Program Assistant at African Population And Health Research Center (APHRC)

The African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) is a leading Africa-based, African-led, international research institution headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. APHRC conducts policy-relevant research on population, health, education, urbanization and related development issues in sub-Saharan Africa.

APHRC seeks to recruit a Program Assistant to provide administrative, coordination, and logistical support to the Training Unit within the Research and Related Capacity Strengthening (RRCS) Division.

Duties/Responsibilities

• Manage the Unit leader’s office and respond to queries in their absence;
• Manage meetings of the Unit, including preparing documentation and taking minutes, and ensuring timely sharing of meeting notes;
• Identify action points during meetings and follow up with the concerned parties to ensure accomplishment;
• Maintain an effective record and filing system for contracts, project activities, correspondences and documents for quick and easy reference;
• Manage conference and workshop logistics by preparing draft budgets, making travel and hotel bookings, sending invitations, preparing workshop materials and arranging for per diems and other reimbursements;
• Maintain grant reporting requirements and schedules in the Project Management System (PMS) and follow-up on project reports to ensure submission by due dates;
• Assist in proposal development process taking responsibility for administrative sections of proposal developed, ensuring all application requirements are met;
• Schedule appointments for the Unit leader and other members of the team as necessary;
• Assist course facilitators in preparing training materials including PowerPoint presentations; and
• Provide support in basic data analysis, report preparation including formatting of reports in accordance with specified templates, and sharing of the reports.

Qualifications, Skills, and Experience 

• Diploma in Education, Business Administration or related field.
• At least 3 years of relevant post-qualification experience in a busy office environment, preferably in an education or research institution engaged in capacity building as one of its mandate.
• Proficiency in MS Office suite.
• Ability to work with information that is both sensitive and confidential in nature.
• Good planning, financial and organizational skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Desirable

• Detail oriented, discreet, tactful, courteous.
• Ability to assess priorities and manage competing demands with minimum supervision.
• Experience working in a multidisciplinary and multicultural environment.
• Initiative and innovation in assessing situations, troubleshooting, conflict resolution, and teambuilding.