Job Title: Executive Assistant to the Dean, School of Medicine
Reports to: Dean, School of Medicine
Group/Department: University of Global Health Equity (UGHE)
Location: Kigali, with travel and stay at the Butaro Campus

Position Overview

The Executive Assistant to the Dean is an integral member of the University of Global Health Equity team. This individual’s responsibilities are primarily administrative, and require great diplomacy, discretion, resourcefulness, and flexibility, as this individual will be working closely with a diverse range of people within and outside of the organization. The Executive Assistant role offers an opportunity for someone with very strong administrative experience coupled with an interest in health, education, and social justice. The role provides great exposure to the frontline activities and inner workings of a fast-paced university.

Responsibilities:

As Executive Assistant at the Office of Dean of School of Medicine, you will be responsible for:

1. Administrative lead: Provide administrative leadership to the functions of the Dean’s office, including managing schedules, arranging meetings, supporting the development of presentation material and handling correspondence.
2. Budget management: Assist in budget planning and tracking for the Dean’s office and the school of medicine, ensuring that funds are allocated appropriately, and expenses are managed efficiently.
3. Staff Recruitment and supervision: Facilitate Dean’s Office staff recruitment, supervise and provide guidance to administrative staff within the Dean’s office, ensuring that tasks are completed accurately and on time.
4. Faculty Performance Evaluation: Support the Dean of School of Medicine in the faculty evaluation process
5. Communication: Serve as a liaison between the Dean’s office and other departments, faculty, staff, and external stakeholders, ensuring effective communication and coordination of activities.
6. Event Management: Plan and coordinate special events, meetings, and conferences hosted by the Dean’s office, including logistics, invitations, and program development.
7. Policy implementation: Support the Dean in implementing and enforcing policies and procedures within the School of Medicine, ensuring compliance with university regulations.
8. Records management: Maintain and organize confidential records, documents, and files related to the Dean’s office, ensuring accuracy and confidentiality.
9. Strategic planning: Assist the Dean in developing and implementing strategic plans and initiatives for the School of Medicine, contributing to the overall growth and success of the institution.
10. Contribute and assist in building the Dean’s Research Portfolio: Support Dean’s research goals as needed by participating in the data collection, data analysis, or literature review, and manuscript writing
11. Support Dean’s Research Grant Applications: Record applications, work with reviewers for feedback, follow up with the grant winners for progress update, and develop final research grant report.
12. Stakeholder relations: Build and maintain positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors, and community partners.
13. Travel and Event Management: Arrange complex and detailed travel plans, itineraries, and agendas and compile documents for meetings, including booking flights, hotel accommodations, visas, ground transportation, and other travel logistics for the Dean; own and manage the Dean’s travel briefing books
14. Relationship Management: Exhibit excellent office managerial skills, Serve as the point person for external institutions and individuals who seek to contact the Dean, Monitor and track documents, projects and tasks, ensuring attention to time-sensitive issues and longer-term initiatives, providing succinct background information when needed, Prepare thorough briefings and provide relevant documents for meetings and travel when needed, including minutes, File properly with and up-to-date records all documents and correspondences of the Dean’s office

Qualifications

• Msc degree in business administration, leadership or related fields
• Background or interest in social science, area studies, or public health preferred
• At least 3 years of professional experience providing high-level administrative support in a fast-paced office setting, or educational equivalent
• Experience with coordinating international travel and complex logistics
• Must have experience in multicultural and international workplaces
• Ability to work independently and take initiative; must be eager to learn, able to multi-task and easily adapt to changing circumstances with tact and diplomacy
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and Google Suite
• Exceptional interpersonal skills including the ability to interact professionally with culturally diverse staff, partners, and clients
• Ability to conduct research and present data in a succinct and well-written manner
• Excellent writing, editing, grammatical, organizational, and research skills
• Excellent management, time-management, and problem-solving skills
• Ability to work under pressure with minimal supervision
• Sense of humor, patience, a positive attitude, flexibility, and a passion for social justice required
• Willingness to travel in-country frequently and at short notice and to work irregular hours
• English fluency required, both written and verbal; Kinyarwanda and French language skills strongly preferred.

Organization Overview

The University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) is a new kind of university focused on training the next generation of global leaders in healthcare delivery. The university launched in Rwanda in September 2015 with its flagship degree program: the Master of Science in Global Health Delivery. Through an academic experience uniquely rooted in the values of equity, students are empowered to both ease suffering at the bedside and drive transformational, systemic changes to the health system.

UGHE is an initiative of Partners In Health (PIH), an internationally recognized non-profit organization whose mission is to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care. In over nearly three decades of operating alongside public sectors in countries around the world, PIH has developed a model to deliver high-quality health care to some of the world’s most marginalized communities. Nowhere has this impact been more profound than in Rwanda, where Inshuti Mu Buzima—PIH’s sister organization—and our government partners have driven innovation for a decade.

Members of the UGHE community are tenacious and resolute in our drive to attain social justice, make common cause with those in need, listen to and learn from others and operate with honesty and humility as we uphold academic integrity and intellectual curiosity. The University of Global Health Equity seeks individuals committed to these values to join the team.

Commitment to Safeguarding and Prevention of Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Sexual Harassment:

At UGHE, we are committed to ensuring that those who benefit from our work- including community members – as well as our students, contractors, staff, and visitors to our campus are treated with dignity and respect and protected from sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment and any form of systemic abuse, whilst reducing risk and vulnerabilities. A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with UGHE’s policy.

UGHE will request information from applicants’ previous employers about any findings of fraud, harassment, sexual harassment and any form of systemic abuse or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By applying, the job applicant confirms their understanding of these recruitment procedures.