Senior Administrative Assistant, Core Team, Country Support At GAVI Alliance

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership committed to saving children’s lives and protecting people’s health by increasing equitable use of vaccines in lower-income countries. The Vaccine Alliance brings together implementing country and donor governments, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners. Gavi uses innovative finance mechanisms, including co-financing by recipient countries, to secure sustainable funding and adequate supply of quality vaccines. Since 2000, Gavi has contributed to the immunisation of more than 981 million children and the prevention of more than 16 million future deaths.

THE ROLE

The Senior Assistant’s role will be to provide full administrative support to the Director and 3 Regional Heads in Core Countries team.

Key functions and deliverables:
• Timely, high-quality administrative support to Director and Regional Heads on cross-team issues;
• Proactive identification and addressing of issues and improvement opportunities related to the efficient functioning of the team;
• High degree of satisfaction by the Director and Regional Heads and other pertinent stakeholders regarding quality, timeliness, proactiveness of support provided to them;
• Productive collaborations with relevant Gavi Secretariat colleagues, external collaborators, country and partner agency counterparts.

MAIN DUTIES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide full administrative and secretarial support to Director and Regional Heads in Core Countries team;
• Provide calendar management, set meetings, take minutes, set agendas and follow up actions as required;
• Develop PowerPoint presentations and draft key talking points for Director;
• Oversee engagement of the team with the rest of the organisation, liaising regularly about meeting planning, preparations, and problem solving as needed;
• Help screen and prioritise incoming communications and workflow for the Director, determining necessary actions and follow up;
• Support large partner meetings, workshops and events as required and provide logistical support;
• Proactive engagement ensuring the Director and Heads are prepared for meetings by flagging key issues/tasks, setting aside calendar time and helping to identify next steps required, including agendas and materiels development and review when necessary;
• Maintain the business by tracking key deadlines, work projects, meetings, liaising across sub teams for input;
• Main focal point for office space planning and implementation;
• Organise informal catch ups between Director and team members, as well as informal events;
• Main focal point for the teams retreat and social events including researching venues, negotiating best rates, generating related PR/PO preparation of materials and finalise invoicing;
• Provide support for low value and independent consultants’ contracts including drafting ICAs, raising PR/POs, logistics and onboarding as necessary;
• Prepare travels and provide logistical support for the Director and Heads (including visa applications and expenses preparation) through the Gavi travel tool in compliance with Gavi travel policy, liaise with the Senior Country Managers for the details on the development of the mission, prepare folders of pre-reading documents when available);
• Provide effective support to cover leave or absences of the other Senior assistants;
• Other administrative or programmatic duties for the Director and Heads as needed;
• Act as focal point for the team budget and maintain it, including tracking and forecasting of expenditures, meeting with Finance on a regular basis, update and alert Director and Heads on budget related issues, ensure budget expenses are allocated to the correct activity code and cost center, provide support and inputs for budget development;
• Proactively update key lists, databases and websites (e.g., country contact list, distribution lists, country portfolio allocation, events calendar).

Note: The essential functions listed in this section are not exhaustive of the job responsibilities; other duties may be assigned consistently with the department needs.

QUALIFICATIONS

ACADEMIC

• Completion of at least two years of university education. Formal training in secretarial/administrative field highly desirable.

WORK EXPERIENCE

• Significant career in secretarial/administrative field showing of progressively responsible work; including directly supporting a Head/Director of a large private or public sector firm/organisation for at least five years;
• Skilled at building visually pleasing PowerPoint presentations and building and analysing excel spreadsheets;
• Proven ability to quickly adapt to a complex administrative and organisational environment;
• Experience working in an international environment is an asset.

SKILLS/COMPETENCIES

• High performer with a proven track record of operating in a high-pressure environment with tight timelines and with high confidientiality;
• Advanced secretarial and administrative skills, with excellent written and oral communications;
• Ability to work across multiple platforms, experienced user of Microsoft Office Suite including Outlook, Word, Excel and Power Point;
• Ability to multitask, tracking and managing priorities whilst ensuring day to day activities;
• Highly organised and structured, good planner with a high level of attention to details;
• Ability to interact and communicate at all levels of the organisation;
• Flexibility and willingness to work outside normal business hours as needed during peak periods or during urgent situations;
• Demonstrated team player, with the ability to operate in a multi cultural environment and establish harmonious and effective working relationships;
• Openness to share information when appropriate but discretion to protect sensitive information;
• Pro-active with an ability to anticipate needs of the Director and Heads.

LANGUAGES

• Written and spoken fluency in English essential;
• Written and spoken fluency in French is an asset.

CONTACTS

• All Gavi Secretariat teams and Gavi Leadership;
• Gavi Governance bodies; Gavi Alliance partners.