Business Support Assistant SC5 - Programme Support, Coordination and Knowledge Management
Organizational Context
The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian organization, dedicated to saving lives in emergencies and building pathways to peace and prosperity. WFP utilizes food assistance to support people recovering from conflict, disasters, and extreme weather. The organization values diversity, inclusion, and a skilled, high-performing workforce committed to its mission.
Job Purpose
The Business Support Assistant will provide essential administrative and operational support to the Programme Unit, including field offices, to ensure efficient and effective service delivery. This role is crucial for maintaining integrated portfolio planning and coordination, managing workflows, and ensuring the smooth execution of programme activities. Key responsibilities include maintaining workplans and calendars, facilitating concept note and correspondence processing, and managing the programme document repository. The assistant will also support programme management meetings, compile management briefs, and track action points to ensure timely resolution. By standardizing processes, ensuring quality assurance of documentation, and providing day-to-day guidance, the Business Support Assistant contributes significantly to the overall success and continuity of WFP's programme operations.
Responsibilities
The role involves comprehensive integrated portfolio planning and coordination, including maintaining a centralized program-wide workplan with an activity tracker to monitor implementation timelines and operational milestones. This includes managing a real-time activity calendar for field activities, workshops, donor engagements, and stakeholder meetings, crucial for seamless collaboration and preventing overlaps. A meeting calendar for recurring and strategic meetings is also managed, alongside a work planner/tracker for mission preparation tasks and follow-up on escalation decisions. Additionally, a management action tracker ensures the logging, monitoring, and follow-up of outstanding action items from management directives. Workflow coordination is another key responsibility, encompassing the facilitation of concept note workflows, including serial allocation, quality checks, and routing for review and approval across management levels. Processing and quality-checking Notes for Record (NFRs) and managing official letters and correspondence, including review, quality control, tracking, and dispatch, are also vital. This involves ensuring documents are routed through appropriate clearance and approval channels, and monitoring workflow lead times and operational deadlines to ensure timely submission of deliverables. Guidance on business processes and documentation requirements is provided to colleagues, acting as a first point of reference.
Work Experience
Requires a minimum of five years of progressively responsible work experience within the relevant business stream. This experience should include general administrative duties and project management tasks.
Skills
Business Process Management, Project Coordination, Document Management, Workflow Facilitation, Data Analysis, Communication, Relationship Building, Confidentiality, Organizational Skills, Attention to Detail