Executive Assistant to Chief Operations Officer

Our client in the pharmaceutical industry based in Johannesburg is currently looking to employ an Executive Assistant.

Main purpose of the position:

• The Executive Assistant will support the day-to-day activities of the Chief Operations Officer (COO). 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 and be available to respond to urgent emails or calls from the COO on weekends or holidays.

Requirements:

• Matric.
• National Diploma in administration or equivalent
• A qualification in secretarial and office management or equivalent
• Computer literate
• 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

Duties:

Administration:

• Prepare correspondence, reports, and materials for publications and presentations
• Manage the diary of the COO
• Setup and co-ordinate meetings
• Transcribe and distribute meeting agendas and minutes for the COO
• Meet and greet external clients and visitors where necessary, and ensure refreshments are served

• Prioritize conflicting needs; handle matters expeditiously, proactively, and follow projects to successful completion, often with deadline pressures
• Coordinate and ensure the COO schedules are well planned, followed and respected
• Act as a “barometer,” having a sense of priority of issues as they arise, keeping the COO 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
• Manage and co-ordinate all logistical arrangements for all travel for the COO
• Monitoring and co-ordination of project information
• Ensure that no confidential material left lying around – material to be safely stored at all times
• All filing to be kept up to date
• Co-ordinate, type and collate the submission of monthly progress reports for the COO
• Receive, register and dispatch all incoming correspondence
• Support the COO with research, abstracts and preparation of information for meetings, projects, presentations and reports
• Assist with the management of workflow and systems in the COO office
• Assist with project co-ordination
• Provide logistical support and advice for meetings, and workshops for COO.

Meetings:

• 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.

Travel Management:

• Make all travel arrangements (flights, accommodation and car hire) ensuring accurate travel bookings at all times
• Communicate arrangements regarding meetings/functions/conferences to relevant party and that appropriate documentation is distributed, prior to travel.

Please consider your application unsuccessful should you not receive a response within 2 weeks of applying.