Travel Assistant

Travel and Mission Support Section, Central Services Division, Administration, Finance and Management Sector Grade - G5 Contract Duration - 1 year (maximum cumulative length of 5 years) * Duty Station : CH-Geneva Publication Date : 19-Apr-2024 Application Deadline : 10-May-2024, 4:59:00 PM IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING APPLICATION DEADLINE: Please note that the deadline for applications is indicated in local time as per the time zone of the applicant’s location.
This post is a limited-term fixed-term post.

1. Organizational Context

a. Organizational Setting
The post is located in the Travel and Mission Support Section (TMS), Central Services Division (CSD), Administration, Finance and Management Sector (AFMS).
The Section is responsible for the validation and certification of meeting expenses and travel arrangements of WIPO staff for their official travel and for the travel of third party travelers (holders of Individual Contractor Service contracts (ICS), speakers, and financed delegates attending various meetings held in Geneva and abroad). The Section ensures that all arrangements comply with the Financial Regulations and Rules (FRR) and the Staff Regulations and Rules (SRR) of the Organization, and the travel policy for staff and third party travelers. The Section is also responsible for the visa processing of staff and financed third party travelers, as well as the diplomatic privileges support (VAT exemption for staff goods and duty-free shop access for delegates).
b. Purpose Statement
The incumbent provides travel and visa support services to staff and non-staff travelers. The incumbent will act as a Certifying Officer designated by the Controller and is responsible for ensuring that travel/meeting-related transactions comply with the relevant Financial Rules and Regulations (FRR), the WIPO Staff Rules and Regulations (SRR) as well as applicable travel and meeting policies.
c. Reporting Lines
The incumbent reports to the Senior Travel Assistant.

2. Duties and Responsibilities

The incumbent will perform the following principal duties:
a. Certify electronic travel requests and online bookings for staff and non-staff travelers in accordance with applicable rules and procedures; check supporting documentation, establish travel entitlements and daily subsistence allowances (DSA), check fares and routes, and calculate transportation costs and travel advances.
b. Check and certify requisition requests for meeting expenses in compliance with the rules and related policies.
c. Advise staff and non-staff travelers on any travel-related matters and provide guidance on applicable procedures and policies; arrange travel or propose different itineraries to staff and non-staff travelers; escalate complex queries to supervisor when required.
d. Assist staff and non-staff travelers in difficult situations, emergencies, or crises requiring immediate action such as rerouting or rapid evacuation to the duty station or home country. As part of a team, cover the 24/7 emergency number outside working hours when required.
e. Follow-up on claims, process all ticket refunds via the WIPO travel agent, and, in consultation with the supervisor, monitor credit status.
f. Maintain internal databases for follow-up, reference, reporting purposes, and control; create and update traveler profiles in external systems.
g. Calculate and process lump sum entitlements for statutory travel, such as home leave, in the absence of the Administrative Assistant.
h. Process and follow up on visa requests for staff and non-staff travelers; check and sign respective visa support letters.
i. Contribute to internal reporting and projects.
j. Perform any other duties as required.

3. Requirements

Education (Essential) Completed secondary education.
Education (Desirable) Post-secondary qualification in the travel industry.
Experience (Essential) At least five years of relevant experience in travel administration, airline reservations, and ticketing, including fare construction in business travel areas.
Experience working in a travel unit processing visas for staff and non-staff travel.
Experience (Desirable) Experience working with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, or in a travel department of an international organization.
Experience working in a business travel agency.
Experience working in a travel unit processing visas for staff and non-staff travel.
Language (Essential) Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English and French languages.
Language (Desirable) Good knowledge of Spanish or other official UN or WIPO languages.
Job Related Competencies (Essential) Competent user of travel global distribution systems (GDS), such as Amadeus or Galileo, and online booking tools (OBT) for travel.
Knowledge of fare calculation and ticketing.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relations in a multicultural environment with sensibility and respect for diversity.
Strong organizational skills, with the ability to work under pressure and successfully prioritize tasks in order to manage multiple commitments and deadlines.
High level of client orientation and problem-solving skills. High degree of flexibility and initiative.
Competent user of Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint) and the ability to quickly adapt to new software.

4. Organizational Competencies

1. Communicating effectively. 2. Showing team spirit. 3. Demonstrating integrity. 4. Valuing diversity. 5. Producing results. 6. Showing service orientation. 7. Seeing the big picture. 8. Seeking change and innovation. 9. Developing yourself and others.

5. Information

Mobility: WIPO staff members are international civil servants subject to the authority of the Director General and may be assigned to any activities of the Organization. Accordingly, the selected candidate may be required to move from time to time to new functions.

Annual salary (Net of tax): 78,737 CHF

Please refer to WIPO’s Staff Regulation and Rules for detailed information concerning salaries, benefits and allowances.

Additional Information

• Initial fixed-term appointment of one year, renewable subject to satisfactory performance and other applicable conditions. The selected candidates appointment will be subject to an overall term of five years in this position, with no possibility of renewal beyond that term. S/he may, however, apply and be considered for other positions at WIPO.

This is not applicable to WIPO staff members on fixed-term, continuing or permanent appointments, who were recruited following a competition under Staff Regulation 4.10 (“Appointment Boards”).

Dependency allowances

7,939 CHF per year for dependent spouse; 6,398 CHF per year for each dependent child.

Language allowance

Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish: 4,788 CHF per year for two of these languages, and 3,192 CHF per year for one of them. The allowance is not payable for the mother tongue or the main working language of the staff member. The grant of this allowance is subject to examination.

General Service posts are generally subject to local recruitment. Staff in the General Service category is recruited in the host country or within reasonable commuting distance of the Headquarters.

This vacancy announcement may be used to fill other posts at the same grade with similar functions in accordance with Staff Rule 4.9.5.

The Organization reserves the right to make an appointment at a grade lower than that advertised.

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By completing an application, candidates understand that any willful misrepresentation made on this web site, or on any other documents submitted to WIPO during the application, may result in disqualification from the recruitment process, or termination of employment with WIPO at a later date, if that employment resulted from such willful misrepresentations.

In the event that your candidature is shortlisted, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of an identification and of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WIPO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and these will be reviewed individually.

Additional testing/interviewing may be used as a form of screening. Initial appointment is subject to satisfactory professional references.

Additional background checks may be required.