Meetings Associate

Job Title: Meetings Associate )

Job Type: Staff position, General Service category, Fixed-term 2 years with possibility of extension

Primary Location: Joint FAO/WHO Centre, FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy

Organizational Setting: The Secretariat of the Joint FAO/World Health Organization Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) operates within the Joint FAO/WHO Centre at FAO Headquarters. The Meetings Associate provides administrative, logistical, and documentation support for 15 to 20 intergovernmental multilingual meetings annually, including the CAC, its Executive Committee, and subsidiary bodies hosted in Rome, Geneva and other host countries.

Main Purpose

The Meetings Associate acts as the main contact and coordinator for all administrative, logistics, and documentation support activities for international meetings and conferences held at FAO. They ensure smooth preparation and organization of meetings and manage participant registration and accreditation in line with FAO policies.

Supervision Received/Exercised

The Meetings Associate reports to the Secretary of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and works autonomously. They provide guidance, training, and supervision to meetings support staff within the Division.

Working Relationships

The role maintains contacts with colleagues within the team, managers, staff, meeting participants, and external partners inside and outside FAO while coordinating meeting preparations.

Key Functions and Results

• Manage administrative support and arrangements for meetings and conferences held at FAO and serve as the contact person for all related issues.
• Screen, draft, and follow‑up on correspondence related to meetings and conferences, ensuring timely action on deadlines.
• Coordinate preparation of pre‑ and in‑session meeting documents, ensuring consistency of format and translation, and manage printing, dispatch, and storage.
• Assist in financial planning, record keeping, and drafting letters of agreement with host governments or other hosting organizations.
• Supervise logistics arrangements, ensuring availability of rooms, facilities, and equipment.
• Oversee administrative and personnel matters, preparing requests for conference staff and recruitment of temporary staff.
• Route communications and respond to complex queries from internal and external stakeholders.
• Distribute work and supervise meetings support staff and temporary staff recruited during meetings.
• Maintain and improve filing and storage of meeting data, including participant lists and correspondence, and compile required reports.
• Identify solutions to problems and recommend improvements to current work processes.
• Perform other duties as required.

Impact of Work

The incumbent’s work directly supports the efficient administration and organization of FAO meetings, playing a lead role in delivering the Division’s mandate.

Equal Opportunity & Diversity Statement

• 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 Members, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
• All staff are required to uphold FAO values and adhere to the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, and conduct.
• FAO has a zero‑tolerance policy for conduct incompatible with its status, objectives and mandate, including sexual exploitation, harassment, abuse, and discrimination.
• All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.
• Applications will be treated with strict confidentiality.
• FAO staff are subject to the authority of the Director‑General and may be assigned to any activity or office of the Organization.

Assessment Criteria

• Education: Secondary school education.
• Experience: Minimum five years of experience in administrative and logistics support of meetings and conferences.
• Languages: Working knowledge (proficiency – level C) of English; working knowledge of at least one other FAO working language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish) at level C or intermediate proficiency – level B.
• IT Skills: Very good knowledge of MS Office applications, Internet, and office technology equipment.
• Residency: Candidates must be nationals of the duty station country or possess a valid visa/work permit and reside within commuting distance of Rome.

Technical Skills

• Thorough knowledge of meeting procedures and conference registration systems.
• Thorough knowledge of the meeting cycle, planning, organization, procedures and classification.
• Good knowledge of corporate financial, travel and personnel systems.
• Very good knowledge of communication and documentation standards and related systems.
• Good knowledge of virtual meeting platforms (Zoom, MS Teams, WebEx) and digital information systems.

Desirable Qualifications and Skills

• Knowledge of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and subsidiary body meetings.
• Training and experience in administration, conference management, or event coordination.
• Experience supporting international, multilingual meetings and conferences, including UN intergovernmental meeting protocols and accreditation workflows.
• Experience with meeting registration systems such as Codex ORS, FAO Event Registration, INDICO‑UN, and Cvent.
• Experience in planning and supporting webcast, hybrid, and virtual meetings for a global audience.
• Experience in web editing and desktop publishing (e.g., Adobe Suite) for meeting documentation.
• Capacity to multitask and support multiple meetings in different preparation phases.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to liaise with high‑level delegates, government, and IGO/NGO personnel.

FAO Values

• Commitment to FAO.
• Respect for All.
• Integrity and Transparency.