Office Assistant

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.

FAO’s commitment to environmental sustainability is integral to our strategic objectives and operations.

The Office of Communications (OCC) is responsible for all corporate and internal communication activities of the Organization. It ensures coherence and consistency in FAO’s corporate messaging and communications’ outputs, as well as enables cost-effectiveness in use of communication-related resources across the Organization. 

The post is located in the Internal Communications Branch (OCCC) of the Office of Communications (OCC) 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 one or more professional staff and receives guidance from the Internal Communications Associate responsible for facilitating IC service delivery and meeting client requirements.
• 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, finance, 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 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 proficiency – level C of English.

Source: https://jobs.fao.org/careersection/fao_external/jobdetail.ftl?job=2403777