Executive Assistant

Work With The Best

At Merchants our vision is to create meaningful and sustainable futures for our people, by driving a culture of continuous learning through the many skills and development programmes we offer, which are designed to develop talent and fulfil potential.

If you were born to deliver exceptional service, apply to join our professional team and be ready to kick start your career. We’re always looking for expectational talent and are known around the world for our outstanding customer experience using the latest technology, best practice models and processes, and innovative ground-breaking training techniques.

We place our people at the centre of everything we do and believe that the way you treat your customers and people differentiates us.

Are you ready to take the next step in your career?

We are seeking a highly organised and proactive Executive Assistant to support our Finance Director (FD).  You’ll help ensure the effective management of their daily schedule and responsibilities, organise all aspects of events, assist with office admin, and care for their team members and work partners.  A primary function of this role is to provide a comprehensive, confidential and professional service, and to maintain a discreet and confidential role in supporting the FD and occasionally the Executive Team (Exco) as well.

• Secretarial Services

• To act as the first point of contact for the FD.  Receiving calls, handling queries, dealing with staff and other external visitors, and escalating things when necessary.
• Managing the FD’s calendar and diary commitments, prioritising meetings to make effective use of time.  
• Scheduling, organising and confirming various meetings, tracking attendance, as well as booking meeting rooms and facilities as required.  
• Following up on outstanding requirements identified to ensure effective completion of tasks and commitments by both FD and their team.
• Monitors department’s entertainment expenditure and alerts FD of possible over/under expenditure.
• Managing the rewards and recognition for team as per the policy.  This includes efficient onboarding of new team members.

• Administration

• Prepare agendas, presentations and take minutes for meetings as per instruction of the FD.
• Proactively manage all important correspondence and prepare background documents as necessary.
• Performs advanced typing work when preparing business communications: produce letters, emails, PowerPoint presentations, reports, and spreadsheets where required.
• Ensuring all templates are current and being appropriately utilised.
• Preparing documents for internal signature/s and external issue as instructed.
• Prepares Purchase Order Requisitions where necessary.
• Prepares credit card reconciliations for FD and Commercial Executive.

• Event co-ordination

• Identifies venues and suppliers for finance team events and manages logistical arrangements with suppliers.
• Produces project check list for each event and manages against these requirements.
• Provides accurate specifications to suppliers to meet event requirements.
• Negotiates and manages payments to suppliers and working within the budget provided.
• Co-ordinating team’s entertainment events.
• Working with the central office entertainment committee to plan and co-ordinate office events.

• Travel co-ordination

• Organising, with the travel agency, all local and international travel arrangements for the FD and team. 
• Providing a detailed itinerary for all international travel. 
• Ensuring all aspects of travel management are handled effectively and in keeping with budgetary and policy requirements.

Education, experience and expertise required

• Matric and Diploma/Degree of any field of study. Secretarial/administration would be advantageous
• 3-5 years experience providing Executive Assistant support to executive management level
• Experience working in a diverse and busy administrative role
• Proficient with Microsoft (i.e. MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Additional requirements

• Good verbal and written command of English
• Driver’s license and own vehicle

Behavioral attributes:

• Integrity
• Teamwork
• Honesty
• Learning Agility