Senior Administrative Assistant, Grant Position

Reports to: Manager, J-PAL Finance and Operations

Purpose:

The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab’s (J-PAL) Middle East and North Africa regional office is based at The American University in Cairo School of Business. J-PAL, povertyactionlab.org, is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 200 affiliated professors at universities around the world, J-PAL draws on results from randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.

Under the supervision of the Manager, J-PAL Finance and Operations, the Senior Administrative Assistant provides administrative support across J-PAL MENA at AUC’s growing operations and executive assistance to the executive director. The Senior Administrative Assistant will support events and high-level meeting planning, coordinate office knowledge management and some cloud-based knowledge management systems, support human resources logistics, scheduling, and conduct other tasks as needed. This position requires working with utmost professional standards, efficiency, and playing an essential role in keeping the workflow running smoothly.

Responsibilities:

• Support day-to-day operations of a growing office at AUC, including meeting visitors, arranging for high-level meetings
• Manage office supplies and materials including print publications
• Maintain office e-mail listservs and other contact databases
• Support office renovation and furnishing updates
• Perform financial transactions on SAP
• Order equipment and office supplies
• Coordinate with AUC offices and stakeholders across university
• Expand and maintain office knowledge library internal website
• Keep personnel and project records up to date on Salesforce
• Support day-to-day administration of large, complex research, policy, and training projects supported by a range of donors and requiring administrative collaboration with several AUC support offices, e.g. travel, procurement, and others, working closely with research, research operations, and policy staff who manage individual projects
• Support the hiring and onboarding process of new center staff, including email and ID set-up, desk and laptop set-up, preparing welcome materials, and communicating schedule
• Support recruitment efforts by coordinating interview schedules with candidates
• Coordinate all logistics of events, supporting technical teams, e.g. MoU signing ceremonies, roundtables, policy outreach events, including coordinating venue availability, catering, confirming services, e.g. interpretation, photography, and others, design and printing needs, issuing invitations and managing RSVPs, security approvals
• Attend events and support all details
• Coordinate high-level meetings, including campus access planning, catering, and coordinating other materials as needed, occasionally serve as note-taker in high-level meetings
• Coordinate all travel and accommodation logistics for international Principal Investigators (PIs) visiting Egypt
• Support domestic and international travel needs of J-PAL MENA staff and affiliated professors, including making travel reservations and communicating travel plans to team members

Requirements:

Minimum Education Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in any field

Experience:

• Minimum of five to seven years of related experience

Skills:

• Excellent command of English and Arabic, written and spoken
• Excellent Knowledge of SAP
• Excellent interpersonal communication and administration skills
• Excellent time management skills and ability to multi-task and prioritize work
• Strong attention to detail and problem-solving skills
• Strong organizational and planning skills
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• High degree of confidentiality of personal matters of executive management
• Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously with prioritization
• Highly self-motivated and able to adapt to change quickly
• Proficiency in MS Office, Google Drive and related applications, e.g. Gmail and Google Calendar, is a necessity
• Salesforce experience is a plus

This position is open until September 10th, 2025

Placement is based on the candidate’s experience and skills. Only candidates who make it to the short list will be contacted.

"The American University in Cairo is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply."

“We thank all individuals who have expressed interest in working at The American University in Cairo.”