The World Bank is looking for a highly organized and proactive Office Assistant to be stationed at the Panama City Country Office, who will be the main provider of necessary administrative and logistical support. The recruitment is for a local position that contributes significantly to the smooth running of the office, which involves coordinating visiting missions, planning events, processing documents, and managing the office in general.
The ideal applicant will be a professionally fluent bilingual (English/Spanish) individual with outstanding personal qualities and at least three years of related experience. This position offers a unique opportunity to be part of the World Bank’s development mission in Central America from the operational side.
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Office Assistant – Panama Country Office
Job #: req35188
Organization: World Bank
Sector: Administration/Office Support
Grade: GA
Term Duration: 2 years
Recruitment Type: Local Recruitment
Location: Panama City, Panama
Required Language(s): English and Spanish
Preferred Language(s):
Closing Date: 1/5/2026 (MM/DD/YYYY) at 11:59pm UTC
Intro: The Operational Heart of a Global Mission
The wonderful collaboration and smooth operation of the World Bank Group were the main reasons for its influence in Central America. The Panama Country Office is in search of a proactive and well-organized Office Assistant who would become the central figure in ensuring that our teams stay focused on their mission: to deal with complex development issues.
You will be the operational backbone, delivering the required administrative, logistical, and coordination support to a dynamic group of professionals who are determined to eradicate poverty and create wealth for the entire region. This is a rare chance for a meticulous professional to establish a significant career at the point where administrative excellence and global development meet, and where your productivity directly supports life-changing work.
Context: Making an Impact in Latin America & the Caribbean
The World Bank Group’s Latin America and Caribbean Region (LCR) tackles major issues present across their 33 client nations such as growth, quality of employment, and resilience to shocks. The Panama Country Office, which is part of the Central America and Dominican Republic Country Management Unit (LC2), manages a diverse portfolio in a region where rapid development coexists with extreme poverty. Your job is to facilitate this important task by keeping the office that cooperates with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic running efficiently.
Duties and Accountabilities
You will be reporting to the Country Manager and receiving daily instructions from the Senior Executive Assistant, thus your role will be very important to the office, making sure that the operation is running smoothly and giving professional assistance. Your primary tasks will include:
Team & Mission Support: Take care of meetings, traveling, getting visas, and organizing events in any way one could need Help the operations teams not only by processing documents but also by strictly adhering to the established guidelines for lending and implementation support.
Visitor Coordination: Be a main point of contact for visiting missions, help in scheduling, and transportation and logistical arrangements and clearing the announcement process for the mission.
Communications & Office Management: Help in writing the internal communications such as the Panama Daily News. Update and keep the office’s master contact list, write routine correspondence, and organize and keep the filing and archiving systems. Operations: Support your co-workers to make sure that the workflow is smooth without any interruptions. Help in event preparation and take on other random tasks as needed to create and sustain a cheerful and effective office atmosphere.
Selection Criteria
We are seeking a professional whose main focus is on providing service and who will do well in a fast-paced, multicultural environment:
Education & Experience: A High School Diploma is a must (a College diploma is an asset) and a minimum of three years’ experience in similar administrative positions. Client service experience in a multilingual office environment is considered to be a strong advantage.
Language Skills: Bilingual (English and Spanish) full professional proficiency (writing and speaking) is a must.
Technical Proficiency: High-level understanding and operation of Microsoft Office applications (Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint).
World Bank Group Culture & Core Competencies
Exceptional Interpersonal Skills: The capacity to communicate with clients and personnel of all ranks in an effective manner and with cultural sensitivity.
Proactive Team Player: Very strong commitment to teamwork, integrity, and trust-building with colleagues and external partners.
Organizational Excellence: Excellent ability to follow directions, handle several tasks at once, set priorities wisely, and maintain a dedicated client-service attitude.
Eligibility: Local talents who are legally allowed to work in Panama without any employer restrictions will be the first choice.World Bank Group Culture & Core Competencies
The cultural attributes of the World Bank Group are going to be the main features of the person to be hired:
Sense of Urgency: Proactively and quickly gives the supports needed by the stakeholders.
Thoughtful Risk-Taking: Dares to change the current ways of working and thus get more influence.
Empowerment and Accountability: Gives the power to act to themselves and others and also takes the full responsibility for the results.
Delivering results for clients, collaborating within teams and across boundaries, and creating, applying, and sharing knowledge are the core competencies that we follow.
Offer
The World Bank Group’s benefits package is very attractive and includes a retirement plan; medical, life and disability insurance; and paid leave, including parental leave. We are an equal opportunity and inclusive employer and are thus able to attract a dedicated workforce. We do not discriminate based on gender, gender identity, religion, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.Application
The place of recruitment for this position is local and it is located in Panama City, with an initial contract duration of two years. The closing date for applications will be on the 5th of January 2026.
World Bank is the place to be for those who are very organized, very dependable, and very willing to support the operational success of a world-famous institution through their applications. You can apply by going to the World Bank Careers website and searching for Job #req35188.
