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The School Meals Accelerator seeks a Business Support Assistant (G4) for front office and general administrative tasks, including calendar management, meeting coordination, and travel/procurement support. Four years of relevant experience required, with proficiency in office software and corporate systems.
Last checked: 3 hours ago
Closing date: Thursday, 2 July 2026
Country: Italy
Duty station: Rome, Italy
Contract type: Full time
Grade: Not specified
Applicant eligibility: Local / national only
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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):
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:
Desirable requirements:
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:
For External candidates:
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
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.
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