Job details

Senior Executive Assistant

Our client, a leading NGO based in the United Kingdom, is looking for an experienced senior Executive Assistant to work from their remote Cape Town office.

The role will support the NGO's COO; CKO; and CFO. As their EA you will ensure that they are working efficiently, collaborating effectively between themselves and the CEO, and delegating effectively to the Extended Leadership Team (ELT) – the 12 directors and assistant directors who report to the Chief Officers. Your main reporting line will be the COO.

You must be able to exercise discretion and diplomacy at all times, whilst dealing with the complexity and multiple demands made of the Chief Officers both internally and externally. Additionally, you must be able to prioritise, think independently and make decisions, alongside demonstrating exemplary discretion and organisational skills.

As an EA to the team you will be supporting the Chief Officers to work effectively and efficiently to include:

Extensive diary management, proactively managing calendars, and helping the Chief Officers to prioritise between them
Booking all travel arrangements - including flights, trains, hotels, and taxis and adapting those arrangements where required
Organising administrative tasks including booking meeting rooms, arranging team events, Leadership Team holiday management, minute taking, etc
Maintaining a good understanding of the wider work of the Extended Leadership Team and planning framework to ensure consistency and continuity of leadership from the Chief Officers
Collaborate closely with the CEO’s Executive Assistant , ensuring the Chief Officers are sighted on the CEO’s activity, to enable them to contribute and support as needed.
Use tools including Office 365, Teams, SharePoint and CoPilot tools to support Chief Officers. Continually work to improve processes to drive automation and efficiency across the Chief Officers, and between them and the CEO, and the ELT.
Conduct desk research and prepare any reports or documents as may be needed by any of the Chief Officers to deliver their roles and enable their teams to be as effective as possible

Problem Solving to include:

Dealing with unforeseen/unexpected issues and managing changing priorties with limited guidance and with the confidence and understanding to act and make decisions
Dealing with conflicting, confidential and often complex information with the ability to rapidly synthesise into options and or solutions

Project Management to include:

The facilitation of specific projects/programmes of work to ensure that the Chief Officers are fully briefed at all times and fully present when required. This could include internal and external projects and programmes ranging from task and finish groups to long term collaborative endeavours

Communication and Engagement to include:

Strong influencing skills to manage stakeholder expectations on behalf of the Chief Officers
Upholding the company values, policies and procedures
Ability to maintain high levels of confidentiality

To be successful in this role, you possess:

Knowledge

Extensive knowledge of business administration, gained through a relevant qualification or experience
Willingness to undertake training and development Skills
Manage workload from several sources and manage expectations accordingly in a diplomatic and constructive manner
Resilience and ability to work in a high paced environment
Exemplary organisation, planning and decision making skills
Excellent communication skills across multiple channels, organisational levels and with multiple stakeholders
Ability to build personal credibility with stakeholders and colleagues
Able to achieve desired outcomes through influencing others
Proficiency in MS Office applications, including strong Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint skills. Ability to learn new software and high level of digital/ IT literacy.
Demonstrable problem solving skills and thrives on finding solutions to problems and not afraid to manage conflict
Evidence of impeccable professional discretion and diplomacy skills
Proven ability to successfully prioritise multiple work tasks to meet strict deadlines in line with the internal and external customer expectations
Demonstrable research and analysis skills, with experience of gathering, summarising and presenting information for varying audiences.
Excellent English writing, editing, grammatical, organisational, research and report presentation skills

Experience

Proven and recent substantial experience performing varied, complex and confidential support to executive-level directors, ideally working as an Executive Assistant at C-suite/Board level in an international organization.
Knowledge and experience of general PA/secretarial/administrative processes
Experience with and a commitment to working with volunteers and/or volunteer led support groups
Influencing and managing senior stakeholders on behalf of the CEO/Director level roles
Experience taking minutes for Board and technical meetings, with an ability to grasp key information from wide- ranging discussions