This vacancy announcement is for two positions in the following offices/divisions at FAO Headquarters:

• One position in the Food Systems and Food Safety Division, Economic and Social Development Stream. The Division supports a coordinated approach to the development of food systems, including inter alia, engagement in global level dialogue, platform and initiatives, the strengthening of food safety and quality at national, regional and international levels, the development of sustainable food value chains, reductions in food loss and waste and the implementation of the urban food agenda.
• One position in the Office of Evaluation, that coordinates and conducts evaluations of FAO programmes and projects at the global, regional and national levels to ensure that interventions align strategically to the needs of the Organization and its stakeholders and produce the desired results. FAO conducts its evaluations with the involvement of relevant stakeholders to ensure that the evaluations are relevant and useful to the local communities and to strengthen the capacity of national stakeholders to conduct credible and result-oriented evaluations.

Main Purpose

The Office Assistant coordinates and performs the full range of office support, management support and administrative tasks, providing for the smooth and efficient running of the Office. He/ she ensures quality and consistency of the flow of office work and information in the work unit.

Supervision Received/Exercised

• The Office Assistant reports to the Director [and may receive guidance from Deputy Director, or one or more Professional staff]. The incumbent operates independently and takes decisions on work priorities and exercises initiative for dealing with cases without precedents. Supervision received is focused on the quality of work outputs. He/ she provides guidance and advice to other office support staff.

Working Relationships

• The Office Assistant works closely with a wide range of colleagues in the division /region, with central units and external clients, performing and coordinating office- and management support services, and providing procedural guidance and information.

Key Functions/Results

• Screen requests for appointments with supervisor; maintain supervisor's calendar; confirm mutually convenient schedules and arrange appointments; receive visitors; place and screen telephone calls; respond to queries and correspondence, often of a sensitive, confidential or technical nature;
• Coordinate office support services for meetings, trainings, seminars, committees, and special projects and events; attend meetings, prepare minutes, monitor follow-up activities; make arrangements for formal editing, translation, etc., of documents and publications;
• Review, record, distribute and process incoming mail and correspondence; follow-up on pending actions; prepare draft responses to a wide range of correspondence and other communications, often requiring knowledge of technical terminologies and/or detailed office procedures; carry out quality control functions for outgoing documents; proofread  texts for adherence to format, grammar, punctuation and style;
• Perform a variety of administrative duties, e.g. contract extensions and requests for temporary staff, leave and attendance recording, budget preparation and follow-up, travel and meeting planning, etc.; coordinate with other units to ensure smooth running and expedition of work within the unit;
• Research, compile, and organize background information and reference materials from various sources for reports, briefs and speeches; generate a variety of statistical and other reports from various databases;
• Coordinate the work of other office support staff, establish priorities and ensure equitable distribution of work; train new staff to relevant administrative procedures and practices and provide general assistance as required;
• Create and maintain the work unit's filing and reference systems; review the efficiency of office procedures and make recommendations for improvements; update office websites;
• Perform other duties as required.

Impact Of Work

• The incumbent's work impacts directly on the smooth and efficient running of the Office. He/ she plays a lead role in the provision of office support services for successful achievement of the organizational unit's mandate.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• Education: Secondary School Education
• Experience: Four years of relevant experience in office/ management support work
• Languages: Working knowledge (Level C) of English and limited knowledge (Level B) of one of the other FAO languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish)

Source:https://jobs.fao.org/careersection/fao_external/jobdetail.ftl?job=2002692