Administrative Assistant at IITA - International Institute of Tropical Agriculture

Duties
Administrative and Secretarial Support:

• Provide administrative support to the Unit, including drafting routine correspondence, scheduling meetings, maintaining records, and supporting communication flow.
• Coordinate meetings by scheduling appointments, preparing agendas, taking minutes, and tracking agreed action points to closure.
• Maintain calendars for key unit activities, deadlines, and administrative deliverables.
• Support the preparation, formatting, filing, and retrieval of routine administrative documents.

Unit Administration and Document Management:

• Maintain organized and up-to-date filing systems, both electronic and physical, for administrative, operational, and reference documents.
• Ensure that key administrative records, trackers, and registers are complete, current, and easily retrievable.
• Handle confidential information with discretion and in compliance with institutional policies.
• Support document control for routine laboratory administrative records, including version control, filing, and archiving.

Inventory and Supplies Coordination:

• Maintain accurate inventory records for office supplies, laboratory consumables, and other routinely used unit materials, as assigned.
• Monitor stock levels and support timely replenishment of approved supplies to avoid stock-outs or unnecessary overstocking.
• Maintain simple stock trackers and issue records for routine supplies and consumables.
• Support verification and documentation of received items against requests and delivery records.

 Procurement, Finance, and Travel Support:

• Prepare and process administrative requests related to procurement, travel advances, retirements, and other unit support needs in a timely manner.
• Enter and track Oracle system requests and follow up on approvals to support timely completion.
• Maintain trackers for pending requests, approvals, retirements, and other administrative transactions.
• Liaise with relevant support units to ensure completeness of documentation and compliance with institutional procedures.
• Support the organization of travel, workshops, meetings, and related logistics for staff and unit activities.

 Laboratory Operations Coordination Support:

• Support routine coordination of laboratory administrative workflows, including tracking requests, schedules, and operational follow-up as assigned by the Supervisor.
• Maintain simple logs and trackers for sample receipt, internal movement, status updates, and related administrative records, where applicable.
• Support coordination of shared laboratory activities by following up on timelines, documentation, and routine operational needs.
• Assist with onboarding and administrative orientation of interns, temporary staff, and other new team members as assigned.

 Equipment and Service Record Support:

• Maintain administrative records related to equipment servicing, calibration, maintenance schedules, and service reports, as assigned.
• Track service dates, pending maintenance actions, and documentation for key laboratory equipment.
• Support filing and retrieval of equipment-related documents for operational planning and audit readiness.

Reporting and Other Duties:

• Prepare simple routine summaries and status updates on administrative trackers, inventory status, pending requests, and follow-up actions.
• Flag delays, missing documentation, stock risks, and other routine administrative issues to the Supervisor in a timely manner.
• Perform other administrative and operational support duties assigned by the Supervisor

Qualification

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, Office Management, Pubic Administration or related courses with a minimum of two (2) years’ experience environment performing a similar role in a well-structured environment preferably in a laboratory, research, technical, or international development

Competencies:
The ideal candidate must:

• Experience maintaining trackers, filing systems, and routine administrative records with a high level of accuracy.
• Experience with ERP systems such as Oracle is an added advantage.
• Prior experience supporting procurement, travel, inventory, or operations-related processes will be an added advantage.
• Ability to manage multiple administrative tasks, maintain orderly systems, and follow through on priorities.
• High level of accuracy in documentation, data entry, filing, and record-keeping.
• Clear written and verbal communication, with the ability to engage professionally with diverse internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to handle sensitive information with discretion and professionalism.
• Strong ability to track pending items, follow up consistently, and close routine actions on time.
• Ability to identify routine administrative bottlenecks and escalate issues appropriately.
• Ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary environment.
• Ability to manage competing deadlines and routine operational demands.
• Flexibility to support evolving unit needs and additional assignments.
• Demonstrate proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.