Short Term Staff - Team Assistant

African Development Bank Group; Pretoria; On-site; ZAR 50,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading pan-African development institution is seeking a Team Assistant in Pretoria to provide administrative support for efficient division operations. Key responsibilities include managing workflow, coordinating communication, and maintaining documentations. Ideal candidates will have at least a Bachelor's degree in a relevant field, exceptional organizational skills, and proficiency in Microsoft Office and SAP. This role offers a chance to contribute to impactful projects across Africa.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in relevant field required.
• Knowledge of administration and office support services is critical.
• Ability to communicate effectively in English or French preferred.

Responsibilities

• Manage workflow and document correspondence.
• Coordinate communication and appointments for the Senior Director.
• Maintain filing systems and manage office supplies.
• Support travel arrangements and office administration tasks.

Skills

Administration and office support knowledge

Coordination skills

Interpersonal skills

Problem solving

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business Management, Commerce, or Administration

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

SAP

Job description

THE BANK :

Established in 1964, the African Development Bank is the premier pan-African development institution, promoting economic growth and social progress across the continent. There are 81 member states, including 54 in Africa (Regional Member Countries). The Bank’s development agenda is delivering financial and technical support for transformative projects that will significantly reduce poverty through inclusive and sustainable economic growth. In order to sharply focus the objectives of the Ten-Year Strategy (2024 - 2033) and ensure greater developmental impact, five major areas (High 5s), all of which will accelerate our delivery for Africa, have been identified for scaling up, namely : energy, agro-business, industrialization, integration and improving the quality of life for the people of Africa. The Bank is seeking to build a management team that will lead the successful implementation of this vision.

THE COMPLEX :

The core mandate of the Vice Presidency (ECVP) is to lead the Bank Group on prioritizing the generation, analysis, dissemination, brokering and implementation of relevant knowledge solutions in all High-5 operational priorities and the cross-cutting themes of its Ten-Year Strategy. Such solutions must be a clear response to priority development challenges facing regional member countries (RMCs), individually or collectively and need to involve RMCs in both the planning and implementation of the solutions. The solutions include : (i) research on major development issues facing Africa and their relation to global economic governance and other major global public goods; (ii) country diagnostics and future perspectives; (iii) policy dialogue and advisory services; (iv) economic, sector, and thematic knowledge work; (v) improving national and sub-regional statistical systems; (vi) preparation, design and support to the implementation of public financial management and Governance operations; (vii) capacity development for policy formulation and implementation; (viii) technical assistance and advice related to RMCs’ management of natural resources; and (ix) knowledge dissemination and development of national, regional, and inter-regional knowledge networks.

THE HIRING DEPARTMENT / DIVISION :

The mandate of the Country Economics Department is to position the Bank at the center of socio-economic knowledge-led Country and Regional strategies, policy dialogues and operations. The Department leads the knowledge work that informs (i) the production of Country and Regional Strategy documents, including the Country Strategy Papers, Regional Integration Strategy Papers, Country Diagnostic Notes, and Regional Diagnostic Notes to inform country lending programs, (ii) Regional and Country Economic Reports : produces the Regional Economic Outlooks Reports, the Country Focus Reports, and the African Economic Outlook Country Notes to update on the economic, political and social developments in the country, (iii) Policy Dialogue : the department plays a key role in Country / Regional policy dialogues and in the Bank’s collaboration with other Development partners, including participation in Country Thematic Groups in line with Paris Declaration on Aid effectiveness and Accra Plan of Action, and (iv) Economic and Sector Work : the Country Economics Department leads in the research and analysis of economic and sector issues at the country level to inform the design of Bank’s strategy and programs in the country. The Country Economics Department is composed of the Office of the Senior Director ( the Lead Economists report to, and two (2) divisions, each overseen by a Division Manager : The Country Economics Department Division 1 (, which covers Central, North, and West Africa, and the Country Economics Division 2 (, which covers Nigeria, Eastern and Southern Africa. The two (2) Division Managers and the Lead Economists report to the Senior Director of the Country Economics Department.

THE POSITION :

The job of Team Assistant which falls under General Support Services that provides administrative

support for the smooth running of the Division, ensures that the Division Manager is freed from all tasks which could otherwise impede the efficient discharge of high duties and responsibilities.

Each Department has its unique functions, but the Team assistant works more or less uniformly irrespective of the Departments to assure hitch-free operations within the office of the respective Division.

Accordingly, the Team Assistant’s job facilitates and contributes to the success of the Division Manager in performing his / her role for the achievement of the High 5s.

