Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through the FAO Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to MORE efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life, leaving no one behind.
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 number of people reached in Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) 3 and above; and ii) increasing the number 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 the 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 Programme and Policy Team within the Office of Emergencies and Resilience (OER) at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Main Purpose

The Office Assistant performs a large variety of routine administrative transactions and office support functions contributing to the smooth and efficient running of the work unit.

Supervision Received/Exercised

The Office Assistant reports to the Senior Emergency and Rehabilitation Officer/Programme and Policy Team Leader in OER and receives guidance from the Programme Associates.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 Office Assistant usually interacts with a wide variety of colleagues within the work unit and with immediate clients within the Organization, providing routine administrative and office support services.

Key Functions/Results

•    Arrange appointments for the supervisor, receive visitors, screen and send e-mails and respond to routine requests for information.
•    Provide office, protocol, administrative and logistics support to meetings, committees, conferences, etc.
•    Review, record, distribute and process incoming mail and correspondence; follow-up on pending actions.
•    Respond or draft responses to standard/routine correspondence and other communications; use word processing package to produce a wide variety of large, complex documents and reports.
•    Proofread documents and format texts for accuracy, grammar, punctuation and style, as well as for adherence to established standards.
•    Initiate general administrative tasks in the computerized general administration, procurement, financial, travel, human resources system.
•    Prepare purchase orders, purchase requisitions and support the preparation of Letters of Agreement (LoA), obtain clarification and follow up, when necessary.
•    Make travel and hotel arrangements and prepare travel authorizations/claims for staff and affiliate workforce as required.
•    Provide assistance in the administrative processing of vacancy announcements and consultants’ contracts.
•    Research, compile and organize information and reference materials from various sources for reports; create spreadsheets and presentations; manage and update databases for mailing lists and other information; and maintain electronic and paper files.
•    Perform other duties as required.

Impact of Work

The incumbent’s work impacts on the timely and efficient delivery of office support services and on the overall output of the work unit.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements
Education: Secondary School Education.
Experience: Three years of relevant experience in office support work.
Languages: Working knowledge (full proficiency – level C) of English.
IT Skills: Good knowledge of 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 communication and documentation standards.
•    Good knowledge of corporate computerized administration, procurement, financial, travel, human resources systems and administrative procedures and policies.

Desirable Qualifications and Skills

•    Good knowledge of the organizational structure.
•    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