Projects Administration Officer (Temporary – Maternity Reliever) at African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP)

AFIDEP is looking to recruit a Projects Administration Officer (Temporary – Maternity Reliever) who will support project monitoring and management, proposal development, research, and provide administrative support to the Director of Public Policy & Knowledge Translation, who is also Head of Kenya Office. The position is based at our Nairobi, Kenya office.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Projects Management support

• Track the implementation of all projects under the Director’s leadership and provide early alerts on implementation challenges.
• Share upcoming project technical requirements and follow – up with various Project Team Leads for timely submissions.
• Maintain project calendars, coordinate and participate in project meetings and follow – up on action points.
• Track project contracts and donor-reporting requirements, and support in ensuring timely and quality project reporting and meeting projects requirements.
• Liaise with projects leads and compiling projects updates on a monthly basis.
• Identify synergies between projects to maximize efficiencies in time and cost.
• Create and maintain up-to-date database of project documents on SharePoint.
• Support in managing consultants – preparing ToRs and monitoring contract deliverables.
• Liaise with Finance to monitor project budgets and provide quarterly reports of burn rate.
• Follow-up with project leads and finance for financial reporting and planning for quarterly meetings.
• In consultation with project managers and project coordinators, prepare consolidated monthly reports on the projects and PowerPoint presentations as required.
• Provide administrative support in projects activities such as during trainings and workshops, such as sending timely invitations and following up with invited participants, and participating during the workshop to offer administrative support and note taking.

Administrative support to the Director’s office

• Manage the Director’s busy calendar to efficiently schedule appointments, organize email, flag urgent requests, and assist in drafting/composing correspondence as appropriate.
• Liaise with the communications team to publicize events that the Director is facilitating.
• Coordinate project travel arrangements as and when required; compile documents for meetings; complete travel expense reports.
• Work closely and effectively with the Director, ensuring they are well informed and apprised of upcoming commitments and responsibilities, and following up appropriately.
• Provide technical and administrative support for the Director’s effective contribution to Board functions and meetings, and support the Senior Management Team’s functions and meetings.
• Support with conducting literature review, mapping stakeholders, developing work plans and log-frames, project management, and preparing supporting documents.

REQUIREMENTS

• Masters’ Degree in a Social Science or Development Studies from a recognized institution.
• At least 3 years’ experience in administration, project management or communication.
• Project management training, with hands-on skills and experience in using project management software.
• Practical hands-on experience in project management in an international organization implementing multiple projects.
• Budget tracking skills.
• Proficient user of MS Office (particularly Excel and PowerPoint).
• Knowledge of best practices and industry standards for project management.
• Knowledge of international development or a demonstrated interest in poverty-related issues.
• Experience in proposal writing, finance or accounting knowledge is an added advantage.
• Advanced communication and writing skills in English (skills in French desirable).
• Excellent organizational skills, multi-tasking, and administration.
• Meticulous and effective at planning and monitoring work, and able to work well under pressure.
• Excellent interpersonal and effective team management skills, and collaboration across multiple functions and teams.
• The ability to understand and support the needs of diverse projects across an organization.
• Technological skills for digital databases management.
• Ability to uphold confidentiality, and be a person of high integrity and professional ethics.