Office Assistant

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. It is responsible for coordinating the development and maintenance of corporate tools and standards to enable Decentralized Offices to assist Members to prepare for and respond to emergencies. 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 assessment and early warning activities related to emergency and humanitarian analysis and responses. The Office 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. The post is located in the Office of Emergencies and Resilience, OER at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Main Purpose The Office Assistant performs a 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 one or more professional staff and receives guidance from a higher graded Office Assistant. The Office Assistant will work under the general guidance of the Senior Emergency and Rehabilitation Officer/Team Leader of the Food Chain Crises Operations and Coordination (FCC) Team and receive direct guidance from Supervisor/Senior Staff. He/she will work impartially with all members of the FCC Team and will serve the group as a whole. He/she acts independently on routine matters and consults with his/her supervisor(s) on new and/or more complex issues and procedures. Supervision received provides for technical and procedural guidance and on-the-job learning.

Working Relationships The Office Assistant interacts with a variety of colleagues from within the work unit. Interactions relate to the exchange of routine information and the provision of standard office support services.

Key Functions/Results • Type, format and draft routine correspondence; collate tables, reports, presentations, publications, and other documentation. • Receive and direct telephone calls and visitors; screen and send e-mails; respond to routine internal and external enquiries and/or refer to appropriate contacts/units. • Enter, retrieve, structure and update selected information and data from various sources (e.g. Intra-/Internet, office files, etc.); present results in standard format. • Set up and maintain office files and reference systems according to standard procedures, including an e-book for signatures. • Initiate, view and track a variety of administrative transactions in the computerized financial/travel/human resources systems. • Support the organization and administration of meetings, workshops and events (e.g. arranging for meeting rooms and other facilities. • Assist with arranging for travels: organize transport, logistics, accommodation, documents. • Ensure availability of office supplies and appropriate maintenance of office equipment. • Perform other duties as required.

Impact of Work The Office Assistant participates as part of a team in the provision of administrative and office support services. Actions reflect on the immediate and wider work unit.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________ CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

Education: Secondary School Education. Experience: Two years of relevant experience in office support work. Languages: Working knowledge (proficient - level C) of English. IT Skills: 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 the communication and documentation standards. • Good knowledge of corporate computerized financial/travel/human resources systems and administrative procedures and policies. • Good knowledge of the organizational structure.

Desirable Qualifications and Skills • Limited knowledge (intermediate - level B) of one of the other working languages of the Organization (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish). • Ability to develop and maintain plans for key administrative processes (human resources, travel and procurement). • Experience in direct collaboration and support of the country/field offices is desirable; certification course/programme in supply chain management, business administration, finance and accounting, is an asset. • Advanced knowledge of MS Excel.