Operations Assistant

Project Description

The USAID Africa Trade and Investment (ATI) program is designed to bolster the U.S. Government’s ability to boost trade and investment to, from, and within the African continent. The continent-wide program is USAID’s flagship effort in support of the Prosper Africa initiative and will expand and accelerate two-way trade and investment between African nations and the United States.

Driven by market demand, ATI embraces innovative approaches to achieve its goals. ATI is designed as a small, core set of centrally coordinated technical and institutional support activities, and a large, flexible performance-based subcontracting and grants under contract facility designed to support the needs and opportunities that USAID Missions and the private sector identify.

Overview of Job Description

The Operations Assistant is a long-term position which will provide operational, and administrative, support to ATI in the following areas: office management, administrative support to the project team and individual buy-in funded activities, procurement and subcontracts, compliance, and travel/security logistics. The Operations Assistant will work with the Operations, Activity, and DAI Home Office to support operational, finance, and procurement needs across the project and to support technical project management requirements as they arise.

Objectives and Duties

• Provide administrative and logistical support for operational project needs: management of office-related tasks, scheduling/invites, technology resources, orchestrating videoconferencing, reserving rooms, and maintain project calendars (ATI travel, reporting, evaluation panels, etc.);
• Provide administrative support for technical activities by reviewing invoices from consultants; supporting any operational procurements; coordinating meeting logistics (scheduling, notetaking); and coordinating travel and security logistics;
• Provide recruitment and onboarding support as directed (post positions, set up interviews, develop new hire onboarding schedules, maintain personnel folders)
• Assist with review of expense reports from project staff to ensure compliance with DAI finance and accounting procedures and project policies;
• Assist with review and submission of subcontractor invoicing, at the direction of the Operations Manager
• Develop and maintain discrete project trackers (procurement, deliverables, expenses, etc.) to ensure compliance and accurate record-keeping;
• Coordinate and track teamwide completion of mandatory trainings and software updates;
• Ensure that project inventory records remain up to date and that all inventory is tracked according to DAI policy;
• Maintain partner contact information and support mass communications with the ATI Partner Network;
• Support the maintenance of administrative records by saving and categorizing in a rational, straightforward hierarchy all documentation on shared file servers and project management systems in accordance with the project’s document saving protocol and norms;
• Support technical and operational procurements through document organization, note-taking, and working directly with the procurement team to ensure compliance with all DAI policies and procedures, in addition to audit support, as required
• Support subcontracting process through document review, support to price analysis, population of procurement modules in relevant ATI systems, and drafting of documentation related to the procurement process.
• Support development of templates and guides for procurement team and/or partner firms to support improvements in the procurement and subcontracting process.
• Support maintenance of CRM system to ensure partner information is up to date and complete.
• Support DAI Home Office in procurement efforts for the project including: subscriptions, IT equipment, goods, and services utilizing DAI procurement systems and compliant with USAID and DAI regulations and systems;
• Provide event and meeting organization support as needed;
• Support and participate in key meetings with rapporteur duties as needed;
• Coordinate travel logistics, country clearance, and other necessary security compliance measures for core staff and buy-in staff/consultants;
• Other administrative or operational support duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Required

• 0-2 years of relevant administrative, technical, or professional experience and a Bachelor’s degree;
• An individual with sound administrative skills, analytical ability, and strong operational focus;
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and shift priorities quickly without compromising quality of work;
• Ability to work in a cross-functional team;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
• Experience with Microsoft Office, including excel;
• Data/systems/file management.

Desirable but not required

• Experience in human resources and/or recruitment;
• Experience supporting domestic and international travel;
• Experience in event planning;
• Understanding of/experience in the international development field.

Reporting

The Operations Assistant will report to the Operations Manager