Conference Officer (Meeting Planning)

1A041A04

• 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
Governing Bodies Servicing Division (CSG) provides the Secretariat of the Conference and the Council, and supports all Governing and Statutory Bodies of FAO. It houses the Multilingualism expertise of the Organization, delivering corporate language goods and services. CSG also provides Protocol and Meetings services to the Organization.
The Meetings Services branch (CSGM) carries out the scheduling and programming of all Governing and Statutory Body meetings of the Organization. It is responsible for overseeing and supporting the planning and provision of logistical facilities for the conduct of all such physical and virtual meetings.

Reporting Lines
The Conference Officer (Meeting Planning) reports to the Conference Officer, Meeting Services.

Technical Focus
Preparation, support and coordination of in-presence and virtual meetings. Scheduling and programming of meetings, coordination with meeting and conference organizers, operational support to meetings, development and implementation of office work-plan, promotion of innovative working methods and tools.

Key Results
Collection, analysis and review of information for the effective delivery of corporate services.

Key Functions

• Processes, coordinates arrangements, and delivers services;
• Researches and analyses policy and service delivery issues, maintains operational statistics, and prepares related reports;
• Contributes to the development of information and training materials and coordinates and assists in the presentation of information/ training sessions to management and staff;
• Provides information and advice to management and staff;
• Participates on project teams and work groups;
• Performs other related duties as required.

Specific Functions
• Ensures the preparation of large meetings and events, either physical or virtual, in collaboration with organizing divisions, protocol, security and/or external organizers (Permanent representations, external organizations holding conferences at FAO HQ);
• Organizes and coordinates the provision of logistic facilities for FAO meetings and conferences at Headquarters;
• Develops communication material for web posting and distribution to meeting organizers and participants, regarding the organization and conduction of virtual meetings;
• Briefs meeting organizers in HQs and in the Field on the new procedures in place for virtual events and on technicalities of virtual meeting platforms;
• Coordinates inputs from Conference organizers, prepares for and organizes conference material, displays of communication and advertisement on FAO channels;
• Ensures adequate information sharing with FAO supporting services and alerts of possible areas of problems.
• Trains and coordinates Conference Staff, plans for their work schedules and related assignments, follows-up on the developments of the sessions and rearranges the support as required, working in close collaboration during the entire session;
• Ensures Conference staff are assigned effectively through collaborative and extensive contact with meeting organizers, to ensure a smooth and effective delivery of meeting services;
• Acts as a focal point for any issue arising during the session;
• Contributes to the smooth processing of meeting rooms booking requests and establishment of sessions;
• Undertakes marketing researches to improve quality and cost-effectiveness of conference related services;
• Promotes and pilots innovative working tools, to ensure state of the art provision of conference support;
• Performs other duties as required.

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CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements
• Advanced University degree in Social Sciences, Political Sciences, International law, international relations or another field relevant to the work of the Organization
• Three years of relevant experience in conference management or government-relations activities in an inter-governmental or international environment
• Working knowledge of English and limited knowledge of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish)

Competencies
• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building effective relationships
• Knowledge sharing and continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

• Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions is desirable
• Extent and relevance of experience in in supporting high level events in a large organization and/or in conference management activities
• Demonstrated ability to draft and edit documents
• Knowledge and understanding of rules, regulations, statutory and legal instruments of FAO, in particular those pertaining to the establishment, functioning and procedures of Governing Body meetings is considered an asset
• Understanding of the functioning of UN agencies and the UN system is considered a strong asset
• Ability to engage other service units in the development of innovative working tools/methods;
• Understanding of FAO mandate and programmes is an asset.