Principal Assistant, The Human Security Unit
🔍 Belgium
- 📅
- 241600 Requisition #
1.SUMMARY
The Human Security Unit is located in the Office of the Secretary General and operates under the responsibility of the Secretary General’s Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security (SGSR WPS) and Head of the Human Security Unit. The SGSR WPS provides guidance and oversight on the implementation of NATO’s Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and Human Security (HS) Agendas across the Alliance by facilitating coordination and integration of gender perspectives and human security considerations into NATO’s policies and activities across the Alliance’s three core tasks of deterrence and defence, crisis prevention and management, and cooperative security.
The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) Agenda was launched on 31 October 2000 with the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 and now includes nine additional Resolutions (1820, 1888, 1889, 1960, 2106, 2122, 2422, 2467 and 2493).
NATO’s common values of individual liberty, democracy, human rights and obligations under the Charter of the United Nations underpin the principle that the full rights and participation of women are essential to peace and security. NATO recognises the disproportionate impact that conflict has on women and girls, the vital roles women play in conflict prevention, management and resolution, and the importance of incorporating gender perspectives in all that the Alliance does. Drawing from the UNSCRs on WPS, the Alliance works to address gender inequality by integrating gender perspectives through the Alliance’s three core tasks.
At the Madrid Summit in June 2022, Heads of States and Governments endorsed the NATO HS Approach and Guiding Principles that provides the Alliance with a common understanding of HS. HS is a multi-sectoral approach to security that gives primacy to people. For NATO, it encompasses five areas of work: Protection of Civilians (POC), Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings (CTHB), Conflict-Related Sexual Violence (CRSV), Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC), and Cultural Property Protection (CPP).
The Principal Assistant reports to the SGSR and works directly with them to advance the NATO’s WPS and HS Agendas.
The Principal Assistant is responsible for the administrative workflow of the Unit and for implementation of NATO processes and procedures by the Unit. They work closely with the Senior Officer in ensuring proper management and preparation of the SGSR’s calendar and activities and the effective and timely delivery of all projects and activities. The Principal Assistant provides support on budgetary matters and ensures financial monitoring of the Unit’s Financial Mechanism, grant, program funds and travel budget.
They are accountable for efficiently handling a wide range of support duties of an administrative and organizational nature within the office in support of the SGSR and all staff of the Unit.
2.QUALIFICATIONS
ESSENTIAL
The incumbent must:
- have a good general education at least to higher secondary level;
- have at least 6 years of experience in financial and administrative support duties;
- be proficient in the use of various software packages, in particular the Microsoft Office tools and SharePoint;
- demonstrate ability to manage multiple and complex tasks, e.g.: project management or office management;
- have knowledge of project management systems;
- be familiar with procurement in a computer-based enterprise resource planning system (ERP or an equivalent system) and demonstrate proficiency with budgeting tools;
- demonstrate excellence in minute/report writing;
- be able to organise meetings/events and administer programmes;
- possess the following minimum levels of NATO’s official languages (English/French): V (“Advanced”) in one;
DESIRABLE
The following would be considered an advantage:
- experience working with international institutions;
- knowledge of NATO processes and procedures;
- knowledge of the WPS and HS Agendas.
3.
Planning and Execution
Organise own workload and coordinate with Senior Officer to ensure the accurate and timely execution of duties by staff of the Unit. Assist with the day-to-day administration of the SGSR’s schedule: arrange meetings and handle related details, such as necessary travel arrangements and mission coordination and administrative tasks. Oversee the tasking and delivery of all tasks within the WPS/HS Unit. Support staff of the Unit, as well as for external experts as necessary, with their travel arrangements.
Expertise Development
Remain aware of the SGSR’s and Unit’s priorities in order to independently arrange meetings for the SGSR and to support logical priorities for the staff. Analyze issues, understand and handle protocol matters that may affect the Unit and take appropriate decision. Proactively develop skills in areas such as planning and organising, and develop skills in new technology. Provide support to staff in the Unit in capacity development.
