WFP Innovation Accelerator - Office Coordination Assistant G5

We are seeking to fill a Fixed Term position of Office Coordination Assistant G5 in the WFP Innovation Accelerator (INKA) based in Munich, Germany.

WFP seeks candidates of the highest integrity and professionalism who share our humanitarian principles. Selection of staff is made on a competitive basis, and we are committed to promoting diversity and gender balance.

Applicants must reside within commuting distance of the duty station (Buttermelcherstrasse 16, 80469 München) and must be German Residents holding a valid passport and/or identity card, or a valid Resident Permit to work and live in the country.

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the United Nations frontline agency fighting hunger. WFP reaches more than 100 million people every day - delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with smallholder farmers, communities, and governments to improve nutrition and build resilience.

The WFP Innovation Accelerator was named by Fast Company as Most Innovative Non-Profit Organization 2021 for its work in identifying, nurturing, and scaling disruptive start-ups and innovations to end global hunger. Based in Munich, Germany, the Innovation Accelerator provides WFP employees, entrepreneurs and start-ups with funding, hands-on support, and access to WFP’s global operations. Through the Innovation Accelerator, WFP is leveraging unprecedented advances in digital innovation - such as mobile technology, artificial intelligence and blockchain - and new business models to transform the way it serves vulnerable communities across the world. In 2020, Accelerator supported innovations that positively impacted the lives of 3.7 million people globally. Most recently, the Accelerator runs programmes for external partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others.

More information here: http://innovation.wfp.org and https://youtu.be/OnKkQlRdh2c .

JOB PURPOSE

The purpose of this job is to provide high-level executive support to the Senior Management of the Innovation Accelerator to facilitate effective service delivery. The Office Coordination Assistant will report to the Head of Innovation Accelerator and will be responsible to handle a range of services, including but not limited to:

• Managing the Head of Office schedules and agenda, including travel arrangements
• Supporting the planning and coordination of internal and external meetings and events including preparation of agendas, materials, minutes and follow-up actions
• Supporting the annual planning and definition of the strategy development and Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), new ways of working, agile organisation of the Innovation Accelerator Office, including the adoption follow-up and implementation by internal and external stakeholders
• Supporting stakeholders/partners engagement and relationships building
• Supporting the coordination and management of the Innovation Advisory Group and external Innovation Advisory Council, acting as the main contact point with the senior advisory council and advisory group members

• Participating in different cross-divisional taskforces, forums and meetings

  The Office Coordination Assistant will interact with various internal and external stakeholders through effective communication (verbal and written) and customer service focus. The selected candidate must be able to work independently, with limited supervision and demonstrate a proven ability to secure high levels of trust through exercise of tact, discretion, maturity, judgment, and respect for confidentiality. In addition, the Office Coordination Assistant will be required to demonstrate good teamwork, self-motivation, organization and proactiveness skills, while working in a multicultural environment with individuals of different races, cultures and backgrounds.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES (not all-inclusive, nor exhaustive):

1. Collate information for inclusion in reports, documents and correspondence, to support the effective work of other staff.
2. Respond to standard queries and provide timely and accurate guidance.
3. Process and manage routine administrative and financial tasks in various functional areas, to contribute to the effective and timely management of resources.
4. Manage and maintain records and databases, to ensure information is organised and readily available for staff.
5. Maintain relationships with a range of individuals through provision of business support to assist in information sharing and service delivery to staff.
6. Proof-read reports, documentation, correspondence, etc., making changes in line with established guidelines where appropriate.
7. Contribute to improvement of business procedures and processes.
8. Collect and perform basic analysis of data to contribute to quality business information management.
9. Provide guidance to junior colleagues in performing their duties.

SPECIFIC POST REQUIREMENTS (As required by the Hiring Manager)

Essential:

• Experience supporting senior managers and managing their calendars.
• Experience dealing with travel arrangements including flight and hotel booking, visa, etc.
• Experience drafting and proofreading reports, documentation, correspondence, etc.
• Experience interacting effectively with internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience organizing and coordinating internal and external meetings and events.

Desirable:

• Experience working as staff assistant/executive assistant.
• Knowledge of ERP systems, specifically SAP Software and applications such as Slack.
• Experience working in a United Nations common system, international organization or non-governmental organization or knowledge of UN system administrative policies, rules and regulation.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Education: Completion of secondary school education.
• Experience: Five or more years of progressively responsible work experience in general administrative work (including one year at G4 level for internal candidates).
• Language: Working knowledge of English (proficiency/FAO level C) and German. Intermediate knowledge of another official UN language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) and/or Portuguese (one of WFP’s working languages) is desirable.

Knowledge & Skills:

• Knowledge of specialised common business practices and methods, gained through relevant technical training and experience.
• Ability to develop and maintain relationships with a range of individuals in order to provide a high quality support service.
• Ability to carry out basic data analysis and independently rectify problems requiring attention.
• Ability to monitor and record financial transactions.
• Good communication skills required to give and receive information and work with a variety of individuals.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality.

WFP 4Ps CORE ORGANISATIONAL CAPABILITIES

Purpose

• Understand and communicate the Strategic Objectives: Helps teammates articulate WFP’s Strategic Objectives.
• Be a force for positive change: Suggests potential improvements to team’s work processes to supervisor.
• Make the mission inspiring to our team: Explains the impact of WFP activities in beneficiary communities to teammates.
• Make our mission visible in everyday actions: Articulates how own unit’s responsibilities will serve WFP’s mission.

People

• Create an inclusive culture: Seeks opportunities to work with people from different backgrounds.
• Create an “I will”/”We will” spirit: Tracks progress toward goals and shares this information on a regular basis with supervisor.

Performance

• Encourage innovation & creative solutions: Explores ways to consistently be more efficient and accurate in own areas of work and shares new methods of work with colleagues.
• Focus on getting results: Focuses on getting results and tracks trends in completion rates for own tasks to identify opportunities for efficiency.
• Make commitments and make good on commitments: Takes responsibility for own tasks and notifies supervisor as soon as possible of potential delays in meeting deadlines or commitments.
• Be Decisive: Independently decides what action to take when faced with critical choices in the workplace or in dangerous situations in the field.

Partnership

• Connect and share across WFP units: Suggests opportunities for partnering with other units to supervisor.
• Build strong external partnerships: Identifies opportunities to work with colleagues and partners in the field towards common goals.
• Be politically agile & adaptable: Develops an understanding of the value of WFP’s teams and external partners in fulfilling team’s goals and objectives.
• Be clear about the value WFP brings to partnerships: Aligns own activities with supervisor’s priorities to fulfill internal and external partner needs.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Please note that the official internal title for this role will be 'Business Support G5' in line with WFP's job profiles.

WFP offers a competitive compensation package which will be determined by the contract type and selected candidate’s qualification and experience Please visit http://www.wfp.org and click on: ‘Our work’ and ‘Countries’ to learn more about WFP’s operations.

Applicants must:

• • Be German Residents holding a valid passport and/or identity card, or a valid Resident Permit to work and live in the country.
  • Reside within commuting distance (100-kilometer radius or distance that can be covered within 1.5 hours by car or public transport under average conditions of traffic, weather, and roads) to the office location at the duty station (address of the Duty station is Buttermelcherstrasse 16, 80469 München).
  • Be able to work remotely.

Please note that only applications submitted in English will be considered.

Deadline for applications: 19 October 2021

Ref. VA: 150174