Administrative Assistant - 12 months contract

Merck; Midrand; On-site; ZAR 200 000 - 300 000; Full time

Job summary

A global pharmaceutical company in Midrand is seeking an organized Administrative Assistant on a 1-year contract. The role supports the Medical Affairs Team and involves calendar management, financial tasks, and vendor coordination. Ideal candidates should have experience with financial tasks, strong communication skills, and attention to detail. Apply today to join a dynamic team in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Experience with financial and budget tasks, good with bookkeeping and Excel.
• Able to understand pharmaceutical and clinical terminologies.
• Attention to detail.
• Good communication and people skills.
• Able to prioritize work and provide status reports.

Responsibilities

• Manage calendars, meetings and handle confidential issues.
• Coordinate hiring and onboarding of new hires.
• Manage payments and track expenses/budget.
• Process purchase orders and payment requests in SAP.
• Work well with team members and provide updates.

Skills

Customer Service

Database Management

Detail-Oriented

Document Management

Event Planning

Office Administration

People Oriented

Prioritization

Scheduling

Vendor Management

Tools

SAP (Comet & Ariba)

Job description

Job Description

Please note that this position is for a 1-year contract.

Administrative Assistant

Are you a detail-oriented & organized individual? Do you thrive in a fast-paced environment & passionate about teamwork? We are currently seeking an Admin Assistant to join Medical Affairs South Africa. If you are prepared to offer essential support to our team and contribute to the success of our business, we invite you to read on and apply today!

This role will report to the Head of Medical Affairs and will be based in Johannesburg, South Africa.

What we are looking for is someone who has:

• Experience with financial and budget tasks – i.e. good with bookkeeping, good with numbers within an Excel sheet.
• Able to understand pharmaceutical, clinical terminologies.
• Attention to detail.
• Good communication and people skills.
• Able to prioritize work and provide status report on a regular basis.

Medical affairs and our team need support on:

• Manages calendars, meetings and meetings minutes, prepares correspondence, and reports, and reliably handles confidential and politically sensitive issues.
• Coordinate hiring and on-boarding of new hires. Also handle resignations/off-boarding.
• Understand the processes involved with suppliers, vendors, contracting and payment, and manage payment & track expenses/budget appropriately as per various therapeutic areas that the different team members handle.
• SAP (Comet & Ariba) experiences inprocessing purchase orders, payment requests, and vendor add forms, as well as the ability to run expenses & budget reports within SAP.
• Able to work well with the team members and provide updates with effective and clear communication.

Required Skills

• Customer Service
• Database Management
• Detail-Oriented
• Document Management
• Event Planning
• Office Administration
• People Oriented
• Prioritization
• Scheduling
• Vendor Management

Preferred Skills

• Communication

Current Employees apply HERE

Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully
Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company. No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails.

Employee Status: Temporary (Fixed Term)

Flexible Work Arrangements: Not Applicable

Job Posting End Date: 11/13/2025

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.