Bilingual Team Assistant at The West African Power Pool (WAPP)

Location: PMU Head Office, Abuja, Nigeria
Project Name: WAPP North Core/Projet Dorsale Nord Interconnection Project
Employing Institution: Project Management Unit (PMU) of the North Core Project
Reports to: Administration, Protocol and Logistics Officer with dotted line reporting to Executive Bilingual Secretary
Subordinates: N/A
Appointment: Full time, approximately 36 months
Language required: Proficiency in English and French

Project Background

• Within the framework of the West African Power Pool (WAPP), the Governments of Nigeria, Niger, Benin, Togo and Burkina are collaborating to develop a sub-regional interconnection project referred to as the 330 kV WAPP North Core Project. The project involves the construction of approximately 875 km of 330 kV transmission lines from Nigeria to Burkina Faso, through Niger, and Benin. The project will also involve the electrification of rural communities located within a 5 km radius on both sides of the line, and the implementation of several environmental and social mitigation measures. These include, among others, the implementation of Resettlement Action Plans (RAPs) to provide for persons and communities affected by project implementation activities.
• The project is being financed by the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), African Development Bank (AfDB), European Union (EU) and the World Bank (WB).
• Given the regional dimension of the project, and in order to enhance its coordination, Energy Ministers of the North Core countries agreed to put in place an institutional framework which includes the establishment of a Project Management Unit (PMU) to, among others, assist in the preparation and physical implementation of the North Core project.

Job Purpose

• The Bilingual Team Assistants will carry out a broad range of administrative tasks in both English and French to ensure the smooth administration and operations of the activities of the Project Management Office in Abuja. Jobholders will provide support to project departments they are assigned to.
• They will report to the Administration, Protocol and Logistics Officer, and have a dotted line reporting relationship with the Executive Bilingual Assistant.

Duties and Responsibilities
Key duties and responsibilities include the following:

• Support Senior Officers and Specialists with daily administrative duties and complete a broad variety of administrative tasks including drafting and typing letters, reports, memos and general correspondence, coordinating travel plans and logistics and compiling and formatting reports among others;
• Keep records of files and documents for the project administration and make them available for reference as and when required;
• Provide administrative and logistics support to organize official meetings including those for the JMSC, JSC, Evaluation & Tender Committees as well as prepare minutes of meetings;
• Maintain calendar of appointments for Senior Officers and Specialists;
• Receive and make telephone calls, screen incoming calls, take messages and essential information and prioritize calls to be returned by Senior Officers and Specialists as well as respond to mails as directed;
• Ensure follow-up on documents submitted to Senior Officers and Specialists for their attention;
• Translate correspondence and basic documents and reports for Senior Officers and Specialists and undertake basic interpretation during meetings when required;
• Meet and greet visitors to the PMU Office and guide them to offices of Project Senior Officers and Specialists;
• Create a system for capturing in-coming and out-going mails; ensure archiving and filing of documents for the Project Administration;
• Provide support in maintaining relevant administrative data bases for the Project Administration;
• Perform other relevant duties as may be assigned by the Administration, Protocol and Logistics Officer or the departments the jobholder is assigned to.

Qualification and Experience
The ideal candidate must have the following:

• A Bachelor's degree in Bilingual Secretarial Studies, Administration or related field with a minimum of three (3) years of work experience as a Bilingual Assistant (English and French); Or  
• Higher National Diploma (HND) or equivalent in Bilingual Secretarial Studies, Administration or related field with at least five (5) years of work experience as a Bilingual Assistant (English and French);
• Recognized certification in translation or proven experience in working within a bilingual (English/French) environment;
• Work experience in a donor-funded environment would be an asset.

Knowledge Requirements:

• Familiar with the use of office equipment such as photocopier, scanner, printer, binding equipment, etc.;
• Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other data processing software) and general computer skills; internet savvy.

Desirable qualities, skills and competencies:

• Excellent communication skills in both English and French – oral, writing, editing, grammatical, skills;
• Experience in the use of Office 365 Suite and SharePoint would be an asset;
• Experience in electronic archiving would be an advantage;
• Excellent typing skills, ability to average 60 WPM with very minimal errors;
• Ability to take initiative, and demonstrate professional discretion and diplomacy;
• Excellent time management skills, ability to pay attention to detail and work well in a team;
• Ability to work under pressure and manage stress.

Languages

• It is required that the Bilingual Team Assistant is proficient in English and French (Read, write, speak).

Duration:

• The contract is for a period of 36 months with a probation period of six months.

Performance Assessment:

• The performance of the Bilingual Team Assistant will be evaluated annually by the Administration, Protocol and Logistics Officer.
• Key performance indicators derived from the duties and responsibilities above, and agreed upon between the jobholder and the Administration, Protocol and Logistics Officer, would be used as the basis for measuring the performance of the jobholder.