Executive Assistant to the Regional Director

Description

Ashoka Arab World

Terms of Reference

Executive Assistant (EA) to the Regional Director

Background:

Ashoka is the global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs—men and women with system changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social problems. Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. From its regional office in Cairo, Ashoka Arab World creates a competitive, entrepreneurial, and globally integrated citizen sector and develops the profession of social entrepreneurship. Ashoka currently works with more than 100 Ashoka Fellows located in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Bahrain, Tunisia, Libya, the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

Position Title: Executive Assistant to the Regional Director

Reports To:  Ashoka Arab World Regional Director (RD)

Location: Cairo, Egypt

Regular Office Hours: 9 am to 5 pm

Regular Working Days: Sunday through Thursday, with weekends on Friday and Saturday. However, as the Executive Assistant, there are effectively no set office hours, as the EA is obliged to respond to crises and demands when they arise.

Duties and Responsibilities:

General tasks: The EA provides continuous unconditional support to the RD in helping her achieve her objectives and goals. In doing so, the EA works closely with the Partnership and Communication Officer and the Regional Director’s Personal Assistant, as part of the Executive Team. This post calls for flexibility, excellent interpersonal skills, project coordination experience, and the ability to work well with all levels of internal management and staff, as well as outside partners.

This is a demanding role, but one that provides excellent opportunities for the right candidate to learn and develop skills for international careers in the social sector. The EA plays a vital role in the growth and smooth functioning of the Ashoka Arab World office, requiring someone who is comfortable innovating and solving problems, yet brings patience and persistence to the role.

Working closely with the Regional Director, the EA will assist her in many aspects of her work managing the AAW office (including, for example, staff management, fundraising, project management, internal operations, and financial management). There is great opportunity for the person in this role to expand their skills and experience as they are increasingly called upon to contribute to the office’s programmatic work – this could be anything from management and staff development to fundraising.  Sensitivity, confidentiality, and an ability to produce excellent work under tight deadlines are all essential requirements of this position.

The EA also assists the Regional Director with her work in various roles and positions outside of AAW. The RD, for example, is a public figure for women’s rights and sought out as an advisor to multinational donors. As such, the EA is in a unique position to be exposed to a wide variety of activity in the social development space in Egypt and the region.

Specific responsibilities:

1. Correspondence:
   1. Coordinate and follow-up on correspondence between the RD and any external parties or staff of the office (this could include Ashoka Global, other Ashoka country offices, partners, or other interlocutors).
   2. Send out specific emails from the RD to appropriate Ashoka Arab World staff members, as requested by the RD.
   3. Type and send out specific correspondence to appropriate internal and external audiences, as requested by the RD.
   4. Ensure that all emails are answered and followed up on in a timely manner.
   5. Research and create profiles of new contacts, as needed.

2. Scheduling: Ensure that the RD’s time is well organized through intelligent planning and management of her appointments and meetings in collaboration with the RD’s Personal Assistant.
3. Strategic Communication: Under the direction of the RD and in collaboration with the PCO, draft emails, letters, presentations, etc (as requested by the RD), to a range of audiences (including donors, partners, external parties, Ashoka Global, and others.)
4. Assist the RD in preparing documents for use by Ashoka Global or other Ashoka offices. This may include, documentation and communication that is related to talent, hiring processes, performance management, financial management, partnerships, or others, as requested.
5. Trips and Events Management: Handle the Regional Director's travel logistics, travel reports, etc, in collaboration with the RD’s Personal Assistant and other partners and AAW staff. Produce a personal schedule and trip packet for each trip. Schedule planning meetings and debriefing meetings and maintain hard and soft copy files for each trip.
6. Meetings: Take notes on and follow up with action items after all meetings of RD. Be present at all meetings and phone calls attended by the RD (as requested by RD) and take appropriate follow-up action.
7. Liaising/Follow-up: When appropriate, act as a liaison between RD and AAW staff and follow up on any pending or outstanding tasks within the AAW office. Establish and maintain follow up system to be sure that no task set by the RD remains outstanding.
8. Filing: Organize the Regional Director's files in hard and soft copies. File the Regional Director's personal items as per her requirements. Organize and update the files on the RD's computer and laptop and ensure that all proposals, reports, and other important documents are on her computer, laptop and flashdrives.
9. Research: Prepare research briefs on potential investors and partners, Fellows, and various other topics under direction of the Regional Director and as requested by her or by the Partnership and Communication Officer. Conduct research, as requested, for the RD’s personal writings (including her blog and her novel).
10. Under the direction of the RD, contribute to RD’s blog and portfolio of personal writing with drafts, edits and research. Work under the guidance of the PCO to promote English blog using social media. Follow up to ensure promotion of RD’s articles, blog entries, and media interviews through social media and tailored mailing lists.
11. Perform other tasks assigned by the Regional Director. The Regional Director has various roles and positions outside Ashoka Arab World – the EA provides support in those areas as well.
12. Performance management
    1. Together with her/his supervisor, the staff member will develop a performance agreement at the beginning of her/his term. This agreement will include goals, measures, and expected results and will be the baseline for the performance review to take place after the first six months and at the end of the year.
    2. Together with her/his supervisor, the staff member will develop an annual action plan. This plan will be created at the beginning of the year and updated on a monthly basis.
    3. The staff member will send a monthly report with all activities executed during the month; to be sent to Operations Manager, Financial Manager and Regional Director on the 25^th of each month.

Qualifications:

Education:        B.A. in a relevant field

Experience:      2 years of relevant field experience is required

Language:        Native fluency in written and spoken English is required; proficiency in written and spoken Arabic is a plus

Required Skills:

• Excellent writing skills
• Excellent communication (written and oral) skills
• Proficiency in Microsoft applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc
• Strong conceptual and analytical skills
• Excellent organization and problem-solving skills
• Ability to multitask
• Great attention to detail

The Person:

• Must be creative within her/his scope of work and very resourceful in problem solving
• Must understand Ashoka’s vision and work.
• Must demonstrate her/his commitment with social change.
• Must be a deeply trustworthy person – an ability to deal appropriately with sensitive and confidential information is absolutely integral to this role.
• Must be service-oriented and flexible.
• Must be detail-oriented and able to manage multiple high-priority tasks at once.
• Must be a team player with a high level of commitment.
• Must maintain cooperative working relationships and interact with others in a helpful, courteous and friendly manner.
• Must demonstrate sensitivity to, and respect for, a diverse population and be able to work with persons of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds across all areas of the world.

Work Conditions:

• We work normal office hours (9 a.m. until 5 p.m., five days a week) 50-60% of the time.
• We work until 6 or 7 p.m. at least 20% of the time.
• During major events, we work until 8 or 9 p.m. (25 % of the time)
• Sometimes, we work during holidays, if necessary. (10% of the time)

Compensation:

• Starting salary is LE 13,000 gross per month for the first year with a possible increase based on performance in the second year.