Job Description

Key purpose:

The Assistant must be organised, dedicated, and self-directed, with excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to independently prioritise and multi-task. S/he must be comfortable working in a fast-paced office and interacting with business. S/he must be willing to occasionally work long hours.

 Duties and responsibilities:

• Manage the diary of the Supply Chain Manager. Co-ordinate and ensure the Supply Chain Manger schedules are well planned, followed, and respected.
• Prioritize conflicting needs; handle matters expeditiously, proactively, and follow projects to successful completion, often with deadline pressures.
• Answer and direct phone calls, write letters and emails on behalf of the Supply Chain Manager.
• Maintain contact lists.
• Act as a barometer, having a sense of priority of issues as they arise, keeping the Supply Chain Manger updated regularly and whenever necessary.
• Perform general clerical duties to include but not limited to photocopying, mailing, and filing.
• Maintain hard copy and electronic filing system.
• Document management - Receive, register, and dispatch all incoming correspondence.
• Manage and co-ordinate all logistical arrangements for all travel for the Supply Chain Manger
• Monitoring and co-ordination of project information
• Ensure that no confidential material is left lying around material to be safely stored.
• Co-ordinate, type and collate the submission of monthly progress reports for the Supply Chain Manager
• Support the Supply Chain Manager with research, abstracts, and preparation of information for meetings, projects, presentations, and reports.
• Assist with the management of workflow and systems in the Supply Chain Managers office.
• Handle sensitive information in a confidential manner.
• Coordinate office procedures
• Develop and update administrative systems to make them more efficient.
• Write out operating procedures and ensure they are kept current.
• Tender Applications assist in all aspects of completing the tender applications.
• Organize and schedule appointments and meetings.
• Transcribe and distribute meeting agendas and minutes for the Supply Chain Manager
• Attend all meetings as requested, taking minutes at all meetings, ensuring absolute attention to detail with no comebacks or corrections to be made afterwards.
• Follow up and ensure all outcomes of meetings are implemented as per the meeting minutes.
• File all meeting minutes for easy retrieval and reference at any point in time

Qualifications and experience:

• Matric
• National Diploma in administration or equivalent
• A qualification in secretarial and office management or equivalent
• Computer literate
• Minimal bachelors degree required.
• Minimum of 5 years relevant work experience or comparable combination of education and experience
• Three years experience at a senior secretarial level, preferably within the pharmaceutical environment
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), Adobe Acrobat, and social media web platforms
• Experience with reception duties
• Experience with meeting management

Skills and competencies:

• Familiar with administration policies, systems, and procedures
• Strong organisational skills that reflect ability to perform and prioritise multiple tasks seamlessly with excellent diligence.
• Emotional and intellectual maturity
• Resourceful team-player, with the ability to be effective independently.
• Ability to manage confidential information with discretion.
• Meet deadlines in a challenging environment.
• Able to use relevant software in particular the MS Office suite of packages
• A strong knowledge of MS Excel
• The use of general office equipment
• Strong computer skills including word processing, spreadsheets, graphical presentation, and Internet research skills.
• Project management, communication, presentation, and report writing.
• Practical skills such as the ability to set up presentations.
• Decision-making
• Problem-solving
• Customer service orientation
• People skills tact, diplomacy
• Initiative
• Flexibility
• Accountability
• High degree of computer literacy including particularly good typing skills
• Strong organisational skills
• Proficiency in filing and maintaining filing systems.
• Punctual