Description

The senior secretary/clerical officer provides secretarial support and, where necessary, other logistic clerical support to the Head of Mission and Deputy Head of Mission. The senior secretary/clerical officer is accountable to the Head of Mission or Deputy Head of Mission for the progress of assigned work, for the products and support provided and for quantitative and qualitative performance. Internal work agreements on secretarial/clerical work apply to the way in which, and the time within which, the work is to be carried out and completed.The senior secretary/clerical officer takes decisions when preparing meetings and producing reports, making and keeping track of appointments, monitoring the progress of arrangements made, and collecting and organising information. Furthermore he/she will be responsible for the (external) communication and the development and implementation of the communication strategy of the Embassy (including the use of social media).

Description of tasks:

• Management of agendas and planning of appointments, including coordination of the programme of the Head of Mission and his Deputy.
• First telephonic point of contact for the Head of Mission and his Deputy.
• Processing incoming correspondence (hard copy, as well as e-mails in the general inbox KAM and the inbox of the Ambassador’s office KAM-CDP) including distribution to other staff members for follow-up.
• Coordinating outgoing correspondence for the management team and policy staff. This includes revising and correcting correspondence where necessary, as well as independently drafting letters and ‘note verbales’.
• Preparation of the agenda, minute-taking and monitoring of action points for the bi-weekly policy staff meeting.
• Maintaining and keeping up-to-date the Embassy database in Microsoft Outlook.
• Organisation of representational activities (e.g. lunches, dinners, receptions) for the Head of Mission and his Deputy, including the organisation of the annual King’s Day event.
• Administrative and logistical support for field visits of the Head of Mission and his Deputy.
• Administrative and logistical support for incoming missions.
• Maintaining the inventory of promotional materials and gifts.
• Web-editor for the Embassy website (Dutch and English version).
• Editor for the Embassy Facebook and Twitter accounts, including active outreach, seeking interesting content independently as well as motivating other colleagues to deliver content on the basis of their activities.
• Digital archiving of documents.

Profile

Enthusiastic, dynamic and flexible colleague who is able to work both independently as well as within a team and is equipped with a strong sense of responsibility. Is able to juggle a multitude of activities and determine priorities independently. He/she has a radar for intercultural sensitivities and knows how to manoeuvre in a context where things do not always run smoothly. Has a pro-active attitude and does not fear taking initiative. He/she is discreet with (confidential) information and maintains a high level of integrity.

As the embassy’s first point of contact with third parties, he/she has to exchange information on the content and progress of secretarial/clerical work and to make appointments and other arrangements for the Head of Mission or Deputy Head of Mission, with due care when dealing with sensitive matters.

With internal and external bodies and individuals, he/she has to provide general substantive and other information on matters currently being dealt with by the embassy.

Knowledge & Skills Requirments

• Level of education: senior secondary vocational level
• Level of experience: at least 8 years’ experience

• Knowledge and areas of experience:
  • Fluent in English. Working knowledge of Dutch would be an added advantage.
  • Strong communication skills, both written and orally.
  • Good social media skills (website/social media).
  • Good organisational and planning skills.
  • Knowledge of secretarial/clerical and management support procedures.
  • Knowledge of computerised word processing and automatized/computer based systems including knowledge of common software such as MS Outlook, Word, Excel and Powerpoint.
  • Knowledge of the organisation’s work agreements on secretarial/clerical work, regulations, duties, structure and procedures.
  • General knowledge of the nature of the embassy’s work.
  • Understanding of organisational and functional arrangements within the embassy and the Ministry, the nature of mutual relationships and dealings and organisational and functional arrangements in the field in which the embassy operates.
  • Skill in creating and keeping records and in producing progress and other reports, lists and policy documents.
  • Skill in organisation and coordination.

Work environment

The relation between The Netherlands and Uganda and the work at the mission will be guided by the Multi Annual Country Strategy 2019 - 2022, in which the aid to trade agenda is central. In line with this strategy, the Embassy will support the rule of law sector, sexual and reproductive health and rights, agriculture/food security and trade and investment. Also humanitarian support to refugees and host communities is given. There is an increase of activities in economic diplomacy.

The Embassy has currently 23 staff members (9 expats and 14 locally employed staff). The management of the embassy consists of the Ambassador, the Deputy Ambassador/Head of Cooperation and the Operational Manager. The policy staff consists of 10 staff members and is chaired by the Ambassador. The General Affairs department is led by an Operational Manager and consists of 8 staff members. Furthermore the Embassy has a senior controller and a senior financial officer.