Office Assistant

Organizational Setting

FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Our goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With 195 members (194 countries and the European Union), FAO works in more than 130 countries worldwide.
FAO implements a wide portfolio of projects, programmes, and initiatives across multiple sectors. These include animal production and health, fisheries, food and nutrition, food systems and safety, forestry, social protection, inclusive rural development, information management systems / data systems for monitoring and decision making, land and water, plant production and protection, and others. FAO has a growing portfolio of work in the development and humanitarian (emergency and resilience) sectors.
FAO evaluates the strategic alignment, implementation, efficacy, and efficiency of its portfolio of work through its independent Office of Evaluation (OED), which is led by the Director of OED who reports to the Director-General and the FAO Programme Committee. OED evaluates FAO strategies, initiatives, programmes, and projects at global, regional, and national levels. OED seeks to generate credible and useful evidence and insights to inform decisions, support oversight, and help FAO achieve its mission. In so doing, OED advances knowledge and provides results accountability to both the Director-General and Member Nations. OED also participates in system-wide evaluation initiatives, thereby contributing to assessments of development and humanitarian effectiveness by the UN system.
OED values candidates who are highly motivated to excel and want to join OED colleagues in generating transformative knowledge for FAO, its Member Nations, and others working in the fields in which FAO operates to achieve its mission of ending hunger.

The position is located in the FAO Regional Office for Africa (RAF) in Accra, Ghana.

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 Evaluation Officer in the FAO Regional Office for Africa (RAF) in Accra, Ghana.

The incumbent operates independently, takes decisions on work priorities and exercises initiative for dealing with cases without precedents. Supervision received is focused on the quality of work output. 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 office, 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; screen and send e-mails; 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; 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, including an e-book for signatures; 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 servic

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 (proficiency - level C) of English.
IT Skills: Very good knowledge of the 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 valid visa to work or a valid 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

•     Excellent knowledge of communication and documentation standards.
•     Excellent and thorough knowledge of organizational structure, administrative procedures and policies, and matters of protocol.
•     Excellent knowledge of corporate computerized systems and administrative procedures and policies.

Desirable Qualifications And Skills

•     Familiarity with the work of the Office of Evaluation (OED) and its role within FAO.
•     Experience in providing administrative and operational support to evaluation, programme or project-related activities, including monitoring requests, deadlines and deliverables.
•     Experience in handling confidential and sensitive information with tact, discretion and a high degree of confidentiality, including HR-related actions and recruitment workflows.
•     Demonstrated ability to use FAO corporate systems, such as Oracle
•     Ability to extract, organize and analyse information and data, identify operational issues and contribute to their resolution.
•     Experience in organizing and coordinating meetings, workshops and other events.
•     Very good oral and written communication skills, with the ability to draft and/or edit correspondence and documents clearly and concisely in English.
•     Ability to work independently, prioritize multiple tasks, meet deadlines and work effectively under pressure.
•     Intermediate knowledge (intermediate proficiency - level B) of French.