EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT & INFORMATION MANAGEMENT OFFICER

What we do

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) works worldwide to provide humanitarian assistance to people affected by conflict and armed violence. We take action in response to emergencies and at the same time promote respect for international humanitarian law. We are an independent and neutral organization, and our mandate stems essentially from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. We work closely with National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and with their International Federation in order to ensure a concerted, rational and rapid humanitarian response to the needs of the victims of armed conflict or any other situation of internal violence. We direct and coordinate the international activities conducted in these situations.

Purpose

The Executive Assistant and Information Manager reinforces the support team that ensures the smooth functioning of the Office of the Director of Operations.

Reporting to the Chief of Staff, the Executive Assistant works as part of a team (i.e. sharing certain of the tasks mentioned below with a second Executive Assistant) that provides executive and administrative support to the leadership team, is responsible for the information management and contributes to the effective management of the Office of the Director of Operations.

Responsible for managing the information flow to and from the Department of Operations s/he keeps up with evolving technologies and ensures both fast access to essential information and compliance with information management requirements. In terms of executive support, s/he is highly versatile and independently organizes meetings and events, supports the annual planning and monitoring process, drafts presentations, correspondences and internal messages as well as carries out research to support the leadership team’s decision processes.

In terms of administrative support, s/he manages the agenda of the Director and is in charge of administrative and logistical aspects of his travel arrangements. S/he also ensures the proper reception of high ranking interlocutors and carries out general secretarial tasks.

Accountabilities & Functional responsibilities

Executive support to the leadership team of the Department of Operations

• Preparation of documents for the regular meetings of the Directorate and the ICRC governing board meetings and ensuring that deadlines are respected at all times;
• Independent organization of meetings and events, predominantly for internal audiences ranging from 30 up to 200 participants and preparation of background documents and  speaking points;
• Participation in meetings and key events (working groups and task force meetings) and taking minutes of meetings / summarizing of action points;
• Independent research on specific topics to inform discussions among the leadership team as well as to support decision making processes ahead of internal- and external meetings;
• Production of presentations and other communication material and drafting, editing and where needed translation of messages, correspondence and speaking points;
• Representing the Department in certain technical working groups as appropriate;
• Support the leadership team in the use of Business Intelligence dashboards and make relevant extractions.

Information Management

• Ensuring efficient information flows in the Department and that institutional policies and procedures are applied;
• Ensuring the follow-up of email correspondence in support of the Director and managing the generic email account of the Directorate of Operations (attribution and transmission of messages to personal email accounts of the concerned members of the leadership team);
• Filing of email messages with institutional value (both in the generic team-box and the personal email account of the Director);
• Management of the collaborative working space of the Directorates leadership team and the support to the various business units within the Directorate in the creation and maintenance of collaborative working spaces (“Team Spaces”);
• Focal point for the ICRC intranet in terms of publications of new appointments, ad-hoc information and other articles;

Administrative Support to the Director and the leadership team

• Managing the personal agenda of the Director of Operations, his Strategic Advisor and the Departments Chief of Staff as well as coordination of the calendar of the Department (yearly planner);
• Organization (planning, logistics and administrative follow-up) for missions abroad for the Director, his Strategic Advisor and the Department’s Chief of Staff in coordination with the internal travel office (flights, visa, hotels) and with Delegations in the visited contexts;
• Preparation of background dossiers for missions abroad (in coordination with Delegations visited);
• Organization, planning and logistics of all aspects pertaining to receiving high level visitors, including protocol related aspects and serving of refreshments and coffee;
• Maintains and updates the organization chart of the entire Department of Operations;
• General secretarial tasks (formatting of correspondence, printing of documents, and others);

Support for the Directorate of Operations’ annual planning and monitoring process

• Supporting the internal planning, budgeting and monitoring process by ensuring that relevant planning tools, including advanced excel tables, are continuously improved and kept up to date;
• Directorate’s focal point for technical support on the use of the Planning and Monitoring Tool;
• Keeping track of the number of actual FTEs of the Directorate as compared to the approved budgets and identification of gaps.

Support for the Directorate of Operations’ HR processes

• Preparing internal job creation and replacement requests relating to HR processes;
• Organizing recruitment workflow and in particular recruitment interviews;
• Preparing and organizing workplaces for new recruits and replacements and processing of ICT requests for the creation of required ID’s and ordering of ICT material;

Certifications / Education required

• Excellent command of English and French (verbal and written);
• Advanced computer skills, including Microsoft Office Suite (Power user skills in excel and ability to develop compelling PowerPoint presentations and asset), SharePoint and IBM Lotus Notes
• Bachelor’s Degree an asset

Professional Experience required

• At least 5 years of professional experience in a support function at executive level in an international organization or private company;
• Demonstrated capacity to oversee and continuously improve information management processes and practices;
• Data & digital literacy and experience with emerging ICT tools;
• Experience in accompanying organizational changes.

Desired profile and skills

• Strong organizational skills with an ability to prioritize, anticipate needs and take initiative;
• Proactive, dynamic and solution oriented;
• Information gathering and monitoring skills;
• Problem analysis and solving skills;
• Attention to detail and accuracy;
• Ability to work under pressure and maintain calm and focus;
• Committed to teamwork and collective performance;
• Service and customer oriented;
• Discrete and able to maintain strict confidentiality

Additional information

• Location :                           Geneva
• Type of contract :               Open ended
• Activity rate :                      100%
• Estimated start date :        January 2019
• Application deadline :    30.10.2018