Chief Ethics Officer

Pan American Health Organization • Washington, DC

7d

About The Position

Chief Ethics Officer • Join us and be the driving force behind ethical leadership and organizational integrity at PAHO The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO), is seeking a highly accomplished, independent, and principled professional to serve as Chief Ethics Officer and lead the Organization’s ethics framework, promoting the highest standards of integrity, accountability, and professional conduct across all levels of the Organization. The Ethics Office promotes a culture of ethics, integrity, responsibility, and accountability, strengthens ethical leadership, supports ethical decision‑making, prevents and mitigates conflicts of interest, and ensures coherence in ethics‑related policies—thereby enhancing the Organization’s trust and credibility. Under the general supervision of the Director and the direct supervision of the Deputy Director, the selected candidate will: • Provide independent, confidential, and impartial ethics advice and guidance to personnel at all levels on standards of conduct, conflicts of interest, and ethical dilemmas. • Lead ethics risk assessments, identifying systemic and emerging ethical risks and proposing mitigation and prevention strategies. • Promote ethical decision‑making and values‑based leadership through policy guidance, advisory services, training, outreach, and communication initiatives. • Oversee the implementation of ethics‑related policies, including conflict of interest disclosure programs and integrity screening mechanisms. • Collaborate across integrity and conflict‑management systems to strengthen organizational governance, trust, and accountability. • Represent the Organization in ethics‑related peer networks and inter‑organizational forums. • Lead and manage the Ethics Office, including staff supervision, budget oversight, and strategic planning. For a complete list of functions, please refer to the post description.

Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree in law, psychology, human resources, public administration, ethics, social sciences, or a related field and a master’s degree in law, social sciences, ethics, governance, organizational psychology, public administration, or other discipline related to the functions of the post from a recognized university.
• At least thirteen (13) years of combined national and international progressively responsible professional experience in the field of corporate or business ethics, including a minimum of ten (10) years in ethics, compliance, governance, organizational integrity, or related fields, preferably within international or multinational organizations.
• Demonstrated experience advising senior management on ethics, governance, and organizational integrity matters.
• Proven experience in policy development, training, and implementation of ethics or compliance programs.
• Proven experience in managing professional staff and operational budgets.
• Fluency in English or Spanish, with a working knowledge of the other language.
• Ability to provide independent, confidential, and impartial ethics advice in complex and sensitive situations.
• Strong analytical capacity in ethics risk assessment, conflicts of interest, and misconduct prevention.
• Proven ability to design, implement, and evaluate ethics programs and integrity frameworks.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills for senior‑level advisory and reporting.
• Ability to build trust, credibility, and collaborative relationships across the Organization.
• Strong leadership and people‑management skills in a multicultural environment.

Responsibilities

• Provide independent, confidential, and impartial ethics advice and guidance to personnel at all levels on standards of conduct, conflicts of interest, and ethical dilemmas.
• Lead ethics risk assessments, identifying systemic and emerging ethical risks and proposing mitigation and prevention strategies.
• Promote ethical decision‑making and values‑based leadership through policy guidance, advisory services, training, outreach, and communication initiatives.
• Oversee the implementation of ethics‑related policies, including conflict of interest disclosure programs and integrity screening mechanisms.
• Collaborate across integrity and conflict‑management systems to strengthen organizational governance, trust, and accountability.
• Represent the Organization in ethics‑related peer networks and inter‑organizational forums.
• Lead and manage the Ethics Office, including staff supervision, budget oversight, and strategic planning.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level