OAS Country Representative in St. Lucia – P03

OAS Country Representative in St. Lucia – P03

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Representative reports directly to the Coordinating Office/OUGS. The Representative’s duties and responsibilities are the following:

1. Shall maintain an institutional presence for the OAS in the Member States. As the head of an Office of the General Secretariat, he/she serves as the focal point and channel to conduct OAS activities and services in the host country.

2. Deliver political responses and capacities at the highest level of the Government, always with prior approval of the Office of the Secretary General.

3. Under the supervision of the Coordinating Office/OUGS, shall plan, direct, and supervise the internal operations of the Office in a Member State, which includes:

a)Be responsible for the proper administration of assigned human, material, and financial resources allocated to the Office within the rules and procedures established by the General Secretariat of the OAS.

b)Consult on and/or support the contracting of Temporary Support Personnel and Local Professional staff in coordination with the Coordinating Office/OUGS and the responsible areas of the GS/OAS, under the terms and conditions of Administrative Memoranda 99 and 100.

4. Provide support for technical cooperation activities and services in the Member State and to this end coordinate the various activities according to the OAS programs and policies. Specifically, the Representative will:

a)Maintain close relations with the other technical cooperation donors and other sources for financing technical cooperation activities in the country and explore possibilities for joint cooperation that reflect the overall objectives of the OAS.

b)Serve as liaison with headquarters technical areas and the national technical cooperation agency(ies) in the country and promote its(their) interest in undertaking new or expanded forms of horizontal cooperation with other Member States of the OAS.

c)Provide the national liaison agencies with the necessary information and advisory services required for the formulation and presentation of projects to the OAS, including requirements for compliance of project proposals with the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI); Programmatic Guidelines/as laid out in the Strategic Plan and FEMCIDI Statutes; assisting in the preparation of project execution agreements ensuring submission of project proposals in the proper format and within agreed deadlines; informing the agencies of the approval of projects; and signing the project execution agreement on behalf of the General Secretariat, when authorized. Participate in the external evaluation of projects.

d)Provide the necessary operational support to visiting officials from Headquarters, e.g. use of office facilities and equipment, arranging meetings with local officials, and assist Headquarters in the coordination of meetings, conferences, etc.

e)Participate in programming OAS missions to the country.

f)Monitor the OAS technical cooperation projects and programs in progress in the country; maintain an adequate flow of information on their progress, including identification of problems encountered during project execution; and submit quarterly or end-of-phase reviews of the reports thereon prepared by the national executing agencies, to the Regional Coordinator and/or to the relevant Department or Office of the General Secretariat, depending on the source of OAS funding. A copy of these reports should be sent to the Coordinating Office/OUGS, for coordination and information purposes.

5. Provide administrative support for and publicize OAS scholarship and training programs in the host country.   In this regard, the Representative will:

a) Give the widest possible dissemination, in line with established or public institutions and/or mechanisms in the country, to scholarship announcements of the Organization.

b)Strengthen or develop, as the case may be, ex-Fellow associations that can complement the work of the Office and the scholarships in the country, and report to Headquarters on former fellows.

c)Perform an advisory role by discussing with former Fellows follow-up actions that might be taken to maximize the usefulness of the training they received and the benefits to the country in the case of short-term fellowships.

6. Provide public information on OAS activities and events in the Member State.  To this end, in consultation and with the cooperation of the Secretariat for External Relations (SER), the Representative will:

a)Promote the image of the OAS in the Country through OAS/country awareness programs.

b)Publicize the activities of the OAS with emphasis on OAS strengthening of democracy, human rights and technical cooperation activities.

c)Liaise with the communications media to promote the activities of the OAS.

d)Liaise with government agencies and the general public in maintaining the institutional presence of the OAS in the Member State.

7. Support and facilitate the activities of the General Secretariat’s departments, secretariats, offices, and other dependencies in implementing their functions and duties.

8. Maximize opportunities for cooperation both administratively and operationally, with public-related international organizations at the duty station and seek cooperation of Inter-American and other relevant organisms and institutions to develop increase cooperation activities.

9. Pursue with the competent authorities in the country the payment of quotas and voluntary contributions for the financing of the program-budget of the Organization.
   