Information Management
Coordinate with the Senior Officer in the screening and distribution of incoming correspondence, especially taskers, to the appropriate members of the Unit. Answer enquiries and incoming calls from all levels of visitors, staff, country representatives and subject matter experts. Draft memoranda and documents. Type and format all kinds of documents, including tables of figures requiring careful presentation using the standard software packages used by NATO (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Maintain an effective follow-up and/or reminder system for action by the SGSR in coordination with the Senior Officer.
Stakeholder Management
Maintain all lists of internal and external contacts. Serve as first point of contact for requests of various nature directed to the SGSR.
Project Management
Oversee and monitor the execution of projects for the Unit and support all staff on the delivery of the projects. Administer funds and financial obligations for the projects supporting implementation of WPS/HS policies and provide regular written reports on timelines and deliverables. Organise high-level conferences, seminars and workshops.
Financial Management
Ensure that proper NATO financial regulations (NFRs) and procedures are followed for the SGSR’s missions and for those of staff in the Unit. Monitor all budgetary and administrative aspects of the Unit’s financial mechanism, programme funds and grant. Prepare the necessary financial documents, follow up on activities to ensure that financial files are correctly processed and maintain records of all financial transactions.
Knowledge Management
Collect, categorise, and track relevant information required for various tasks and projects. Supervise the quality, quantity and relevance of the content of the knowledge management systems in coordination with the Office of the Secretary General Information and Knowledge Management (OSG IKM) coordinator and within IS and OSG guidelines. Maintain well-structured paper and electronic filing systems. Provide advice to the SGSR on various procedural subjects within NATO and NATO structure.
Organizational Efficiencies
Provide constructive suggestions to improve office procedures including through the Divisional Team Site (DTS) and oversee its implementation. Find ways to be faster, better and more effective in managing information and using office tools.
Perform any other related duty as assigned.
4.INTERRELATIONSHIPS
The incumbent reports to the SGSR for WPS and coordinates closely with the Senior Officer, Office of the Secretary General’s Administrative Officer and the Office of the Financial Controller (OFC). They deal on a regular basis with senior members of Delegations and Partner Missions, Divisions and Directorates of the International Staff, the International Military Staff, and Strategic Commands as well as with officials from other countries and from International Organisations and therefore must be presentable and discreet at all times.
Direct reports: N/A
Indirect reports: N/A
5.COMPETENCIES
The incumbent will demonstrate the following competences:
· Clarity and Accuracy: Monitors others' work for clarity;
· Customer Service Orientation: Takes personal responsibility for correcting problems;
· Empathy: Reads non-verbal cues and understands meanings;
· Flexibility: Acts with flexibility.
· Initiative: Is decisive in a time-sensitive situation;
· Organisational Awareness: Understands organisational climate and culture;
· Teamwork: Solicits inputs and encourages others.
In accordance with the NATO Civilian Personnel Regulations, the successful candidate will receive a definite duration contract of three years, which may be followed by an indefinite duration contract.
7. USEFUL INFORMATION REGARDING APPLICATION AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS
Please note that we can only accept applications from nationals of NATO member countries. Applications must be submitted using e-recruitment system, as applicable:
- For NATO civilian staff members only: please apply via the internal recruitment portal (link);
- For all other applications: www.nato.int/recruitment
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More information about the recruitment process and conditions of employment, can be found at our website (http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/recruit-hq-e.htm)
Appointment will be subject to receipt of a security clearance (provided by the national Authorities of the selected candidate), approval of the candidate’s medical file by the NATO Medical Adviser, verification of your study(ies) and work experience, and the successful completion of the accreditation and notification process by the relevant authorities.
NATO will not accept any phase of the recruitment and selection prepared, in whole or in part, by means of generative artificial-intelligence (AI) tools, including and without limitation to chatbots, such as Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (Chat GPT), or other language generating tools. NATO reserves the right to screen applications to identify the use of such tools. All applications prepared, in whole or in part, by means of such generative or creative AI applications may be rejected without further consideration at NATO’s sole discretion, and NATO reserves the right to take further steps in such cases as appropriate.