow up on deadlines, commitments made, actions taken and coordination of collection and submission of the reports to Senior Management.
• Screening of all incoming calls and correspondence.
• Presentation of proposals to eliminate communication bottlenecks in the office and streamline office procedures between the supervisor’s office and subordinate division.
• Attend Programme and Policy meetings and note take; maintain Office Calendars sending out reminders as necessary.
• Support Office interaction with various external partners (ie. governmental officials, donors, civil society, UN agencies) through collaborative and proactive relationship with counterparts.
• In collaboration with the Directorate team and Bureaux units, identify sources, gather and compile data and information for the preparation of documents, guidelines, speeches and position papers.
• Assemble briefing and public information materials; organize and coordinate the filing of documents; maintain mailing lists.
• Manage and update Office tools (including Directorate’s Standard Operating Procedures) to streamline internal business procedures, ie. updating and maintaining internal database, online platforms.
• Any other related tasks as may be required or assigned by the supervisor.

Institutional Arrangement

The  Executive Associate  will perform their duties under the direct supervision of the UN/UNDP Director, working in close collaboration with the various units within the Brussels Office (Directorate, Coordination, Communications, Programmes, Bureaux, Operations).

Core competencies

• Plans and monitors own work, pays attention to details, delivers quality work by deadline.
• Open to creative ideas/known risks, is pragmatic problem solver, makes improvements.
• Open minded and curious, shares knowledge, learns from mistakes, asks for feedback.
• Adapts to change, constructively handles ambiguity/uncertainty, is flexible.
• Shows drive and motivation, able to deliver calmly in face of adversity, confident.
• Demonstrates compassion/understanding towards others, forms positive relationships.
• Appreciates/respects differences, aware of unconscious bias, confronts discrimination.

Cross-Functional competencies:

• Ability to take decisions in a timely and efficient manner in line with one’s authority, area of expertise and resources.
• Ability to communicate in a clear, concise and unambiguous manner both through written and verbal communication; to tailor messages and choose communication methods depending on the audience.
• Ability and inclination to rapidly adopt new technologies, either through skillfully grasping their usage or through understanding their impact and empowering others to use them as needed.
• Ability to respond timely and appropriately with a sense of urgency, provide consistent solutions, and deliver timely and quality results and/or solutions to fulfil and understand the real customers' needs.

Technical competencies:

Administration & Operations: Ability to manage events, including venue identification, accommodation, logistics, catering, transportation, and cash disbursements, etc.

Minimum education requirements:

• Secondary education is required.
• Bachelor's degree in Business or Public Administration is an asset, but not required.

Minimum years of relevant experience:

• 7 years (with secondary education) or 4 years (with Bachelor's degree) of relevant experience in Administration Support Services or Office Management.

Required skills:

• Solid experience in meeting/conference planning and management.
• Excellent planning and organization skills with ability to implement and report on work.
• Experience in the usage of software packages (Office, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc) and handling of web-based management systems.

Desired skills in addition to the competencies covered in the competencies section:

• Experience working with the United Nations or other (inter)national entity an asset.

Required language(s):

• Fluency in English and French (written and spoken) required.
• Working knowledge of other UN language an asset.

Other:

• Must hold a valid residence and work permit for Belgium for the duration of the assignment.

The following documents shall be required from the applicants:

Personal CV or P11, indicating all past positions held and their main underlying functions, their durations (month/year), the qualifications, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the candidate, and at least three (3) most recent professional references of previous supervisors. References may also include peers.

A cover letter (maximum length: 1 page) indicating why the candidate considers him/herself to be suitable for the position.

Managers may ask (ad hoc) for any other materials relevant to pre-assessing the relevance of their experience, such as reports, presentations, publications, campaigns or other materials.