Executive Assistant Intern (Lagos) at the British Council

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. We do this by making a positive contribution to the UK and the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.
 
We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Each year we reach over 20 million people face-to-face and more than 500 million people online, via broadcasts and publications. Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Executive Assistant Intern

Location: Lagos
Contract Type: Locally Engaged
Duration: 12 months (March 2023 – February 2024)

Role Purpose

• The British Council in Nigeria works in three strategic business areas; Arts and Culture; English; Education. We are looking to recruit interns to join our Business Support Services (“BSS”) Unit which will provide general administrative support to the Country Director, the senior leadership team in Nigeria and the Company Secretary in Lagos.
• The BSS unit provides products or services to frontline teams. Those products or services are in turn utilised to create deliverables for the external customer.

 The BSS unit focuses on:

• Strategic decision making which involves other business units and BSS as a whole
• Ensuring all logistics and administrative support are provided as at when required
• Negotiating deliverables with the preferred suppliers and approved suppliers; and
• Driving down costs and creating efficiencies across the business.

Duties and Responsibilities
Under the overall guidance of the Country Director (“CD”) and the Company Secretary the intern duties will include:

• Attending to selected high level visitors to the country directorate, providing advice and support to teams on processes and priorities.
• Scheduling of meetings as will be directed by the CD and the Company Secretary
• Managing of the Country Director’s calendars and ensuring meeting prioritisation.
• Managing of correspondence on behalf of the CD and the Company Secretary to both internal and external stakeholders
• Responding to emails and letters on requests for British Council engagement, sponsorship, partnerships, attendance at events and meetings
• Organising internal meetings and workshops including logistics planning

Learning and Development Opportunities:

• General understanding of the work and mission of the British Council (and international, not-for-profit organisation) and how it contributes to the development of the Nigeria’s prosperity and stability
• Insight and hands-on experience in administrative functions, contact management and stakeholder management in a formal setting
• Becoming familiar with working in an International Organisation and in a multicultural environment

Management and Support for the Role:

• The intern will report to the Company Secretary based in Lagos. S/he will be expected to work closely with other members of the Nigeria Country Leadership Team (SLT).

Profile
Essential: The ideal candidate should:

• Be a recent graduate (graduated within the last 4 years) with excellent organizational skills and the ability to multitask.
• Have strong written and oral communication skills in English
• Be computer literate with proficiency in the use of MS Outlook, Word, MS Excel and PowerPoint.
• Have good organisation, time management and scheduling skills
• Be confident in communicating with senior stakeholders on behalf of the Country Director and senior team.

Desirable:

• Proven work experience as an Administrative Officer, Administrator or similar role and ideally Executive Assistant experience

Other Requirements:

• All applicants should have a pre-existing legal status to live and work in country of application. 
• The British Council will not facilitate/sponsor visa applications and work permits.

Remuneration and Benefits

• The intern will be paid equivalent N130,000 per month
• Health Insurance (HMO) will be provided for interns who are on 6 months or more  
• Group Life Insurance will be provided for all interns during throughout the duration of their internship.

Application Closing Date
31st December, 2022. (23:59 South Africa Time)