The Regional Office for the Near East is headed by the Regional Representative who is the senior representative of the Director-General in the Region. The Regional Representative is the Director-General's main adviser with respect to the Organization's policy in the Region and is responsible for monitoring and advising on appropriate working arrangements with regional organizations and keeping the Director-General informed of major developments and trends in food and agriculture in the Region as a whole.

The Regional Representative is responsible for the overall planning of FAO activities in the Region and ensures a multi-disciplinary approach to problems and programmes; identifies priority areas of action for the Organization in the Region and, in collaboration with departments and divisions at Headquarters, advises the Director-General on the incorporation of such priorities into FAO's biennial Programme of Work and Budget; provides managerial and administrative leadership and support for the implementation of approved programmes in the Region; monitors the level of programme implementation and draws attention to any deficiencies in order that corrective measures and policy guidance can be assured; receives allotments and provides support to all the staff allocated to the Regional Office. The technical quality of the normative and operational work of the staff assigned to Regional Offices and the coherence of activities between countries and regions is ensured by the departments, divisions and offices at Headquarters.