Organizational Setting
The Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment (OCB) works to ensure that countries and stakeholders respond to the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation. OCB provides a cross organizational coordination role on issues related to climate change, biodiversity and the environment and is the focal point to major multilateral environmental agreements including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conferences (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The Office also assists FAO Members in their responses towards the interlinked challenges of food security, climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation including through facilitating access to climate and environmental financing (such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF)). In addition, OCB hosts the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Programme, the Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, as well as FAO's work on environmental safeguards.
The post is located in the Programing Hub of OCB at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, with close collaboration with the GEF Team of OCB.
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 will report to the Director, OCB and work closely with key OCB Team leaders, in particular with the Senior Coordinator of the GEF and the Climate Change Policy Team. 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, financial, travel and 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 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 (proficient - level C) of English.
IT Skills: Good knowledge of 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 communication and documentation standards.
• Good knowledge of corporate computerized administration/procurement/financial/travel/human resources systems and administrative procedures and policies.
Desirable Qualifications And Skills
• Ability to draft, edit and prepare correspondence for both internal purposes and official external partners.
• Good knowledge of FAO house-style guidelines and experience in formatting and editing documents.
• Good knowledge and experience in travel, procurement and hiring procedures for affiliate workforce.
• Ability to prioritize, handle multiple requests simultaneously, deliver and meet deadlines of different teams.
• Good knowledge of events planning and meetings organization, including virtual and hybrid sessions.
• High degree of discretion and ability to work under pressure.
• Experience in providing support to trust fund projects expenditures and status of project budget.
• Limited knowledge (intermediate - level B) of one of the other working languages of the Organization (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).
This vacancy is archived.