Research Assistant - ESCWA – Lebanon

This post is located within the Information and Communication Technology Division (ICTD) of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)- The Research Assistant reports directly to the Chief, ICT Applications Section and will be under the overall supervision of the Director of ICTD.

The Research Assistant will be responsible for carrying out the following
- Assist in identifying and monitoring substantive aspects of the work of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division in various regions/countries and in selecting and evaluating a variety of documents as basis for substantive output being prepared by the Division;
- Summarize pertinent material related to the development of Information Society in the ESCWA region;
- Systematically follow through and retrieve, highlight and compile information from a wide variety of information sources in areas related to ICT sector and Information Society;
- Prepare input for the electronic database and the Internet web pages and co-operate with research institutes and organizations in the collection of data;
- Assist in preparing field project proposals for the enhancement of information society and in following up their implementation, according to the UN project management policies and regulation;
- Design, prepare and maintain information society profiles for ESCWA member countries;
- Prepare reports, presentations, tables, lists, charts, data sets, and/or diagrams for ICT related data in order to facilitate in-depth analysis of this substantive information by the Division as well as relevant presentations made by staff members;
- Participate in the substantive and policy discussions of the Division and assist in the formulation of the strategic framework;
- Assist in maintaining and expanding contacts with other departments in the Secretariat, as well as the UN agencies and programmes and other organizations relevant to the region, and co-ordinate the input of other departments in the collection of data for assignments received especially in the field of ICT for socio-economic development;
- Prepare, maintain and update files (electronic and paper) and internal databases; design and generate a variety of periodic and ad hoc reports, statistical tables, charts, graphs, and other background materials/notes to facilitate inspection and other reviews;
- Draft programme/project summaries, co-ordinate review and clearance process and co-ordinate with editor, translation services, etc., on finalization and publication of reports in the Arabic and English languages;
- Identify the organizational requirements for conferences and meetings and assist in the preparation of documentation and reports for these meetings;
- Contribute to the substantive preparation of publication, meetings and workshops of the ICT division on issues related to ICT for socio-economic development, ICT sector and Information Society;
- Attend a variety of meetings to follow discussions, take notes and prepare summary report, note for the file, correspondence, etc.;
- Assist in providing guidance and training to new/junior staff;
- Perform other related work as required.

Competencies
Professionalism – Very good understanding of the functions and organization of UNESCWA and the United Nations system; very good knowledge of information communication technology and information society; good research skills.

Communication – Speaks and writes clearly and effectively; listens to others, correctly interprets messages from others and responds appropriately; asks questions to clarify, and exhibits interest in having two-way communication; tailors language, tone, style and format to match the audience; demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed.

Technological Awareness – Keeps abreast of available technology; understands applicability and limitations of technology to the work of the office; actively seeks to apply technology to appropriate tasks; shows willingness to learn new technology.

Education
Completion of high school diploma- First level university degree in information and communication technology or related fields is an advantage- Advanced University Degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) is also an advantage.

Work Experience
A minimum of seven years of progressively responsible experience in collecting and researching data in scientific and technological fields, particularly the information and communication technology field.

Languages
English and French are the working languages of the United Nations- Arabic is also a working language of ESCWA- For this post, fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic is required.

Assessment Method
Competency based interview- Selected applicant is required to pass the United Nations Administrative Support Assessment Test (ASAT) and a written assessment related to the functions of the post - Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Special Notice
This position is for local recruitment- External applicants will be considered only if no suitable internal candidates are found.

Staff members are subject to the authority of the Secretary-General and to assignment by him or her- In this context, all staff are expected to move periodically to new functions in their careers In accordance with established rules and procedures.

United Nations Considerations
The United Nations shall place no restrictions on the eligibility of men and women to participate in any capacity and under conditions of equality in its principal and subsidiary organs- (Charter of the United Nations – Chapter 3, article 8)- The United Nations Secretariat is a non-smoking environment.

employment-escwa@un.org

Database Administrator - UNDP - Lebanon

UNDP Lebanon Country Office is supporting the Implementation of "Towards Enhancing Access to Justice by Enhancing Transparency and Efficiency in the Administration of Justice" project. The objective of the project is to strengthen the capacities in the Lebanese Ministry of Justice in order to achieve a more accountable, equitable, effective and human rights based administration of Justice.

The UNDP has agreed with the European Commission to support the implementation of the Beirut Court Automation Master Plan through the recruitment of qualified experts and technician who will be assisting the MoJ IT Unit in the automation process.

Functions / Key Results Expected
- Ensure that the database server provides ongoing and continuous service to the various applications. The DBA must therefore ensure the recoverability of data and its integrity. The DBA will also ensure the security and maximum availability of the data as well as its proper performance and efficient storage facilities.
- Review, develop and design data model using standards diagrams in conjunction with system designers and developers
- Install, configure and test database management system (DBMS).
- Install and configure application software.
- Deploy/ release /test of updates, patches, new modules and applications.
- Manage Database server builds, standard images, and software installations.
- Monitor and tuning performance and managing parameters to provide fast query responses to front-end users.
- Monitor and administer Database and user level security.

Interactions
- The DBA will interact with the Operators and System Administrators for all activities related to disaster recovery, backups and restore testing. This will also cover issues related to duplication, mirroring and other forms of parallel data.
- The DBA will also interact with the Operators for issues related to performance analysis and tuning.
- The DBA will interact with the Development Unit for all issues related to database design, SQL scripting and standards, configuration of the databases, improvement of performance and efficiency of storage.

Competencies
- Extensive experience in Database Management Systems development
- Experience with ORACLE 9i/10g and/or Microsoft SQL development
- Knowledge of communications and networking essentials, specifically in relation to database servers.
- A good understanding of the underlying operating system.
- Ability to perform both Database and operating system performance tuning and monitoring.
- Knowledge of all Database backup and recovery scenarios products.
- Knowledge of the latest development and standards in software systems and products
- Excellent organizational and analytical abilities.
- Writing and content development skills.

Desirable:
- Previous experience in the public sector, specifically, in Judiciary Departments, Courts, Ministry of Justice, Case Management software or law related institutions.
- Oracle Database Administrator Certificate or Microsoft Certified Database Administrator is a plus.
- Ability to develop terms of reference in the database design areas for procurement purposes is a plus

Recruitment Qualifications
- A University Degree (Bachelor or equivalent) in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Management Information System or other Information & Communication Technology area.
- A Graduate Degree (Masters or equivalent) in related areas and technologies is a plus.
- Minimum of 6 years of relevant experience (with a University Degree) or 4 years experience (with a Graduate Degree) in ORACLE 9i/10g and Oracle PL/SQL, and/or Microsoft SQL RDBMS, software development / customization / adaptation, Experience in programming skills in Microsoft .Net (Visual C# or Visual Basic or Java) or Oracle Forms/Reports Development and in database planning, design, operational support, hands-on implementation and configuration of databases, database replication database backup/recovery, optimization and performance tuning.

Language Requirements:
- Fluent in written and oral English and Arabic. Knowledge of French is an asset

http://www.undp.org.lb/jobs/VacancyApply.cfm