TERMS OF REFERENCE (Group II) – Administrative Assistant for the position of Administrative Assistant at the EIB Group Representation for Latin America in Bogota

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union’s financial institution. It works in support of EU development and economic cooperation policies by financing investment in both public and private sectors.

The employee will be hired by the European Union, represented by the Head of Delegation of the European Union to Colombia, on behalf of the EIB to work as Administrative Assistant at the EIB Regional Representation for Latin America in Bogota, on the basis of a local law employment contract of a fixed-term duration of one year, with possible renewal.

Purpose

The Administrative Assistant will provide executive support to the Head of the EIB Regional Representation and will perform the general tasks related to office management, ensuring the efficient organisation of the Representation, the timely completion of tasks and the achievement of objectives, and contributing to the organisational and administrative efficiency and performance of the office.

Accountabilities

The Administrative Assistant will formally report to the Head of Office and will perform a wide range of administrative and coordination duties for the Office, in particular in the following areas:

OFFICE MANAGEMENT

• Provide office support and secretarial/administrative assistance in order to contribute to the effective day-

to-day running of the Office. The support provided may include tasks related to residential and other local

administration topics

• Execute administrative tasks, notably financial administration of the office: handling and follow-up of book-keeping, logistics and monthly reporting to the Head of Office, maintaining and managing the petty cash ledger, supervising local bank accounts as well as payments to suppliers, liaising with relevant staff at Head Office and ensuring timely input, validation and reporting to the Head of Office
• Handle autonomously the office’s relationship with all facility vendors/brokers to ensure the provision and maintenance of office facilities, services supplies and IT equipment, in close collaboration with internal counterparts.
• Management and interface with the various departments concerned at Headquarters for telephone equipment, desktop computers, video conferencing system, IT access rights
• Interface with various suppliers and administrative management of contracts
• Handling contracts and maintenance of expatriates residences
• Handling arrival and departure of expatriates
• Keep track in a cost efficient manner of the office supply inventory and ensure all necessary office insurances are kept up-to-date
• Assist in keeping the office manual up to date
• Assist in the organizing of EIB related events in the region
• Handling drivers time and responsibilities, ensuring to keep the cars logbooks updated. General maintenance of cars
• Keeping incident logbook up to date. Preparation of inventories annually.
• Maintain and update social media applications

Accounting

Under the supervision of the HoO, and with his/her approval:

• Execute administrative tasks, liaising with relevant staff at Head Office and ensuring timely input, validation and reporting to the Head of Office Management of all accounting aspects of the office in liaison with the Accounting Department at Headquarters
• Keeping ledgers up to date
• Administrative management of the office bank accounts and cash management
• Administrative management of payments of supplier invoices (quotes, orders and deliveries) with secretariats in Luxembourg

Administration Support:

• Management of incoming telephone calls and correspondence
• Organise and follow up diaries and organisation of internal and external meetings of the Head of Office
• Be central point of contact for the administration and requests from EU Delegation, EU Member States, Colombian authorities
• Responsible for the travel arrangements, TA and expense reports of Head of Office and expatriates
• Provide general administrative assistance to EIB personnel on business trips in the region, in coordination with secretariats in Luxembourg
• Secretarial tasks (document archiving, etc..)

COMPETENCES

Achievement Drive: Proactively makes changes to improve performance. Consistently asks how could we do this better. Adds value by finding a better way.  Enhances and improves the efficiency and effectiveness of processes.

Change Orientation: Can take different roles when the situation requires. Comes up with alternative ways of doing things / working methods. Tries a new way of doing something in response to new developments.

Collaboration: Genuinely values learning from others' input and expertise. Asks peers for advice and input. Actively includes others in the conversation. Open to team members’ viewpoints. Looks for shared interests across the team. Looks for mutually beneficial solutions.

Organisational Commitment: Acts on organisational values when it is difficult to do so. Actively supports the organisation’s mission, goals and policies. Cooperates with others to achieve objectives in the larger organisation. Makes choices and sets priorities to support or fit the organisational mission. Maintains positive expectations of the organisation in times of ambiguity and challenge.

Selection Criteria

Minimum Requirements:

1. Medically fit to perform the required duties;
2. Enjoys civil rights and permits for employment under local law;
3. Secondary level education, completed with a 2 year certification in a relevant field (secretarial studies, business administration) or secondary level education with equally qualified experience in a relevant field;
4. At least 5 years of relevant professional experience preferably in a financial/banking operational environment;
5. Familiarity with basic accounting principles (i.e. required for maintaining the petty cash ledger and monthly office cost reporting)
6. Excellent knowledge of standard computer tools and adaptability to new ones
7. Excellent knowledge of written and spoken English and Spanish

How to apply

Please send your application and supporting documents to delegation-colombia-vacancies@eeas.europa.eu. The package should include a cover letter and a detailed CV[1].

The Delegation will not supply additional information or discuss the selection procedure by telephone: please address any queries concerning this procedure to delegation-colombia-vacancies@eeas.europa.eu.

The procedure

After the deadline for applications, the applications will be reviewed by a Selection Committee set up for this purpose. The Selection Committee will prepare a short-list of candidates who are considered to be the most suitable for the post on the basis of a preliminary assessment of the information provided in their application letter and the supporting documents. The short-listed candidates will be invited to an assessment phase which may include an interview if necessary – during this phase, the Selection Committee will assess the suitability of the candidates for the post.

The candidates who have not been short-listed will not be contacted individually; however, the Delegation will use the same means of publication as for this Vacancy Notice to inform the remaining candidates once the recruitment procedure has been completed and that a candidate has (or has not) been recruited. 

The deadline for applications is: 10/04/2022

[1] Please complete the standard CV using the template in the following link: https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/europass_cv_12.doc