Administrative Assistant – SC 4

Organizational Setting

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) supports the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agri-food systems, for Better production, Better nutrition, a Better environment and a Better life, leaving no one behind. The main aim of the FAO country offices, which are headed by an FAO Representative, is to assist governments to develop policies, programmes and projects to achieve this transformation.

Reporting Lines

Under the overall and direct supervision and guidance of the FAO Representative in Bangladesh, the Administrative Assistant coordinates overall office support activities of the FAO Representation. He/She will have a wide latitude for independent action and will often have to handle sensitive and confidential matters with a high level of discretion.

The incumbent shall, at all times, ensure coherence with FAO’s corporate communication policy and operational guidelines for all communication and information outputs.

Technical Focus

The Administrative Assistant will work as part of a multidisciplinary team to ensure continuous engagement with office support actions, stakeholders and partners.

Tasks and responsibilities :

• Provide and coordinate communication, information, documentation, administrative and protocol support processes for the FAOR.
• Control the workflow of the FOAR’s office, prioritize, distribute and monitor work of subordinate staff for which the incumbent is the immediate supervisor.
• Receive, screen, file, distribute, draft, format, and monitor incoming and outgoing correspondence and documentation from and to the FAO Representative; select and abstract pertinent material for supervisor’s review; identify complex or sensitive material for special treatment; review outgoing correspondence and documentation for correct format, grammar, spelling and conformance with FAO and country policies and procedures; maintain a follow-up system.
• Screen and place calls; respond to telephone, e-mail and enquiries to the FAO Representative; refer non-recurring matters and difficult issues to respective units.
• Manage the calendars of the FAO Representatives; schedule appointments; brief the FAO Representative on matters before meetings and missions.
• Maintain control of records and files; follow-up on deadlines to supervisors and officers for their action; update the office’s contacts and meetings lists including spreadsheets, files, databases; provide Registry with master files containing key documents.
• Maintain records on administrative and office support policies, procedures and practices both in hard copies and electronically.
• Carry out administrative functions to support the activities of the FAO Representative including organizing travel and schedule arrangements.
• Coordinate meetings and events held in the country office by the FAO Representative, including the provision of meeting facilities, equipment, catering, making travel arrangements, coordinating logistics, preparing correspondence and assembling documents for participants.
• Take minutes at internal and/or official meetings, track actions and circulate related correspondence among relevant parties.
• Be able to effectively use standard office software, such as MS Office (Windows, Outlook, Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Project, Exchange and Internet) and administrative software and/ or other information systems and databases to insert data, make enquiries, retrieve/define ad hoc reports and analyses and edit results in appropriate format
• Perform other related duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

• University degree in any branch of agriculture, development studies, political science, economics, social science, or other related field is required
• Minimum 4 years of working experience in relevant field
• Working knowledge (level C)/ Proven track record of quality writing skills in English and Bangla
• National of Bangladesh

FAO Core Competencies

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

Technical/Functional Skills

• Communication: Encourages and contributes to clear and open communication
• Leadership: Ability to be accountable for the delivery of agreed upon results
• Effectiveness: Ability to execute responsibilities to a high-standard
• Ethics and integrity: Demonstrates high ethical behavior and understanding of norms of the Organization
• Punctuality: Timely completion of assigned task
• Self-Improvement: Ability to share knowledge and seek continuous improvement in performance
• Pro-activeness: Ability to take action as per project requirement

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION