School Meals Accelerator - Business Support Assistant G4

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS

1 July 2026-23:59-GMT+01:00 Central European Time (Rome)

ABOUT THE SCHOOL MEALS ACCELERATOR

School Meals Accelerator (the Accelerator) is the fifth and newest initiative under the School Meals Coalition, operating as an independent initiative while being hosted by the World Food Programme (WFP). It is designed to support governments to scale and strengthen their national school meal programmes and turn their ambitions into real impact. Acting as a network catalyst and convenor, the Accelerator mobilizes resources and expertise from the right partners to deliver strategic technical assistance where it matters most.

The Accelerator’s mission: unlock the full potential of national school meal programs by improving design, scaling investment, and fostering collaboration across education, health, and food systems. It embraces a systems-thinking approach, adapts to country priorities, and thrives in deep collaboration among global, regional, and local actors. The Accelerator’s ambition: to help low- and lower-middle-income countries reach an additional 100 million children by 2030, making school meals a cornerstone of human capital development and a global standard of care.

The Accelerator operates in conditions of high complexity. Because it operates as a network facilitator rather than a traditional organization, its work spans multiple countries, organisations and institutional logics, and seeks to support system-level change rather than the delivery of predefined solutions.
For this reason, the Accelerator has adopted a systemic leadership approach, which accepts that pathways to change are non-linear, and progress depends on learning, adaptation and collaboration across boundaries. Working in this way places ongoing demands on those involved and requires leaders who are able to work productively with uncertainty, difference and incomplete authority while maintaining accountability for results. Joining the Accelerator team therefore means being part of a first-of-its-kind development enterprise: a systems-focused effort to drive lasting, country-led change that requires a willingness to learn, adapt and be shaped by the work as it evolves.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are seeking to fill the position of Business Support Assistant G4 for the School Meals Accelerator, based in WFP Headquarters in Rome, Italy.

Please note that this vacancy announcement is being issued internally and externally. For more details, please check the Terms and Conditions.

Only applications received in English will be considered.

The Business Support Assistant provides routine operational and administrative support to the School Meals Accelerator team, contributing to the smooth delivery of business support services. The role supports front office operations, logistics, data management, and administrative processes, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and compliance with established procedures.

By delivering well-organized and reliable support, the Assistant enables colleagues to effectively implement the Accelerator’s activities and contributes to the overall efficiency of the team.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES (not all-inclusive, nor exhaustive):

• Gather information with clear direction to support the drafting of documents and preparing reports by other staff.
• Respond to queries and escalate where appropriate, in order to provide a timely and accurate service to clients.
• Support processing and managing routine administrative and financial tasks in various functional areas, to contribute to the effective and timely management of resources.
• Provide revision and proof-reading services for standard documents, to contribute to the development of accurate documentation.
• Take responsibility for the maintenance of set standard systems and files, to ensure information is accurate and readily available for the function.
• Identify simple discrepancies in statistics and data, such as missing information, and report to senior staff in order to support clients to deliver their work.
• Take responsibility for data integrity to facilitate availability of accurate information in corporate systems.
• Work with a variety of individuals, taking on feedback where appropriate to assist in business support delivery for staff.

STANDARD MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

Education: Completion of secondary school education.

Experience: Four or more years of progressively responsible work experience in the relative business stream with experience in general administrative work.

Essential requirements:

• Experience in providing front office and general administrative support, including calendar management, coordination of meetings, and handling routine correspondence.
• Relevant experience in supporting travel and procurement processes, including knowledge of applicable rules and regulations for request preparation, purchasing, and record-keeping.
• Experience in asset management or office supply tracking, including maintaining accurate records.
• Good experience in using office software and corporate systems (e.g. Office365, ERP/SAP or similar tools) for data entry, document management, and administrative transactions.
• Strong organizational and communication skills, with the ability to manage multiple tasks, identify basic data discrepancies, and take appropriate action or escalate when required.
• Demonstrates strong client orientation, using tact and courtesy to effectively communicate, build relationships, and support coordination with a wide range of stakeholders.

​Desirable requirements:

• Experience supporting dynamic teams, with the ability to adapt to changing priorities and workloads, will be highly considered.
• Openness to testing ideas in uncertain environments and willingness to learn and develop new professional skills.
• Experience working in multicultural and multi-stakeholder environments, supporting coordination across different teams.

Language: Fluency (level C) in English language.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Please note that this is a local recruitment for a General Service Staff position; therefore applicants must:

a) be Italian citizen, or non-Italian citizen holding a valid legal permit to live and work in Italy; and

b) reside within commuting distance (100 km or 1.5 hours travel time) of the duty station in Rome, Italy (Via Cesare Giulio Viola, 68, 00148), or already live in the country and be willing to relocate to Rome at their own expense before taking up the assignment. Preference will be given to candidates who already reside within commuting distance of the duty station. Please note that WFP will not cover relocation or living expenses and will not provide assistance in obtaining and extending residency status or work permits.

WFP offers a competitive compensation package, determined by the contract type and the selected candidate’s qualifications and experience.
Rome salary scale: UN Salary Scale.

For Internal WFP General Service Staff in HQ:

• Contractual status: Staff on Fixed-Term contract and Continuing Appointment will remain on their WFP contract, with a letter amending the existing TOE to reflect their new duties with the Impact Accelerator. During their employment with the Impact Accelerator, they will be eligible to transfer, promotion or conversion to other appointments within WFP, and be considered as internal candidates for vacancies outside the Impact Accelerator within WFP.
• Accelerator position ends for Continuing Appointments: In the event the Impact Accelerator position ends and the position is abolished, WFP would have a duty to use “every reasonable effort” to ensure that the staff is placed elsewhere in the Programme, subject to the availability of suitable posts. If no suitable post is located, termination could be pursued subject to WFP rules.
• Accelerator position ends for Fixed-Term staff: staff will be separated when the Fixed-Term contract expires. Before this, staff could apply for available WFP positions at HQ and be considered as internal candidates.

For External candidates:

• Contractual status: Candidates will receive a Fixed-Term contract with specific conditions around the contractual duration/modality only for the duration of the assignment in the Impact Accelerator. They will not be entitled to any transfer, promotion or conversion to other appointments within WFP, nor be considered as internal candidates for vacancies outside the Impact Accelerator within WFP. Once the contract ends at Accelerator, the employment relationship will end.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

The School Meals Accelerator is committed to ensuring an inclusive, accessible, and supportive recruitment process for all candidates. If you require a reasonable accommodation at any stage of the recruitment process, please reach out to: global.inclusion@wfp.org. We will be happy to assist you.

NO FEE DISCLAIMER
The School Meals Accelerator does not charge any fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, processing, training, interviewing, testing, or any other). If you receive a solicitation requesting payment, please disregard it.

Please note that emblems, logos, names, and addresses may be misused for fraudulent purposes. We encourage you to exercise particular caution when submitting personal information online.

REMINDERS BEFORE YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION

• All applications must be submitted exclusively through our online recruiting system. We do not consider CVs or applications sent by email, LinkedIn, or any other channel.
• We strongly recommend that your Workday profile is accurate and complete, and that all sections are filled in, including your employment history, academic qualifications, language skills, and UN grade (if applicable). Once your profile is completed, please apply, and submit your application.
• If you experience technical issues while submitting your application, you may contact us at global.hrerecruitment@wfp.org. Please note that this email is only for technical issues with an application - unsolicited applications or documents sent to this inbox will not receive a reply.
• At the application stage, the only required documents are your CV and Cover Letter. Additional documents (passport, certificates, recommendation letters, etc.) may be requested later in the process.
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the recruitment process.

OUR WORK ENVIRONMENT

As the School Meals Accelerator is generously hosted within the World Food Programme’s facilities and administrative systems, we benefit from—and uphold—WFP’s strong commitment to integrity, inclusion, safety, and respect.

All hiring decisions are based on role requirements, merits, and the strengths each candidate brings, including their alignment with the Accelerator’s core mindsets and behaviors as per its Systemic Leadership Framework. In line with WFP—our hosting organization—the Accelerator is committed to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and safe work environment, free from discrimination, harassment, abuse of authority, and any form of sexual exploitation or abuse. As part of this commitment, all selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Lastly, no appointment under any kind of contract will be offered to members of the UN Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), FAO Finance Committee, WFP External Auditor, WFP Audit Committee, Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) and other similar bodies within the United Nations system with oversight responsibilities over WFP, both during their service and within three years of ceasing that service.