IUCN Regional Office for West Asia (ROWA) was established in 2004. IUCN ROWA covers thirteen countries of the West Asia Region: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The role of IUCN ROWA is to coordinate environmental activities at regional and local levels; particularly in relation to regional environmental agreements and global environmental conventions. On the other hand, the office synthesizes information about previous and ongoing conservation and development initiatives, in order to assess their effectiveness and impact, identify lessons learned, and define gaps and priorities. IUCN ROWA focuses on multi-stakeholders decision process involving governments, civil society and research institutions. Environmental awareness is a key issue for making a difference, thus the office facilitates communication, coordination, and information exchange among different actors in the region.

The Senior Assistant for HR & Office Management is responsible for organizing and coordinating office operations and procedures in order to ensure organizational effectiveness and efficiency.

1.1. Human Resources
• Provide advice to staff and ROWA Management in relation to Human Resource Policy and inform staff of HR Guidelines for both national and expatriate staff (rights, obligations, secondary benefits, holidays, etc)..
• Preparing employment contracts and extension letters for staff
• Ensuring that the data for ROWA in the Human Resources Management System (HRMS) is updated.
• Managing annual and sick leave of ROWA staff.
• Preparing and updating personal files of staff in ROWA.
• Finalize contracts for consultants in close coordination with RPC and concerned Programme managers, after getting a clearance from the legal advisor.
• Inform and update staff on IUCN travel and per diem policies
• Ensure and advice on career development of ROWA staff
• In coordination with the GHRM, ensure appropriate job descriptions in line with salary levels and IUCN recognized functions; ensure a balanced and equitable salary house in the office.
• Manage the performance appraisal process in ROWA.
• Be the custodian of personal files of staff.


2. Office Management
- First point of contact for the IUCN ROWA
- Assist in updating and implementing office policies
- Be the contact person for all documentation requirements with government departments for local and expat staff.
- Developing a filing system and maintaining office correspondence.
- Maintaining confidentiality of sensitive data.

3. Administrative support to programmes:
- Review project contracts and ensure compatibility with IUCN legal guidelines;
- Preparation of MOUs, Contracts and Agreements with Partners and IUCN Members for the ROWA Office.

4. Role with the Senior Management
- Arranging regular meetings with the staff and externals for the Director
- Organizing/arranging appointments and travel issues in coordination with the logistics officer for the Director
- Preparing a timesheet for the Director and getting his signature

5. Other

- Performing other duties as requested by the line manager.

Staff management
- Supervise the General Services Assistant, Office Assistant and receptionist.

The above job description contains the main duties and responsibilities for this position. However, in a relatively small organization such as IUCN, 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 Human Resources Management Group.