Result of Service

Support for maintaining the Biosafety Clearing-House is provided. The information on the Biosafety Clearing-House is up-to-date and accessible. The Biosafety Clearing-House continues to be user friendly and function well.

Work Location

Montreal (on-site presence required)

Expected duration

6 months

Duties and Responsibilities

ORGANIZATIONAL SETTING The United Nations Environment Programme is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, world leaders agreed on a comprehensive strategy for ‘sustainable development’. The Convention on Biological Diversity was opened for signature in Rio in 1992. The Convention has 196 Parties and has three main objectives: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) is located in Montreal and is administered by the United Nations Environment Programme. Its main tasks are to arrange for and service meetings of the Conference of the Parties, including preparation of pertinent documentation, operation of the central node of the clearing-house mechanism, liaison and coordination with other international bodies and processes and, in close collaboration with these partners, the provision of technical support for the effective implementation of the Convention. Article 20 (“Information sharing and the Biosafety Clearing-House”) of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety establishes the modalities and operations of the Biosafety Clearing-House mechanism for the exchange of scientific, technical, environmental and legal information on and experience with living modified organisms produced through modern biotechnology (also known more commonly as genetically modified organisms). The Secretariat manages the operations of the Biosafety Clearing-House. At the recent eleventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as a meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, Parties to the Cartagena Protocol requested the Executive Secretary to continue to maintain the Biosafety Clearing-House and make necessary improvements to it. These are not limited to reviewing, updating and editing published information and implementing the recommendations from the Informal Advisory Committee. 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. Skills: • Familiarity with the work of the Convention on Biological Diversity and biosafety is desirable • Proven ability to write clearly and concisely is required • Ability to work quickly, accurately, and independently in a fast-paced environment with a team of colleagues from different backgrounds is desirable • 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 • Experience preparing documentation 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.

Additional Information

Applicants must be Canadian residents or citizens or have permission to work in Canada. Travel may be required during this contract period.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.