Office Coordinator & Executive Associate

Location: London, UK

Salary: £29,844 – £32,231 per annum (B1-B5 scale)

Contract Type: Permanent (subject to 3-month probationary period)

Commencing: ASAP

Line Manager: Senior Executive Support Officer

LOE: Full-time; 100%

About Internews

Internews works to ensure access to trusted, quality news and information that empowers people to have a voice in their future and to live healthy, secure, and rewarding lives. We envision a world where everyone can communicate freely with anyone, anywhere, and exchange the news and information they need to shape their communities and the world.

For 35 years and in more than 100 countries, we have worked with our local partners to build hundreds of sustainable organizations, strengthened the capacity of thousands of media professionals, human rights activists, and information entrepreneurs, and reached millions of people with quality, local information, improving lives and building lasting change. On issues ranging from health and the environment to conflict and governance, Internews has developed approaches that harness the power of media and information to create positive change.

Internews is a charity operating internationally, with administrative centres in California, Washington DC, London, and Paris as well as regional hubs in Bangkok and Nairobi. Formed in 1982, Internews currently has offices in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and North America.
Registered as not-for-profit organisations in the US and the UK, Internews operates within a formal Anglo-American strategic alliance working in partnership to deliver global programmes according to a shared vision and joint strategies.

Our commitment to a culture of belonging

Internews is passionate about our core values and about supporting positive change in the world. We pride ourselves on our commitment to innovation and flexibility. We believe that diverse teams are strong teams, and work to support an ethic of belonging, dignity, and justice for all people. Our current team includes a mix of genders, parents and non-parents, the self-taught, and people of multiple races, nationalities, ages, sexual orientations, and socio-economic backgrounds. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourage candidates of all races, genders, ages, abilities, orientations, ethnicities, and national origins to apply, and actively welcome those with alternative backgrounds and experiences.

Logistics

Internews Europe has a UK office in London which supports a hybrid workforce with staff working remotely, fully in-office and partially remote.

About the role

The Office Coordinator & Executive Associate will be based in our London office full-time, with time shared between regular London-office management duties and support to the CEO and other Senior Directors as needed. The role will rarely be the same from day to day and will therefore provide ample opportunity for the job holder to acquire new skills and on-going professional development.

Executive Support (50%)

• General executive assistance to the CEO: diary management, travel planning/booking, expense reimbursements, support to/attendance at external meetings, general correspondence.
• Formatting and proofing of written & financial reports.
• Other corporate (ad-hoc) special projects as required.
• Attends management/senior management meetings and is responsible for an up-to-date action and decision log.
• Assisting the Senior Executive Support Officer with board meeting arrangements and preparations including: building presentations and papers preparations, trustee travel support and minute taking of all board meetings.
• Support the organisation of Internews events.
• Managing speaking engagements for the CEO in collaboration with External Affairs.

Office Management Duties (50%)

• General administration as required: call handling and forwarding, front door access controls, post management, post requests, staff access, etc.
• Support of facilities management: oversight of cleaning and maintenance contractors, management of office supplies and procurement, equipment maintenance requests, liaison with building management.
• Facilitating work from home set-ups and procurement and coordinating distribution to personnel as requested.
• Facilitating new starter set-up in collaboration with HR & IT inclusive of onboarding, office orientation, etc.
• Responsible for ensuring a clean, safe, tidy, and professional office environment at all times.
• Ensuring the office is health and safety compliant with collaboration with HR and maintaining a knowledge of UK regulations for workplace management.
• Manage any office security systems and accounts, fire drills, fire equipment maintenance, or required inspections.
• Manage corporate relationships and partnerships such as shipping vendors, office accounts, and more.
• Facilitate and manage procurement needs for facilities management including stock maintenance of office supplies and inventory oversight;
• Supporting staff in the office with questions, inquiries, and support needs.

Person Specification

The applicant must demonstrate how they meet each of the requirements below through their application and at their interview.

Essential:

• Prior experience in a similar role
• Ability to work in-person from the London-office at least 4 days a week
• Demonstrable experience dealing with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders at varying levels of seniority and public profile
• Ability to communicate effectively with people at all levels, and build collaborative working relationships
• Outstanding written communication skills
• Ability to gain trust of senior colleagues through careful handling of confidential information, acting with the utmost discretion at all times
• Ability to set priorities, handle multiple assignments and manage time effectively
• Ability to work effectively under pressure and demonstrate a calm, confident and flexible approach to work
• Proficient in Microsoft and other common software application packages
• Fluent spoken and written English

Desirable:

• * Relevant higher academic qualification/s or equivalent professional experience
  • Working experience in other international development NGOs or similar organisations
  • Knowledge of international development, independent media and/or issues around the freedom of information
  • Additional international language skills, especially French, Spanish, Arabic or Russian

Recruitment Timeline

Closing date: 27^th February 2022

Candidates must submit a succinct covering letter of no more than 1 page explaining how they satisfy the requirements of the person speciation in addition to a CV highlighting relevant experience. The successful candidate will also be asked to provide three professional referees, one of whom must be from their most recent employer.

The above noted job description is not intended to describe, in detail, all the tasks that may be assigned but rather to give the job holder a general sense of the responsibilities and expectations of his/her position. As the nature of business demands change so, too, may the essential functions of this position.

This position will be located in the United Kingdom and therefore a successful applicant must both be present in the UK for the duration of the assignment and obtain the Right to Work in the UK in order to commence their employment.