Team Assistant, AHGC0 at African Development Bank - AfDB

Reference: ADB/21/017
Location: Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
Grade: GS7
Position N°: 50000258

The Complex

• The Vice Presidency for ‘Agriculture, Human, and Social Development’ is a Sector Complex focusing on two of the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy High 5s priority of “Feed Africa” and “Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.
• The complex objectives are (i) to develop, policy and strategy; (ii) provide deep sector expertise to the Regions by gathering pools of experienced individuals who can be consulted to provide sector expertise on complex transactions; (iii) develop new financing instruments; (iv) the Vice President will act as the spokesperson to represent the Bank with external stakeholders on aspects of “Feed Africa” and Improve Quality of Life for the People of Africa”.

The Hiring Department:

• Within the Complex, the Gender, Women and Civil Society Department is designed to improve coherence and coordination across Complexes on Gender and Civil Society Organization issues. The Department ensures strategic priorities are reflected in resources allocation, enhances monitoring and management of performance, and strengthens the focus on results.
• The Department also houses a number of special initiatives including the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), a flagship program of the Bank that aims to bridge the gender gap in access to finance and unleash women’s entrepreneurial capacity across the continent.

The Position

• The Team Assistant provides secretarial and administrative support to the AHGC Department and its special initiatives, ensuring the day to day functioning of the Front Office, coordinating office management activities and managing the office’s interface with internal and external stakeholders.
• He / she will also support the preparation of the work programme and budget of the Front Office, follow-up on implementation and organize / coordinate internal and external events and missions of the Front Office.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the supervision of the AHGC Director, the Team Assistant will:

• Act as the first point of contact of the AHGC Front Office and support for internal and external stakeholders.
• Organize, manage and oversee the AHGC Front Office secretariat as well as special initiatives of the Department such as the AFAWA program.
• Perform administrative tasks and functions for the AHGC Front Office such as managing correspondence, processing / filing corporate documents in coordination with the relevant stakeholders.
• Manage the Director engagements including compiling invitations and meeting requests addressed to the Director and ensuring that relevant documentation, such as background information, briefing notes or talking points, are provided on time.
• Coordinate and schedule meetings and necessary arrangements for the Director and other members of the Front Office engagement with key stakeholders within and outside the Bank; Manage and maintain up to date the Director and other members of the Front Office’s calendars;
• Proofread routine documents prepared for the Director’s attention and signature, in consultation with relevant members of the Front Office team.
• Support the preparation, implementation and follow-up of the Department’s work plan and budget.
• Assist in the preparation and follow up of monthly, quarterly and annual corporate reports.
• Prepare and maintain an up to date monitoring system tracking all the documents, reports, memoranda, letters, concept notes and any other documents requiring AHGC Senior Management’s approval and / or clearance on a weekly basis.
• Provide and coordinate administrative support to the AHGC Front Office, including preparation of administrative forms and processing of requests in SAP, such as consultants’ recruitment and payments.
• Prepare and coordinate travel and accommodation arrangements for AHGC Front Office members.
• Ensure smooth relay between the Front Office and other complexes, external stakeholders and work in close collaboration and coordination with team members within the Department.
• Perform any other related tasks as assigned by the Director.

Selection Criteria

• Hold at least a Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent degree in Business Administration, Human Resources Management, Finance, Economics or other relevant fields, a degree in gender studies and / or social inclusion would be an asset.
• Preferably a minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience in a senior management office in a support function. Working experience in a multilateral development bank and / or in the field of gender equality and women empowerment and / or civil society engagement would be an asset.
• Ability to manage multiple, simultaneous and shifting tasks / demands and produce high quality work within short deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to work in a diverse and multilateral environment.
• Excellent administrative and typing skills & IT literacy; Ability to analyze and prepare reports.
• Excellent organizational, planning and problem-solving skills with attention to detail.
• High level of discretion, tact and sensitivity in dealing with internal and external stakeholders, and good mastery of protocol usages to observe in multilateral development banks.
• Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English and French. Working knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese is an asset.
• Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint); knowledge of SAP, SRAS and BPPS is desirable.