Administration Officer at Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa

Opportunity Description

• This work will focus on supporting democracy and free and fair elections in Africa. Areas for exploration will include identifying the right national approaches and regional efforts to strengthen democracy across Africa.

Role Purpose

• Administration Officers are assigned to Senior Directors, Managing Directors, Directors of Programs and VPs; they take on advanced executive assistant responsibilities to enable leaders to focus on strategic value activities. Examples activities could include logistics support, events management, schedule management, preparing briefing materials, presentations, contracts administration, credit card reporting, and travel arrangements.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage a wide range of administrative and executive support tasks, including events management and logistics support
• Support Senior Directors/Managing Directors and VPswith administrative functions, including coordinating schedules, planning complex stakeholder meetings/events, and researching/arranging logistics
• Serve as a critical communications liaison between the Senior Directors/Managing Director/Directors of Programs, VPs, Operations Directors, and the OSF Network as a whole, exercising considerable discretion and working under limited supervision
• Generate and prepare a variety of materials in advance of routine and special engagements, preparing briefing materials, meeting agendas and logistics notes, presentations, and reports as needed
• Take notes in meetings and supports project management as required

People Responsibilities (Total Team/DRs
No
Key metrics
N/A
Key internal relationships

• VP Programs, Senior/Managing Directors, Executive Assistants, Department Directors, Global Operations, Grants Management

Key external relationships

• External organisations and vendors relevant for event management and logistics

Qualifications
Essential:

• N/A

Essential
Experience

• Multiple years of prior experience in providing executive support services. This is inclusive, but not exhaustive, of extensive diary management (for leaders), group meetings arrangements (for senior leaders), proactively creating meeting agendas, expenses management and taking high-quality meeting notes for multiple stakeholders across multiple locations globally
• Proven expertise in event planning and delivering to an exceptional standard; supporting senior leaders and convening geographically dispersed teams
• Experience in working with external partners to support events, meetings and the support of executive leadership
• Proven experience in collaborating, engaging and supporting multi-region stakeholders (operating in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia as well as The Americas)
• Track record of effectively managing contracts and managing invoices; this includes full completion of Contract Access Business Owner and Payments Training (3 Day Instructor-led course)
• Multiple years of prior working experience and functional expertise within this specific department either at Open Society Foundations or other international organisations.

Competencies
Functional Competencies

• Excellent writing and communication skills with the ability to express ideas, request actions, and/or formulate plans or policies
• Ability to effectively plan, organize, and prioritize activities to efficiently meet objectives (within a complex and multi-geography environment)
• Ability to manage, analyse data and draw insights for managers
• Proficiency in office software and technology (e.g., MS Office Suite).
• Attention to detail and problem-solving skills
• Professional discretion and judgement in dealing with confidential information

Personal Competencies

• Commitment to listening and working with humility; ways of working that are respectful to all people; and that support space and voice for all diverse perspectives in our workplace
• Demonstrates commitment to OSF’s core values of humility, commitment, collaboration, respect, inclusivity, and integrity
• Willingness to adjust working hours to include calls and discussions with colleagues and vendors located in various geographic regions
• Commitment to continuous learning and growth in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, antiracism and social justice
• Managing Change - Ability and skill to demonstrate a change mindset as well as plan, execute and monitor activities during times of change whilst keeping performance levels up
• Able to build consensus with diverse audiences/stakeholders
• Possesses cultural sensitivity to work respectfully and effectively in different settings

Languages

• Fluent knowledge of English
• Fluency in local language for this position
• Knowledge of other languages (appropriate to the location and/or opportunity focus) would be an asset