Conference and Governance Services Assistant

The Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands and of wetland biodiversity and services. It was the first of the modern global multilateral environmental agreements and remains the only one devoted to a specific critical ecosystem.
The Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands has its headquarters in Gland, Switzerland, where the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) provides some administrative services to the Convention’s Contracting Parties for the operations and implementation of the Convention.
The Conference and Governance Services Assistant provides support for meetings and documentation of the Governing and Subsidiary Bodies of the Convention. He/she ensures high quality meetings and documentation that support effective and efficient dialogue and decision making for Contracting Parties in support of Function #1 (governing and subsidiary body and meeting services) of the Secretariat Triennial Plan (2019 – 2021).

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

1. Support meetings and documentation of the Governing and Subsidiary Bodies of the Convention

• Handle logistical and administrative aspects of the organisation, planning and management of meetings of the governing and subsidiary bodies of the Convention, in particular the Conference of Parties (COP), the Standing Committee (SC) and the Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP).
• Make logistical arrangements and coordinates with other administrative staff for the preparation and smooth running of the triennial meetings of the Conference of the Parties and the annual meetings of the Standing Committee and the Scientific and Technical Review Panel, and other official meetings as required.
• Act as primary focal point for external and internal requests for information regarding meetings.
• Distribute official communications with Parties through various channels including diplomatic notes and the Convention’s list serve.
• Assist in managing documentation preparation workflows via the project management platform (Base Camp). Assist in ensuring deadlines for identified tasks and contributions to documents are met.
• Organize and facilitate meetings of working groups of the Standing Committee and other informal groups as requested. Provide minutes of such meetings when requested.
• Participate in the planning and logistics, including review of Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) relating to meetings and meeting services, and ensure that all requirements and deliverables are accurately specified.
• Use project management tools/software as necessary and prepare and maintain a Conference of Parties planning schedule (including tasks, timelines, and responsibilities) to serve as a management tool.
• Coordinate and support as required the preregistration of participants (~ 2,000 participants).
• For all meetings, ensure that adequate meeting facilities, travel, local transport, hotel accommodation and simultaneous interpretation are available and acquired in accordance with financial procedures and within the approved budget.
• Arrange external services as required (e.g. simultaneous interpretation, equipment, etc.) in accordance with the policies and procedures of the organisation for the selection and preparation of contracts.
• Following meetings write lessons learned reports and conduct satisfaction surveys.
• Develop and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for meeting planning and management processes.
• Format official documents and provide basic document editing. Liaise with translators as assigned to ensure timely and accurate translations. Distribute and disseminate official documents as requested.
• Work closely with the Finance Officer to monitor meeting budgets and provide requested reports.
• Work closely with the Finance Officer to support procurement processes, services and consultant contracts and requests for payments;

2. General administrative and secretariat support

• Participate in the identification, development and implementation of systems, processes and tools to enhance the effectiveness of the work of the Secretariat;
• Filing, sharing and monitoring workflow of documents in accordance with team and Secretariat processes.
• Travel arrangements; flights, visas, hotel bookings; and
• Meeting arrangements, support and taking minutes.

The above job description contains the main duties and responsibilities for this position. However, in a small organisation such as the Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands staff members are expected to show flexibility in their approach to work and be willing to undertake other tasks that are reasonably allocated to them but which are not part of their regular job description. Where any task becomes a regular part of an employee’s responsibilities, the job description will be changed in consultation with the employee and the IUCN Human Resources Management Group.