Office Assistant – FAO

CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST – VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT: 2102619

Office Assistant

Job Posting: 24/Sep/2021

Closure Date: 08/Oct/2021, 4:59:00 PM

Organizational Unit: ESN

Job Type: Staff position

Type of Requisition: General Service

Grade Level: G-4

Primary Location: Italy-Rome

Duration: one year with possibility of extension

Post Number: 2008543; 0063975

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Please note that Closure Date and Time displayed above are based on date and time settings of your personal device

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Staff in the General Service category are recruited locally from the Primary Location area, which is where the office is located

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• FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture
• Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented member nations and person with disabilities are encouraged to apply
• Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct, and to uphold our values. FAO has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and FAO, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination.

• All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks
• All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality
• The incumbent may be re-assigned to different activities and/or duty stations depending on the evolving needs of the Organization.

Organizational Setting

This vacancy announcement is for two positions in the FAO’s Food and Nutrition Division (ESN) which assists Member Countries to improve diets and raise levels of nutrition and provides support with appropriate policies, strategies and methodologies for improving the efficiency and inclusiveness of their agriculture and food systems. As a knowledge leader, areas addressed include dietary assessment, support on nutrition-sensitive food and agriculture policies and programmes, effective nutrition promotion programmes, food value chains, market linkages, post-harvest handling, food loss and waste reduction and nutrition-sensitive agro-processing. FAO is committed to support Members in their efforts to improve nutritional outcomes as stated in the Rome Declaration on Nutrition (November 2014) and to mainstream nutrition across all of the work of the Organization.

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 Assistants report to one or more Professional staff and receives guidance from a higher graded Office Assistant/Executive Associate. 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, place and screen telephone calls and respond to routine requests for information;
• Provide office, 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 financial / travel / human resources systems;
• Make travel and hotel arrangements and prepare travel authorizations/claims for staff 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 (Level C) of English and limited knowledge (Level B) of one of the other FAO languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish)
IT Skills: Good knowledge of the MS Office applications, Internet and office technology equipment

Competencies

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical Skills

• Good knowledge of corporate information systems
• Good knowledge of communication and documentation standards
• Good knowledge of corporate computerized financial / travel / human resources systems and administrative procedures and policies

Desirable Qualifications And Skills

• Good knowledge of Excel
• Working knowledge (Level C) of French or Spanish
• Experience in Letter of Agreements (LoAs)
• Good knowledge of FPMIS and familiarity with IMIS
• Very good knowledge of common administrative and financial rules and regulations
• Good knowledge of applications for meetings in the virtual environment

Assessment

Evaluation of qualified applicants may include an assessment exercise and a technical / competency-based interview.

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FAO staff are expected to adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO,

Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing)

• Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/

• The length of the appointment for internal FAO candidates will be established in accordance with applicable policies pertaining to extension of appointments
• 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.
• No international benefits will be payable as selected candidates are recruited locally and paid in the local currency of the office location
• Other similar positions may be filled from this vacancy notice
• For additional information visit the FAO employment website: http://www.fao.org/employment/home/en/

REMUNERATION
A competitive compensation and benefits package is offered. For information on UN salaries, allowances and benefits, click on the following link:

http://www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/salaries_allowances/salary.htm

HOW TO APPLY

• To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. Once completed, please apply and submit your application, with language certificates as attachments. Only language proficiency certificates from UN accredited external providers and/or FAO language official examinations (LPE, ILE, LRT) will be accepted as proof of the level of knowledge of languages indicated in the online applications. FAO reserves the right to request candidates to undertake a language test in the future, as appropriate
• Incomplete applications will not be considered
• Only applications received through the recruitment portal will be considered
• If you need assistance please contact: Careers@fao.org

FAO IS A NON-SMOKING ENVIRONMENT