Business Support Assistant (Shipping)
Organizational Context
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian organization, dedicated to saving lives and building a pathway to peace and prosperity through food assistance. WFP operates in diverse and challenging environments, working with passionate colleagues to ensure effective humanitarian aid reaches millions globally. We foster an inclusive, multicultural work environment and invest in employee development.
Job Purpose
The Business Support Assistant (Shipping) will perform standardized processes to support efficient shipment planning and execution within assigned geographical areas. This role involves monitoring shipments, updating corporate systems with progress, and identifying/escalating issues. The incumbent will facilitate communication with various stakeholders, including shipping lines and port authorities, to ensure smooth operations. Responsibilities include researching and compiling information for reports, maintaining accurate databases for contracts, payments, and pipeline activities, and supporting risk mitigation by verifying shipment data. The assistant will also respond to queries, maintain filing systems for shipping documents, and contribute to emergency preparedness by supporting the timely movement of supplies. This position is crucial for the effective implementation of WFP's shipping and supply chain operations.
Responsibilities
The primary responsibilities involve supporting effective and efficient shipment planning and execution through standardized processes. This includes monitoring shipments within a designated geographical area, updating corporate systems with progress, and escalating any identified issues. A key aspect is facilitating smooth shipping operations by supporting communication and information exchange among various stakeholders such as Country Offices, shipping lines, freight forwarders, and port authorities. The role requires researching, compiling, and presenting information in standard formats to aid decision-making and ensure consistent stakeholder communication. Maintaining accurate and organized databases for contracts, shipments, payments, and pipeline activities is crucial for reporting requirements. Additionally, the position supports risk mitigation by verifying shipment data and documentation, identifying discrepancies, and escalating them. Responding to queries, maintaining efficient filing systems for shipping documents, and contributing to emergency preparedness by supporting the timely movement of humanitarian supplies are also essential duties. The role may also involve other assigned tasks to support overall shipping and supply chain operations.
Work Experience
The role requires experience in shipping, logistics, customs clearance, or transport operations. Candidates should have experience monitoring shipments, maintaining accurate records in logistics systems, compiling data for reports, and using corporate databases for tracking. Experience liaising with service providers, checking shipping documentation, and providing administrative support in a logistics environment is also beneficial. Experience in multicultural teams or humanitarian logistics is desirable.
Skills
Shipment planning and execution, Shipment monitoring, Supply chain stakeholder communication, Data compilation and reporting, Database and record maintenance, Risk mitigation, Query response, Filing systems, Emergency preparedness and response, Logistics, Customs clearance, Transport operations, Record keeping, Data analysis, Report generation, Database management, Liaison with service providers, Documentation verification, Administrative support, Multicultural teamwork, Humanitarian logistics, French language proficiency (French/English)