KEY FUNCTIONS :

Under the General guidance and overall supervision of the Division Manager, the Team Assistant will perform the following :

a) WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT

• Receive and register all incoming and outgoing documents of the Department.
• Ensure that documents presented for Senior Director’s signature are complete, with necessary attachments and background documents.
• Draft general or administrative correspondence on own initiative or on the basis of instructions and finalize for the Senior Director's signature.
• Verify that outgoing correspondence is presented in accordance with the Bank’s accepted formats and check on probable typographical errors, presentation, completeness and procedural accuracy of all documents submitted to the Senior Director for clearance, approval or signature.
• Review and classify priority and important correspondences and submit accordingly.
• Follow-up and ensure that target dates and deadlines are met using appropriate tracking tools, and that
• correspondence and queries are responded to in a timely manner.
• Channel correspondence for action by the Senior Director or send directly to the concerned Divisions, if necessary.

b) COMMUNICATION AND LIAISON

Receive visitors and telephone calls with tact and discretion, and act according to the nature and urgency of each, including redirecting to the concerned divisions, as appropriate.

Screen Senior Director's calls / visitors, make appointments for visitors to meet the Senior Director or the Division Manager concerned.

Provide background information to the Senior Director for appointments with official visitors and / or staff members.

Relay information between Senior Director, Division Managers and other staff members of the department.

Follow up on work deadlines with Division Managers.

Schedule weekly team and ad hoc meetings for the Senior Director, according to schedules and Senior Director's Agenda for the week.

Arrange time and venue for meetings, collect necessary background materials of meetings needed from the relevant Departments / Divisions; Remind Division Managers and other staff members about scheduled meetings.

c) RECORD KEEPING AND DOCUMENTATION

Maintain a filing system in both hard and soft copies to meet the needs of the Department.

Keep a weekly calendar of activities that shows all meetings to be attended by the Senior Director as well as by other staff members. It also includes all external visits to the Department.

Obtain briefing and background materials for meetings, seminars, workshops, etc. to be attended by the team's staff, checking their availability and ensuring they have the appropriate briefing files and documents.

Maintain Contact address / Mailing directory of partners working with the Department

d) OFFICE ADMINISTRATION, BUDGET AND FINANCE

Make travel arrangements for the Senior Director including tickets, hotel reservation, etc.

Assist in preparation of presentations using PowerPoint and other software packages on own initiative or on the basis of instructions.

Perform other office administration tasks (photocopies, emails) when the need arises; administration, budget and finance.

Assists in and advises the Senior Director and Managers on a variety of administrative and personnel matters.

Establishes stock control system for the management of office supplies and other bank properties (Personal computers, printers, etc.); centralizes requests for office supplies submitted by staff within the department and makes provisions in order to ensure distribution of the required items.

Negotiates with TCGS allocation of appropriate office space for the Unit by providing justifications; responsible for organizing and coordinating office moving operations.

Contributes to preparation of budget of department as Mid-year budget retrospective by : Collecting facts and presenting them for decision making; recording data, monitoring and reporting on the department budget implementation level.

Initiating actions on expenses to be incurred, processing requests for recruitment of short-term staff and consultants, missions, with particular attention to the procedures, follow-up of the required travel authorizations, contracts and payments.

Arrange travel, visa and accommodation for staff going on missions.

Initiate and prepare various administrative documents and forms, such as staff list, Staff missions, training programs, staff absence (annual leave, home leave, excused absence and maternity leave) as well as statistical data when required on staff.

Manage create process reports in SAP.

Store inventory control, reception, management and distribution of promotional items.

COMPETENCIES : (skills, experience, and knowledge) :

Hold at least a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management, Commerce, Administration or related

discipline.

Training in secretarial Science and / or Administration and Office Management is advantageous.

Having private sector experience will be an added advantage.

Good knowledge of administration and office support services, including systems and procedures.

Good coordination skills - methodical and self-organized.

Demonstrable commitment to delivering excellent customer service focused reception and administration service.

Good interpersonal, planning and organizational skills.

Ability to think quickly to respond to immediate requests.

Flexibility to adapt, positive attitude towards change, and a constructive and creative approach to problem solving.

Proficiency in the use of standard equipment (computer, fax, scanner, photocopies, etc.).

Communication.

Problem Solving.

Client Orientation.

Team working.

Operational Effectiveness.

Innovation and Creativity.

Attention to detail.

Ability to communicate effectively (written and oral) in English or French, preferably with a working knowledge of the other.

Competence in the use of standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, SAP and / or other integrated document management system).

THIS POSITION DOES NOT ATTRACT INTERNATIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS. THE POST HOLDER WILL BE CONSIDERED A SHORT-TERM STAFF (local staff)