Receptionist / Operational Secretary

The Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection of the European Commission (DG ECHO), funds relief operations for victims of natural disasters and conflicts outside the European Union. For humanitarian aid, the Commission works with about 200 operational partners, including United Nation agencies, the Red Cross/Crescent movement and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Aid is channeled impartially, straight to victims, regardless of their race, ethnic group, religion, gender, age, nationality or political affiliation.

The DG ECHO office in Jerusalem is seeking to recruit a candidate to be based in its office in Jerusalem for the position of:

The candidate needs to meet the following criteria:

-Degree in administration.
-Experience in humanitarian activities with international organizations, United Nation Agencies or International NGOs or the European Commission.
-Proven track of professional experience in secretarial work connected to humanitarian projects
-Demonstrated ability to draft letters, notes and minutes of various coordination meetings and fora.
-Ability to communicate smoothly with partners, donor colleagues, EU Rep offices, Able to carry out multiple tasks and prioritise work.
-Ability to work independently, on the basis of assigned tasks.
-Ability and willing to work as part of a team and in a multi-cultural environment.
-Excellent command of English, oral and written, is required; fluency in Arabic, knowledge of Hebrew a plus.
-Computer literate; excellent knowledge of the Windows environment, in particular Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint.

The Receptionist / Operational Secretary must be a strong team player, committed to collaborative work. Must be a self starter, also able to set priorities on work schedule and work autonomously.

The Receptionist / Operational Secretary receive instructions from and reports to the Head of Office the ECHO Jerusalem or his/her person designated as substitute, who will assign duties as appropriate. The Secretary will co-operate with all International and National personnel working in the ECHO Jerusalem and Gaza offices, in particular with the Operations Section and.
Basic Function of Position

The employee serves as a receptionist for ECHO Jerusalem office and as a secretary of the ECHO Jerusalem Operations section by assisting and supporting the Technical Assistants (TAs), Programme Officers (POs), Programme and Communication Assistants. The employee is expected to carry out general office/department co-ordination and information-flow management, and providing secretarial, logistical and other related duties.
Major Duties and Responsibilities

The Employee will fulfil its duties under the co-ordination of ECHO Jerusalem TA’s, but will establish priorities of his/her working agenda, and will:

-Reception of visitors at the ECHO Jerusalem office;
-Receiving and dispatching ECHO Jerusalem communication by e-mail, fax, post, diplomatic bag, telephone, sat-phone or VHF radio in close liaison with the ECHO Gaza sub-office and ECTAO.
-Distributing incoming correspondence to the relevant recipients for action or information (assures copying and further distribution).
-Providing secretarial and administrative support to the ECHO Jerusalem Operations Section. 

This includes among other duties:
  
      -Typing of correspondence in English language;
      -Receiving telephone calls on behalf of the operations section team in their absence; taking messages and distributing them on time;
      -Making out-going telephone calls when requested;
      -Booking and confirming appointments and meetings;
      -Booking and arranging the venue of appointments/meetings;
      -Preparing mission requests on behalf of the team;
      -Obtaining and compiling background documents and guidelines from the internet and other sources, as requested;
      -Making photocopies; etc.
-Assisting in the preparation of weekly / monthly / specific sector meetings, particularly in the framework of the yearly programming exercise, compiling the agenda and taking of minutes for dissemination of the same.
-Filing of correspondence / documentation relating to the ECHO Jerusalem Operations Section.
-Attending meetings related to the ECHO Jerusalem Operations Section as instructed by the Head of Office or TAs. Ensure that a succinct written report is made after each meeting.
-Updating weekly missions and monitoring plans, and coordinating the logistics support with the Admin section of the office.
-Communicating weekly mission schedules to the security cell in Brussels and ensuring that feedback is given in due course.
-Ensuring the liaison with the Israeli administration to obtain the necessary coordination for missions to Gaza or elsewhere when required.
-Maintaining planning & movement record – who’s where and when for the personnel working in ECHO Jerusalem.
-Ensuring that hotel booking is done in due course for missions of colleagues. Preparing the welcome package for visitors.
-Oversee general filing and archiving of the ECHO Jerusalem.
-Updating the main contact lists used by the Operations section (i.e. counterparts, consulates and embassies, NGOs & Int. Agencies, etc.).
-Carrying out any other duties that may reasonably or exceptionally be required to ensure the smooth operation of ECHO’s work, such as substituting for absent colleagues, etc.

Secretariat / support to the Communication assistant

-Supporting the Communication sector with secretarial duties, including but not limited to collection and analysis of offers, preparations of authorization requests to Brussels, follow up of service providers, etc.
-Supporting the organization of and participating to special events such as media trips, special days, press conferences.

Secretariat of ECHO chaired fora, among others:
1-The Friday meeting

-Preparing biweekly Friday meetings and ad-hoc meetings by looking at issues of interest for debate by the humanitarian community
-Attending Friday and ad-hoc meetings and taking minutes that will be compiled and distributed to Friday Group members the following week
-Liaising with members of the Friday Group and actors of the humanitarian community on the follow-up of meetings and issues debated
-Compiling/drafting relevant literature on the humanitarian situation (non-papers) if the need arise

2-The Humanitarian Donors Group (HDG)

-Preparing bi monthly and ad-hoc HDG meetings by sending invitations and the agenda to members;
-Attending HDG regular and ad-hoc meetings and taking minutes that will be compiled and distributed to HDG members;
-Liaising with members of the HDG and actors of the humanitarian community on the follow-up of meetings and issues debated;
-Compiling/drafting relevant literature on the humanitarian situation (non-papers) if the need arise.

Closing date for applications: 25 June 2010 @ 12:00

Interested candidates should apply to DG ECHO, c/o YWCA, Ibn Jubeir Street, 4, Jerusalem, hand delivered to the reception or to fax  026289396, attention Mr. Hervé Caiveau or by e-mail to: [email protected]

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Any form of canvassing, soliciting or influencing will be treated as a disqualification.
Selected candidates will be requested to provide copies of their working certificates and diplomas when coming to the first interview and test.