Organizational Setting

The Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER) is responsible for ensuring FAO’s efforts to support countries and partners in preparing for and effectively responding to food and agricultural threats and crises by i) increasing the numbers of people reached in Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) 3 and above; and ii) increasing the numbers of people supported to move out of IPC 3 and above from a humanitarian caseload onto pathways of resilience and development.

FAO has mainstreamed a humanitarian, development, peace nexus approach and a localization agenda throughout its strategic positioning and programmatic design and implementation at country and regional levels. In this organizational setting, OER is responsible for coordinating the development and maintenance of corporate tools and standards to enable Decentralized Offices (DOs) to assist Members to prepare for and respond to emergencies as well as strengthen capacities of national and subnational institutions and partners for resilience and risk-informed development. OER ensures humanitarian policy coordination and knowledge, liaison with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee as well as with humanitarian resource partners, co-leadership with World Food Programme of the global Food Security Cluster, organizational preparedness, surge capacity and response to large-scale emergencies. OER supports food and nutrition security and sectoral/systems assessments, early warning activities related to emergency and humanitarian analysis and responses. OER plays a major role in the development and leadership of the Organization’s programme to increase the resilience of livelihoods to food and agriculture threats and crises of the Organization’s programme in areas such as risk governance and coordination, anticipatory actions, disaster risk reduction, early warning and response in agriculture and food chain crises.

The post is located in the Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER) at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Main Purpose
The Programme Assistant performs a wide range of routine administrative and financial functions in support of the delivery of the organizational unit’s programme and projects.

Supervision Received/Exercised

The Programme Assistant reports to the Senior Emergency and Rehabilitation Officer/Management Support and Compliance Team Leader and receives guidance from the Programme Associates in the Management Support Team.

He/she acts independently in routine matters. Supervision received is focused on the quality of the work performed and provides for on-the-job learning.

Working Relationships

The Programme Assistant interacts with a wide variety of colleagues within the work unit and with immediate clients within the Organization, providing routine administrative and financial services.

Key Functions/Results

•    Collect and compile data on programme and or project activities to support reporting and delivery.
•    Initiate and follow up on administrative and financial actions related to staff management, affiliate workforce support, travel, payments, etc.
•    Review and prepare routine documentation and correspondence related to assigned procurement actions.
•    Provide information on programme and/or project expenditures and status of programme and /or project budget.
•    Process, format and proof-read reports, documents, publications and correspondence related to the work of the unit from draft texts.
•    Review and direct correspondence, calls and queries to appropriate contacts; provide background information; respond to routine enquiries.
•    Make arrangements for meetings, seminars and events: implement logistics, prepare correspondence, compile and distribute documents, make administrative arrangements.
•    Perform other duties as required.

Impact Of Work

The incumbent’s work impacts on the timely and efficient delivery of the immediate work unit’s programme.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

Education: Secondary School Education.
Experience: Three years of relevant experience in budget/financial and/or administrative support work.
Languages: Working knowledge (full proficiency – level C) of English.
IT Skills: Good knowledge of the MS Office applications, Internet and office technology equipment.

Residency: General Service Staff are recruited locally. To be eligible for this position, candidates must be nationals of the country of the duty station or possess an existing visa/work permit and reside within commuting distance of the duty station at the time of the application. “Commuting distance” means the distance within which staff members can travel daily between their place of work and their residence.

Competencies

•    Results Focus
•    Teamwork
•    Communication
•    Building effective relationships
•    Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical Skills

•    Good knowledge of corporate information systems.
•    Good knowledge of common administrative and financial rules and regulations.
•    Good knowledge of communication and documentation standards.

Desirable Qualifications And Skills

•    Knowledge of FAO human resources, procurement, budget procedures.
•    Experience in emergency operations would be an asset.
•    Availability to travel to support operations in crises countries is required.
•    Intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency – level B) of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements