Though contested by other departments, the EA team is clearly the best at PSI. EA is known as the innovation lab, a place where exciting new ideas in global health are tested. Currently, we have programs operating in Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Somaliland, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
We are looking for a temporary Program Assistant to support program management functions in the East Africa department. The Program Assistant (PA) will have wide ranging responsibilities and work with PSI staff at all levels both in Washington and overseas. The position requires flexibility and willingness to assume varied duties and projects with an emphasis on administrative and financial tasks. This position is based in Washington, D.C. and reports to the Senior Associate Program Manager for East Africa.
The position will form part of a regional backstopping team based in DC and Nairobi and will be expected to interact regularly with the Regional Office in Nairobi, the field offices in the region, as well as other departments in Washington including Contracts, Finance and Procurement.
The Program Assistant is responsible for providing administrative and financial support to the staff of the East Africa (EA) region, ensuring smooth and timely flow of work and will be assigned to support country offices. Duties include, but are not limited to the following:
- Provide dynamic and proactive administrative support to the Associate Program Managers, Senior Program Manager, Finance Manager, Subaward Manager, Financial Analysts, and Regional Directors
- Liaise with the Grants and Contracts department for review of contracts and budgets, and track/respond to issues
- Create review, update and realign donor budgets as assigned, and manage the project setup and modification process
- Review and process vendor and consultant invoices generated both through DC and the country offices; track and reconcile credit card activity and business communications expenses
- Support the review of monthly financial status reports review for assigned countries
- Collect and review supporting documents for audit requests
- Support maintenance of internal report management systems and tools
- Manage and organize departmental events such as: department meetings, retreats, team building activities, etc.
- Assist with travel arrangements for EA staff including: helping to secure visas for urgent travel, making hotel reservations, airport pick-up for visitors to D.C., and scheduling appointments
- Maintain existing departmental system of filing, classifying, and tracking country-specific documentation and support the design of tools and systems for knowledge management and information tracking
- Schedule and prepare for meetings and take minutes as requested
- Assist with regional expenses and reconciliation
- Other administrative and programmatic duties as assigned
- At least one year experience working in a fast paced office environment
- Experience living outside the United States and in multicultural environments preferred
- Advanced computer skills with strong Excel skills (and including MS Office applications)
- Excellent organizational and administrative skills with strong attention to detail and timeliness
- Proven ability to develop routines to manage large workloads and organize work efficiently
- Readiness to interact with a variety of people and assume diverse duties and tasks
- French language skills a plus
Successful candidates will be customer service oriented, exhibit excellent communication and interpersonal skills; have proven problem solving ability; be able to work efficiently and quickly under pressure; be able to prioritize and perform multiple tasks; and have the ability to work with minimal supervision and follow through on assignments. Preference will be given to candidates with a demonstrated interest in international health and development issues.
Icing on the cake
- Excellent interpersonal and communications skills; you feel comfortable speaking up when you have something important to say and have the ability to effectively interact with senior management.
- Mind for Process Improvement. You bring awareness and commitment to doing work effectively and efficiently. We want people who will see a way to streamline or improve a process and who won’t hesitate to share their ideas in making it happen.
- Champion of Fun. You support the idea that the team that works hard should play hard. We like people with a team attitude who smile and encourage others through both easy and tough tasks.
- Can-do Attitude. You can juggle multiple competing deadlines without getting flustered and with a sense of humor.
- Your Passion: You are passionate about international health and development issues.
- Organizational and Administrative Wiz. You love staying organized and paying special attention to details.