Duties and Responsibilities

 Under the overall supervision of the Head of Unit and the direct supervision of the Environmental Affairs Officer and the Biosafety Clearing-House Officer, the individual contractor will perform the following duties: – Assist with the registration of new scientific and technical information on the Biosafety Clearing-House; – Identify information on risk assessments, countries’ decisions and laws not registered in the Biosafety Clearing-House; – Assist with the publication of virtual library records on the Biosafety Clearing-House; – Assist with the verification and review of existing reference information on the Biosafety Clearing-House; – Test user-functionality of the Biosafety Clearing-House (including forum pages), verify cross-references, identify glitches, liaise with technical staff, including IT colleagues; and – Perform other tasks related to the work of the Biosafety Unit, as necessary.

Qualifications/special skills

Academic qualifications: High school diploma or equivalent is required. Academic degree in molecular biology, biotechnology, genetics, microbiology or related field is desirable. Experience: A minimum of one (1) year of relevant work experience is required. Familiarity with biotechnology, molecular biology, bioinformatics, genetic engineering or related fields is desirable. Previous relevant experience within the United Nations is desirable. Skills: • Proven ability to write clearly and concisely is required • Experience in conducting research and finding information from peer-reviewed publications, including searching databases (e.g., Scopus) is required • Understanding of genetic engineering is required • Ability to work quickly, accurately, and independently in a fast-paced environment with a team of colleagues from different backgrounds is desirable

Languages

English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this post, fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of other United Nations languages is desirable. NOTE: “Fluency equals a rating of “fluent” in all four areas (read, write, speak, understand) and “Knowledge of” equals a rating of “confident” in two of the four areas.