10. Prepare and send various reports to headquarters. In this regard, the Representative will:

a)Prepare an annual work plan on the activities and the budget of the Office for submission to the Coordinating Office/OUGS.

b)Prepare an annual report on the activities of the Office according to the General Assembly mandates and guidelines provided by the 
Coordinating Office/OUGS for presentation to the Coordinating Office/OUGS.

c)Prepare financial reports, particularly an annual report on both the type and value of the contributions provided by the host Member State in support of the operations of the OAS for presentation to the competent authorities through the Coordinating Office/OUGS.

d)Provide written and oral reports to the Coordinating Office/OUGS on the political, economic, social and other events of hemisphere-wide significance that take place in the country and that are in some way related to the Inter-American system.

e)Prepare periodical reports on the achievements on cooperation activities with other Inter-American institutions and other relevant organisms and institutions to develop technical cooperation activities.  

11. Perform other job-related duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS:

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:  

Essential: First University Degree (Bachelor’s) in Law, Political or Social Sciences, International Relations, Business Administration, Management, Human Resources Management, International Economics Development or a related field issued by a duly accredited institution and 7 years of relevant experience at the national and/or international level OR Advanced University Degree (Master’s) in one of the fields listed above and 4 years of relevant experience OR Doctorate and 1 year of relevant experience. Experience or knowledge of the OAS mandates and priorities as related to the area of work and/or the dynamics of the Inter-American agenda and system.  

COMPUTER SKILLS: Ability to effectively work using Microsoft Office (e.g. Outlook, Word, and Excel), and other software applicable to the area of work.

LANGUAGES:

•    Essential: Proficient knowledge in the language of the duty station (English), and knowledge of another of the official languages of the Organization: Spanish, French, Portuguese. Language proficiency examination will be required.

•    Desirable: Practical Knowledge of Spanish/French/ and/or Portuguese.
 
PERSONAL COMPETENCIES: Client Orientation, Knowledge Sharing, Teamwork, Interpersonal Skills, Managing and Coaching Staff, Strategic Planning, Encouraging Innovation, and Decision Making/Judgment. Ability to clearly communicate in the languages required for the post.

The GS/OAS embraces equality, diversity and inclusion. Thus, the GS/OAS, in accordance with its rules and regulations, is committed to providing equal opportunities in employment, achieving a diverse staff, and will take into account a wide geographic representation, as well as gender equity and equality, in the selection of candidates.

In accordance with paragraph f. of Article 44 of the General Standards, the official languages of the Organization are English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.  No candidate for a position in the General Secretariat subject to the competition requirement shall be contracted until he/she has passed language proficiency exams administered by the DHR in at least two of the official languages. Nevertheless, i) Any candidate, including staff member whose native language is one of those four languages shall only be required to demonstrate proficiency on an exam in one of the others; and (ii) Persons applying for G-1 and G-2 positions at Headquarters and G-3 driver/clerk positions in those Offices of the General Secretariat in the Member States where the language requirement unduly restricts the recruitment of otherwise qualified staff shall be exempt from this language proficiency requirement for as long as they occupy those positions. Subsequently, in order to be eligible to compete for a higher-level position, any staff member who has benefited from this exemption must demonstrate proficiency in a second official language of the Organization. (iii) A person selected as the best candidate may receive a fixed-term contract, which will be considered to have lapsed in case the person does not pass the required language examination within the 36 months following the appointment.

Please note that the mandatory retirement age for staff members at the General Secretariat of the OAS is 65 years. Please note that the mandatory retirement age for staff members at the General Secretariat of the OAS is 65 years.

Benefits:

- Compensation: 
Professional Category: Remuneration = Basic Salary + Post Adjustment 
Net of taxes for non-US citizens  

- US citizens tax reimbursement: US Citizens are reimbursed for most taxes paid on OAS remuneration.  

- Paid Annual Leave: 21 days from 1st year.  Increase to 30 days within 5 years.  

- Sick Leave and Parental Leave.

- Health Insurance: OAS pays 2/3 of premium.

- Pension and Savings Plans: In addition to salary, OAS contributes 14% of pensionable remuneration to a Retirement and Pension Plan. Staff contribute 7%.

- Additional benefits (dependent on contract type): Mobilization allowance, repatriation grant, language allowance home leave travel, dependency allowance, life insurance.