Executive Assistant

POSITION DETAIL

Job title: Executive Assistant

Organization: Lifebox

About us: Global nonprofit making surgery and anesthesia safer worldwide

Team: Operations

Reporting to: Chief Finance and Administration Officer

Key relationships: Global leadership team (including CEO, CFAO), Lifebox Global Governance Council (board) chair and members, vendors

Location: Remote

FTE: 100%

Background

Lifebox is a growing and dynamic global health non-profit dedicated to saving lives by improving the safety of surgery and anesthesia around the world. Lifebox works to increase anesthesia safety, reduce surgical infection rates, and strengthen operating room teamwork through tools, training, and partnerships. Since its founding in 2011, Lifebox has worked in 116 countries and trained more than 14,000 healthcare providers. Lifebox is registered as a charity in Ethiopia, Liberia, the UK, US, with nearly 50 staff and affiliated faculty, and an operating budget of nearly $4M supported by individual donors and foundations. To learn more, see: www.lifebox.org

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

Provide effective administrative, logistical, and financial reporting support to the Lifebox global team and senior leadership, including to the CEO and the Lifebox Global Governance Council (made up of Lifebox board members). Facilitate effective communication with internal and external stakeholders, and manage key processes and procedures, including coordinating and organizing travel and meetings.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

Roles and responsibilities include:

Executive administrative support and coordination

• Provide efficient administrative and logistical support to the senior leadership of Lifebox, including the CEO, CFAO, CPO, as well as the Global Governance Council Chair and members.
• Ensuring effective calendar and meeting management, including the following:
  • Planning and scheduling Global Governance Council, Leadership Team, and All-Team meetings and tasks as required, including scheduling, inviting relevant stakeholders, and coordinating all required meeting documentation.
  • Develop and update the annual organizational governance and management calendars with key engagements and deliverable deadlines, implement reminders to relevant stakeholders to submit requirements, track compliance with calendar, and coordinate that all calendar deliverables are received on time and to standard by the agreed date.
• Draft meeting documentation including agendas, minutes, resolutions, and meeting invitations in a timely fashion.
• Manage the quality of all documentation being prepared for the Global Governance Council consideration by working with the CEO, LT, and Council members to prepare documents, including committee reports, proposals, and memos, checking for accuracy, relevance and completeness.
• Provide support for the Leadership Team, All Team, and other meetings and processes as requested.

Travel Coordination

• Coordinate local and international air travel, accommodation, and transport for all staff traveling for Lifebox business.
• Engage with the approved travel agent, briefing on travel requirements, coordinating travel changes, addressing travel issues, and checking travel booking accuracy as required and as per policy.
• Ensure that international travel is conducted successfully by coordinating travel allowance, security assessments, invitations to international stakeholders, checking and coordinating of vaccines/immunization requirements, online check-in etc.
• Coordinate the capture and maintenance of the travel log.
• Manage travel service providers by addressing travel errors or queries, addressing SLA non-compliance and making recommendations on contract renewal or extension.
• Reconcile travel expenses with individual team members, vendors, and the Lifebox finance team.

Meeting Management

• Coordinate key in-person and virtual Lifebox meetings (LT, Global Governance Council, etc) logistics and travel, including budget, identifying special needs and requirements, travel, and sourcing other service providers as required and in line with relevant policies and procedures.
• Manage event service providers by clearly defining contractual requirements, managing delivery against defined requirements, and addressing non-delivery as and when required.
• Manage that events are successfully attended by drafting invitations and reminders, distributing and managing RSVP within set timelines.
• Conduct post function evaluation by identifying lessons learnt, successes experienced and reporting on events including recommendations on future events.
• Reconcile event spend post event by collating all expenses and reconciling with allocated event budget, addressing issues.

General Administrative support

• Provide any other administrative support to the CEO, CPO, CMO, and CFAO (by receiving requests, addressing, resolving and completing as per standards and deadline, as and when required)
• Draft correspondence and letters/Memos/Emails .
• Type, edit and format documents
• Prepare presentations.
• Provide effective support to ad-hoc projects and events

This job description is intended to reflect the main duties and responsibilities of the post and is not an exhaustive list of duties. The post holder may be required to undertake other duties which are commensurate with the role. The job description may be subject to change, subject to the needs of Lifebox after discussion with the post holder.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

The successful candidate will have great organizational and communication skills, excellent written and spoken English, the ability to think laterally and deliver results while always remaining action-focused. A high level of integrity and discretion in handling confidential information and professionalism in dealing with senior professionals inside and outside the organization is imperative.

Formal education

• Basic degree in Business Administration or equivalent required

Experience and skills

• 5+ years Administrative Assistant experience
• 2 years Board / Council engagement and Executive Assistant experience is preferred
• Proven ability to write in English in a professional manner and to proofread the work of others for accuracy and to maintain Lifebox style;
• Experience maintaining administrative systems, including setting up, planning, and supporting face-to-face and virtual meetings; taking accurate minutes; ensuring information sharing, and preparing effective agendas;
• Experiencemaking travel arrangements
• Ability to manage competing demands, often against tight deadlines;
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and use discretion when managing relationships at a senior level;
• Competent in a range of Google Suite and Office programmes, as well as familiarity with project management and database tools;
• Experience of record keeping and budget monitoring;
• Willing and able to take responsibility for project work within agreed parameters.

Desirable

• Non-profit experience
• Knowledge and understanding of the global health sector.
• Fluency in additional languages (French, Spanish, Amharic being particularly useful);

Additional requirements

• Must be available for meetings and collaborative work during a significant portion of major African, UK, or Western European time zones.
• Travel may be required for team, project, and Council meetings.

Competencies

• Problem solving
• Coordination
• Service orientation
• Attention to detail
• Conscientious
• Professional
• Interpersonal skills
• Communication skills (Written and Verbal English)
• Stakeholder management
• Planning
• Maturity