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Job Title:  Executive Assistant (Admin NGO Jobs)

Organisation: StrongMinds

Duty Station:  Kampala, Uganda

About US:

StrongMinds treats depression among women of all ages in Africa, where access to mental health treatment is extremely limited. To date, StrongMinds has treated more than 70,000 women with depression in Uganda and Zambia. We are the only organization scaling a solution to depression in Africa with a potential to serve millions in the next ten years. Since our founding in 2013, we have restored mental health to more than 170,000 women and adolescents in Uganda and Zambia. We are the only organization scaling a proven, cost-effective solution to the depression epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa.

Job Summary:  The Executive Assistant provides executive support to the Country Director and serves as a liaison to the Board of Directors and Senior Management Team. The Executive Assistant serves as the primary point of contact for internal and external stakeholders on all matters pertaining to the office of the Director. The Executive Assistant must be innovative and be able to multi- task within an entrepreneurial environment that is mission-driven, results driven and community orientated. The ideal candidate will have the ability to exercise good judgment in a variety of situations, with strong written and verbal communication, administrative, and organizational skills, and the ability to maintain a realistic balance among multiple priorities. The Executive Assistant is required to work independently and must be able to work under pressure at times to handle a wide variety of activities and confidential matters with discretion.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

Executive Support

• Completes a broad variety of administrative tasks for the Country Director including: managing an extremely active organizational calendar of events, identifying opportunities & generating ideas to ensure strategic messages are delivered at all events involving the CD and supporting the CD to monitor activity implementation and reporting. Actively contribute to overall communications/events calendar,.
• Plans, coordinates and ensures the Director’s schedule is followed and respected; this includes scheduling appointments (both in person and Online); composing and preparing correspondence that is sometimes confidential; arranging complex and detailed travel plans, itineraries, and agendas; and compiling documents for travel-related meetings; proactively keeps the CD informed of upcoming commitments and responsibilities, as well as following up appropriately;
• Initiates and conducts a periodic scan of SMU’s operating environment keeping a breast with political, economic and social factors that may have a direct or indirect impact on our work reporting these as soon as they are realized for action of the CD and SMU Leadership team.
• Conducts background research on potential opportunities (partnerships, government directives, funding opportunities in partnership with members of the SMU LT, COO team and the Development Department) presenting these to the CD for further analysis.
• Communicates directly, and on behalf of the Country Director, with Board, donors, partners, staff and others on matters related to the Director’s programmatic activities;
• Provides a bridge for smooth communication between the Director’s office and internal departments; demonstrating leadership to maintain credibility, trust and support with senior management staff; May also support work flow between departments, implementing partners and external audiences to the right persons within the organization.
• Successfully completes critical aspects of deliverables with a hands-on approach, including drafting acknowledgment letters, personal correspondence, drafting papers, presentations and other tasks that facilitate the Director’s ability to effectively lead the organization;
• Prioritizing conflicting needs; handles matters expeditiously, proactively, and follows- through on projects to successful completion, often with deadline pressures; and
• Lead the process of development and implementation of the Country Director’s Office budget
• Manages the Director’s online presence , e.g., social media accounts, twitter feeds etc.
• Ensure the maintenance of a proper filing and records keeping system (both electronic and paper) for minutes of Country Directors meetings and other related documents relevant to the business continuity of the organization. The filing system should facilitate easy storage and retrieval of information but also ensure the safety of confidential information.
• Ensure availability of required office supplies, stationery, equipment etc. through the effective management of inventories for the smooth running of the office.
• Ensure that the ambiance in the Country Director’s office is well maintained and depicts the good organizational image

Board Support and Liaison

• Serves as the Director’s administrative liaison to the StrongMinds Uganda Board of Directors.
• Provide administrative assistance for Board meetings, including travel, venue logistics, maintain a proper filing (electronic and paper) and distribution of Board papers/ documents.
• In liaison with the Board secretary, prepare agendas and minutes of all Board and Board committee meetings, ensuring that action lists are availed and followed up by relevant persons in a timely fashion
• Prepare minutes and action points of the relevant meetings coordinated through the Country Director’s office.
• Maintains discretion and confidentiality in relationships with all board members.
• Adheres to compliance with applicable rules and regulations set in bylaws regarding board and board committee matters, including advance distribution of materials before meetings in electronic/paper format.

Senior Management Liaison

• Participates as an adjunct member of the Leadership Team including assisting in scheduling meetings, attending all meetings, and taking minutes
• Assists in coordinating the agenda of senior management team meetings and off-sites, and all staff meetings.

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Qualifications, Skills and Experience:

• The applicant must hold a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Mass Communication, Public Administration, or a related field required.
• Five to ten years of experience in supporting executives, preferably in an international non- profit organization.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) and social media.
• Strong organizational skills that reflect ability to perform and prioritize multiple tasks seamlessly with excellent attention to detail.
• Very strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with stakeholders, including staff, board members, external partners, and donors.
• Expert level written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated proactive approaches to problem-solving with strong decision-making capability.
• Emotional maturity.
• Highly resourceful team-player, with the ability to be extremely effective independently.
• Proven ability to handle confidential information with discretion, be adaptable to various competing demands, and demonstrates the highest level of customer/client service and response.
• Demonstrated ability to achieve high performance goals and meet deadlines in a fast- paced environment.
• Forward looking thinker, who actively seeks opportunities and proposes solutions.
• Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an international environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures

The Executive Assistant will also be expected to model StrongMinds’ core values:

• We are people focused.
• We think big and act fast.
• We are data driven.
• We do what we say and say what we do.

How to Apply:

All qualified and interested candidates should send their updated résumés and short cover notes to careersug@strongminds.org mentioning “Executive Assistant” in the subject line.

Deadline: 25th January 2023

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