Secretariat Administrative Assistant

ABOUT MERCY CORPS:

Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action, helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities now, and for the future.

Mercy Corps has worked in Jordan since 2003 to implement a variety of programs funded by global public institutions, as well as private donors to meet the urgent needs of vulnerable populations, build cohesive and civically engaged communities, and increase inclusive economic opportunities. Mercy Corps’ current portfolio in Jordan focuses on three domains: resilient individuals, strong communities and governance, and environmentally sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Mercy Corps integrates crosscutting themes of youth, gender equality and empowerment, governance, natural resource management and technology.

PROGRAM/DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:

The Promoting the Voice and Leadership of Women Activity (PVLW) is a five-year activity that will create transformational changes in gender relations at the family, community and national levels to enhance gender equality and advance women’s leadership in Jordan. This will be achieved through: 1) strengthening the enabling environment and institutional capacity and addressing structural barriers for women to fully exercise their rights, express their agency and freely lead and participate in society without restrictions; 2) partnering with local stakeholders to counter prevailing prohibitive social norms that perpetuate gender inequality, undermine women’s agency to exercise their rights, and prevent transformative change in gender relations; and 3) advancing the inclusive and transparent leadership and decision-making participation of girls and women.

Active coordination and collaboration between key stakeholders is critical to develop and implement a coherent vision for how multiple programs contribute to and push forward the priorities of various key stakeholders and collaborators. PVLW will bring together USAID implementing partners (IP) as the Secretariat for USAID’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Community of Practice. Through the Secretariat, PVLW will convene USAID IPs at key touch points in program cycles – like work planning, and the identification of common measurement tools – to facilitate coordination of key actions pushing forward gender transformation. The structure and operational norms for this Secretariat will be co-created with USAID and IPs, building upon existing coordination groups and as part of defining roles and expectations of and linkages between the members of the Community of Practices, including the Secretariat. The Secretariat will be managed by the PVLW Secretariat Liaison.

GENERAL POSITION SUMMARY:

The Secretariat Administrative Assistant will support the Secretariat Liaison in the day to day operational and administrative management of the USAID Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Community of Practice. He/she will perform general administrative duties to include but not limited to: taking and distributing notes during meetings, ensuring agendas and appropriate documents are shared with all meeting attendees, event planning for community of practice events (booking venues, managing registration of attendees, ensuring all event media is organized, sending out announcements of events, etc.). He/she will also support the Secretariat Liaison in the knowledge management of the community of practice, maintaining the library of tools and resources for the IPs to use for their own gender activities.

ESSENTIAL JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

SECRETARIAT MANAGEMENT AND COORDINATION

• Support the organization and event planning of all USAID Secretariat for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Community of Practice meetings. This includes securing a venue space, managing attendee registration, drafting communications for the events, ensuring all materials needed for the events are procured, coordinating speakers, etc.
• Ensure all meetings concerning the community of practice are well documented: send an agenda to attendees ahead of time, take notes at all meetings as appropriate and share the notes and action points with participants promptly after the meeting.
• In coordination with the Secretariat Liaison, raise procurement requests and follow up with Mercy Corps procurement department on contracts, schedule delivery of goods and services and track payment requests.
• Arrange team member transportation needs and organize the vehicle bookings for field trips with the logistics department.
• Provide support in translating documents and reports when needed, both from English to Arabic and from Arabic to English.
• Work with the Mercy Corps communications teams to ensure photography and other media capturing of all events and activities under the community of practice occurs.
• Other duties as assigned by the Secretariat Liaison or other team members, as appropriate.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

• Manage file retention and management for the operational side of the community of practice.
• Support the Secretariat Liaison in creating and maintaining a library of tools and resources, contextually and linguistically appropriate, for IPs to draw from to inform their own gender transformative work.
• Assist the Secretariat Liaison in soliciting and organizing documents and resources from the IPs to be included in the library.
• Document and share learnings and best practices regarding communities of practice to be shared both internally and externally.
• Conduct himself/herself both professionally and personally in such a manner as to bring credit to Mercy Corps and to not jeopardize its humanitarian mission.
• Other duties as assigned.

Organizational Learning

As part of our commitment to organizational learning and in support of our understanding that learning organizations are more effective, efficient and relevant to the communities they serve – we expect all team members to commit 5% of their time to learning activities that benefit Mercy Corps as well as themselves.

Accountability to Beneficiaries

Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts towards accountability, specifically to our beneficiaries and to international standards guiding international relief and development work, while actively engaging beneficiary communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring and evaluation of our field projects.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: None

ACCOUNTABILITY:

REPORTS DIRECTLY TO: Secretariat Liaison

WORKS DIRECTLY WITH: PVLW Chief of Party, PVLW technical leads, PVLW consortium partners, USAID IPs, USAID counterparts

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in communications, women’s studies, social work, business administration or related field. In lieu of a Bachelor’s degree, an additional 3 years’ of experience in office administration.
• A minimum of 2 years of office administration experience, preferably with a donor-funded program.
• Professional level of computer skills are required (Microsoft and Google products).
• Strong organizational skills.
• Demonstrated experience in multitasking, managing and prioritizing multiple tasks at the same time, and ability to remain calm and efficient under situations of stress.
• Fluency in English and Arabic (written and spoken).
• An understanding of gender dynamics and women’s empowerment in Jordan or the Middle East is highly preferred.
• Understanding and knowledge of USAID regulations and program administration is preferred.

SUCCESS FACTORS:

• Deep commitment to humanitarian principles and values
• Willingness to learn new skills and methodologies
• Ability to work under pressure, independently and with limited supervision
• Demonstrated organizational skills, pays attention to detail and is meticulous, thorough, and results-oriented
• Demonstrated creative problem-solving skills
• Security, political and cultural awareness
• Ability to multi-task while meeting several pressing deadlines
• Mature, responsible, and diplomatic in their interactions with others

MERCY CORPS DIVERSITY STATEMENT

Achieving our mission begins with how we build our team and work together. Through our commitment to enriching our organization with people of different origins, beliefs, backgrounds, and ways of thinking, we are better able to leverage the collective power of our teams and solve the world’s most complex challenges. We strive for a culture of trust and respect, where everyone contributes their perspectives and authentic selves, reaches their potential as individuals and teams, and collaborates to do the best work of their lives. We recognize that diversity and inclusion is a journey, and we are committed to learning, listening and evolving to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive than we are today.

SAFEGUARDING & ETHICS

Mercy Corps is committed to ensuring that all individuals we come into contact with through our work, whether team members, community members, program participants or others, are treated with respect and dignity. We are committed to the core principles regarding prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse laid out by the UN Secretary General and IASC. We will not tolerate child abuse, sexual exploitation, abuse, or harassment by or of our team members. As part of our commitment to a safe and inclusive work environment, team members are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner, respect local laws and customs, and to adhere to Mercy Corps Code of Conduct Policies and values at all times.

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