Administrative Support Officer at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)

IITA is one of the world’s leading research partners in finding solutions for hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Its award-winning research-for-development (R4D) approach addresses the development needs of tropical countries. IITA works with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is a non-profit organization founded in 1967 in Nigeria and governed by a Board of Trustees. IITA works on the following crops: cowpea, soybean, banana/plantain, yam, cassava, and maize. It is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Administrative Support Officer
 
Ref No: IITA-HR-NRS2016-045
Location: Ibadan
Recruitment Type: National (3-year renewable contract) 

Responsibilities
Successful candidate will among other things perform the following duties:

Administration of IDMU and E-Research:

• Keeping records of all Unit’s activities and projects in MS Project, synchronized on SharePoint;
• Monitoring timely delivery of work plan items, task starts all deadlines, institutional calendars etc;
• To act as M&E focal point of the Unit;

Budget administration:

• Receiving intense hands-on training on all administrative issues with special respect on Oracle core application and relevant add-on modules;
• Keeping inventory data of the unit up to date and clarifying issues with Supply chain or other relevant unit;
• Handling internal workorder/facility /equipment requests and ready-to-sign-prepared purchased requests of the unit;
• Monitoring, updating and clarifying issues on cost centres of the unit with the Finance Directorate;
• Reporting on weekly basis;

Travel and meeting administration:

• Keep minutes of unit or E-Research meetings;
• Manage logistics of meetings, internal trainings etc. for IDMU, subunits and E-Research inclusive subcommittees (Open Access, Oracle, Com.);
• Manage meeting documents (invitations, agenda, attendance, presented documents/files, pictures, minutes);
• Manage travel arrangements (as far as not done by travel office);

Administration of personnel:

• Keep unit’s leave calendar up to date;
• Handle all administrative matters of interns, consultants and guests;
• Collaborate with Corporate Administration, in particular on security and locating staff;
• Coordinate internal training on administrative matters to Unit’s staff members;
• Report on monthly basis;
• Assisting unit’s staff members in using administrative self-service applications (Oracle, Hurix, work order request, travel authorization, vehicle request, etc.);

Data Management:

• Oversee the management of data if in line with the unit’s data management plan;
• Reporting on quarterly basis;
• Manage unit’s SharePoint site including creating templates, report tracking, tagging, subsite administration;
• Back up of all unit data and monitoring the backup practices of staff members;

General Administration:

• Coordinate workflow tracking and enhancing unit’s internal communication;

Qualifications

• HND/BSc in Business Administration, Project Management or any other related field with at least five (5) years relevant experience performing similar role.

Competencies
Ideal Candidate must have;

• Excellent administrative and data handling skills
• Excellent MS Office skills including MS Access and MS Project
• Experience in using SharePoint or proven ability to learn it quickly
• Good personality with excellent communication skills
• Good team working skills and must be able to share all relevant information with colleagues and users pro-actively at the right time;
• Good manners in showing flexibility, respect, friendliness and cooperation.

Application Closing Date
9th November, 2016.

Method of Application
Interested applicant should forward their applications including a covering letter which should address how the candidate’s background/experience relates to the specific duties of the position applied for, curriculum vitae, names and addresses of three professional referees (which must include either the Head of the applicant’s current or previous organization or applicant’s direct Supervisor/Superior at his/her present or former place of work).

Click here to apply online

Click here for more information (PDF)