Executive Assistant Job in Kenya

Position: Executive Assistant (Education)

Location: Nairobi

Reporting to: Director of Education, East Africa (Nairobi). 

Functional Relationships: Director of Academics, Career Guidance and Counsellor (Nairobi), Heads of  Education (Somaliland, Ethiopia and Rwanda), Head of School (Ethiopia), Head of HR (Nairobi), C.E.O Pharo Ventures (Nairobi), Office and HR Manager (London), Office Manager (Nairobi). 

Job Description

The Pharo Foundation (“the Foundation”) is a privately funded entrepreneurial organisation that runs  philanthropic programmes as well as for-profit Pharo Ventures. The Vision of the Foundation is an  economically vibrant and inclusive Africa. The Mission is to achieve the Vision by investing in the human  and physical capital of Africa, with a strong focus on job creation.  

  Established in 2011 as a UK based non-profit, the Foundation has since made a strategic shift to directly  design and implement its own programmes to ensure greater engagement with communities, better  results and increased accountability. The Foundation has carried out numerous projects in East Africa,  with a focus on Ethiopia, Somaliland and Rwanda. The key themes for the philanthropic side of the  Foundation are education, health, water and agriculture. At the end of 2019, the Foundation started its  Pharo Ventures franchise to prioritise sectors where the Foundation believes a real impact can be made  by establishing self-sustaining businesses, which focus on job creation.  

 Headquartered in London, the Foundation has an operational Head Office in Nairobi, Kenya with country  offices in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa and Assosa), Somaliland (Hargeisa) and Rwanda (Kigali) with further  expansion plans in East Africa.  

Position Summary  

The Foundation aims to provide the highest quality education to children and young adults across East  Africa and is now actively looking for a driven and passionate individual who wants to make real change  in the education sector. There are currently 15 schools spread across Somaliland, Ethiopia and Rwanda,  with upcoming schools in Uganda and Kenya. The Foundation seeks to educate over 6,000 students,  spread over 7 countries in East Africa over the next five years. Our model seeks to educate children in low  resource settings where the greatest impact shall be realised.  

The Executive Assistant (Education) role is a career enriching position and an ambitious challenge for a  self-driven individual seeking to make an impact in the field of Education and in a professional office  setting by leveraging on their relevant skills and experience. This role will support a robust and growing  education division across East Africa with the objective of educating thousands of African children by  providing high quality and accessible education to those that need it the most.  

  S/He will be entrusted with the responsibility of establishing best in class office procedures and processes  within the Education division to enable efficient functioning and will be responsible for the execution of a  wide range of administrative tasks. 

Working in a collaborative fashion, with highly committed colleagues in London, Rwanda, Ethiopia and  Somaliland, this position offers an incredible opportunity to an individual who respects, understands,  embraces the local cultures, and can work within international work ethics and standards.  

Responsibilities

Executive Administrative Support 

 Schedules and coordinates business meetings and appointments for senior colleagues.    Organises travel bookings, including the preparation of itineraries and liaising directly with approved  service providers.  

 Takes the lead in the process of organising information databases and ensures secured storage in one  place, either electronically or physically.  

 Provides high quality administrative support to the Senior Education team, led by the Director of  Education EA, in compiling information and drafting high quality reports as per line managers’ instructions. 

Human Resources 

 Coordinates and liaises with external service providers in the education department and ensures  seamless follow up where and as is required, ensuring confidential electronic and/ or physical filing.    Assist line managers in recruiting new employees including adopting job descriptions and other HR  documentation to the Foundation templates.  

 Collaborate with the London office to post existing job vacancies on agreed websites and assist with  screening applications that do not meet minimum requirements.  

 Coordinate the issuance of new employee documentation as appropriate, after confirming that all  the required processes and checks have been successfully completed and signed off by the  appropriate line managers.  

 Assist in organising induction programs for new employees in the department and provide required  administrative and office management support. 

Qualifications

 The ideal person should possess a first degree in Education/ Human Resources/ Law and/ or Business  Administration or related equivalent. Membership of a professional association/certification in Office  Management will be an added advantage.  

 S/He must possess a minimum of five (5) years related professional experience, preferably with a  multicultural organisation.  

 Experience in providing office management support or working as an Executive Assistant to senior  level employees.  

 Strong analytical skills and the ability to maintain and implement effective office management  protocols.  

 Excellent proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office packages with a strong understanding of Word,  Excel and PowerPoint.  

 A self-starter with the initiative and ability to multi-task, work under pressure and meet deadlines.    Excellent communication skills and comfortable working senior level colleagues.    Strong numeracy and literacy skills.  

Behavioural Competencies  

 Dedicated team player with demonstrable experience in setting up best in class office management  procedures and systems  

 Problem solving and creative thinking skills with the ability to get results in unstructured  environments.  

 Self-assured, internally motivated and passionate individual driven to succeed and make a difference.    High levels of integrity, professionalism, resilience, accountability, commitment and determination.    Strong work ethics and a mature, professional proactive attitude.  

 Extremely organised and efficient with a high attention to detail. 

How to apply

Review of applications will begin as soon as they are received, and only complete applications will be  reviewed. In the event that an outstanding applicant is identified early in the search process, we reserve  the right to appoint before the deadline. For this reason, we encourage interested and suitably qualified  candidates to apply at the earliest possible time. Due to the high volume of applications, we regret that  we will only be able to contact short-listed candidates.  

Please send the information listed below, as a single PDF file, to the following email address:  recruiting@pharofoundation.org  

1. A detailed CV and Cover Letter 
2. An essay of no more than 1,000 words outlining:  

✦ What experience have you gained that makes you the most qualified candidate for the role? 

✦ What challenges do you foresee as an Executive Assistant and what steps will you take to  successfully resolve these, based on your experience and knowledge?  

3. A one-page list of five references with current addresses, phone numbers, and email contacts.  4. State on your application where you saw the advert for this position.