TERMS OF REFERENCE: EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO REGIONAL DIRECTOR

Start Date:                     As soon as possible

Location:                        Kampala, Uganda, with some potential regional travel

Duration:                       Initial Three months’ probation contract renewable subject to performance

Reports To:                   SIHA Regional Director

  1. SIHA Background

The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) is a network of civil society organizations from Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Somaliland, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Uganda. SIHA’s Secretariat in Kampala provides programme support, guidance to active country programmes in Sudan, South Sudan, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Somalia in addition to carrying out regional programming and advocacy work. SIHA works on challenging all forms of violence against women and girls and works on women peace and security, mix migration access to justice and  women and girls social and economic marginalization.

SIHA is growing and expanding into a well-established Pan-African well-grounded women’s rights organization.

SIHA’s Values:

Equality | Solidarity | Ethical | Diligence | Transparency | Humility | Resilience | Critical-thinking | Discipline | Courageous | Integral | Empathy | Collectiveness | Determination | Rationality | Diversity | Innovation | Democracy | Learning | Self-critical

  1. Summary / Objectives of the EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO REGIONAL DIRECTOR position

The SIHA Regional Director leads SIHA operation across 7 countries including the regional secretariat (Uganda). She currently oversees a total of 40 staff and works in conjunction with SIHA Regional Board of Directors which comprises of 7 members, SIHA advisory teams comprising of 5 members and SIHA Program advisory team comprising of 6 members. The position of the “Executive Assistant” will provide support to the Regional Director including the RD written communication and  will facilitate support to the RD effective engagements  in leading SIHA work.

The ‘EA’ is to  provide professional-level administrative, operational and policy services as well as direct administrative assistance to the Regional Director, which may involve highly sensitive and/or confidential matters using independent judgment, tact and discretion . This is a position that requires comprehensive administrative, organizational and strategic support to the Regional director maximizing effectiveness at the secretariat office and country offices.

  1. Profile
  • Tactful, diplomatic, responsive and self-confident, with excellent communication and Strong writing and research  Skills  and abilities
  • Interpersonal skills, including knowledge of etiquette and ability to think on one’s feet,
  • Including the ability to prioritize and re-prioritize.
  • Flexible, committed and mature with ability to show initiative and common sense, plan own work, work unsupervised, handle multiple tasks, meet deadlines and work in a fast-paced environment under pressure and to tight deadlines
  • Excellent administrative and time-management skills, with excellent attention to detail and accuracy, and capacity to lead on specific initiatives
  • Knowledge of Health and Safety standards;
  • Possession of valid travel documents;
  • Ability to lead by example and demonstrate desire to share expertise, knowledge and skills with other team members;
  • Friendly and professional demeanor;
  1. Key Responsibilities

SIHA anticipates that the ‘EA’ focus will be on the following core responsibilities:

  • Maintain, update and manage an accurate electronic diary, mail and computer databases, clearly indicating priority of appointments, arrange and organize appointments, meetings and conferences which may include taking meeting notes , pre-meeting debriefs to the Regional Director and coordinating venues and arranging travel itineraries
  • Coordinate the Regional Director’s mission travel to the country offices, and ensure that all necessary documentation is in place.
  • Ensure that all incoming correspondence and communication is dealt with in a professional and timely manner as directed by the RD.
  • Undertake research for specific information using electronic resources and/or networking relationships with internal and external key stakeholders and also assisting the Regional Director in researching and following up with action on matters which fall within the Regional Director’s responsibility – constantly following up and acting immediately;
  • Ensure the Regional Director is fully briefed on, or prepared for, any engagements she is involved in through keeping and maintaining an accurate record of papers and electronics correspondences on behalf of the Regional Director;
  • To be the first point of contact for enquiries related to the Regional Director and ensuring that they are acted upon efficiently and to a high standard of effectively were necessary;
  • Provide full administrative and secretarial support to the Regional Director, including  editing reports, letters, articles and speeches where appropriate and Draft and/or prepare correspondence on behalf of the Director;
  • Ensure that SIHA’s membership and  Board members are given timely appointments, and communication shared effectively on behalf of the Regional Director;
  • Facilitated the Regional Director’s timely communication with SIHA’s Board of directors/advisors and, program advisory and SIHA management teams; 
  • Availability to work (occasionally) unsociable hours, evenings, weekends and public holidays when required;
  • Undertake any other duties which are consistent with the basic objectives and or/ duties of the post;
  • Candidate Key requirements

In order to fulfill the role of ‘EA’, SIHA envisions that the ‘EA’ will possess the following core competencies:

  • Currently holds a Master’s degree in Management, Social Sciences / Humanities / or any other related disciplines with at least 3 years of continued work experience in  relevant organization or holds a Bachelor degree in a relevant field and at least 5 years of continued work experience
  • Proven interest in women rights, social justice and commitment to inclusion, dignity, and respect for diversity;
  • Understanding of current challenges facing women and girls in terms of access to justice, human security, upholding of human rights, and social and economic well-being;
  • Possessing of strong sense of initiative and ability to manage a significant work-load;
  • Sense of curiosity and willingness to build skills while working;
  • Possession of a touch-typing speed of 40 words per minutes with 90% accuracy
  • Experience of electronic diary management
  • Excellent IT skills, including a working knowledge of presentation software packages, preferably Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint, outlook
  • Proven integrity and capacity to deal with sensitive information with discretion and to maintain confidentiality;
  • Excellent command of the English language, both verbal and written

To Apply

Interested Candidates are asked to provide their current CV and Cover Letter, expressing her/his motivation in applying and relevant experience/expertise, to SIHA’s Human Resources Department humanresourcesiha@gmail.com before 22nd of March 2019. Please enter “Application Materials: Executive Assistant to Regional Director”. Due to the anticipated volume of applications, please note that SIHA will contact only shortlisted candidates. We thank you for your interest in joining SIHA!