Administrative and Operations Officer - Health Systems Strengthening

Amref Health Africa, founded in 1957, is the largest African-based international health development organization. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, Amref implements programmes across 35 African countries, reaching more than 40 million people, with a strong operational presence in Africa and advocacy and fundraising offices in Europe and North America.

Guided by its vision of lasting health change in Africa, Amref’s mission is to catalyze community-led, people-centered health systems and address the social determinants of health. Amref believes sustainable health transformation is driven from within communities and works to strengthen health systems while empowering communities to demand and access quality, affordable healthcare.

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME

The Wellcome Trust Climate, Health & Mental Health programme brings together three interconnected pillars within the Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) Unit: Climate and Health, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), and Global Health Leadership. The programme combines research and evidence generation, policy and advocacy, partnership building, knowledge translation and institutional learning to strengthen African-led responses to emerging health challenges and influence regional and global policy agendas.

JOB PURPOSE

Reporting to the Director, Social Determinants of Health, the Administrative & Operations Officer provides cross-cutting operational and administrative support to the SDoH Unit, ensuring the efficient day-to-day functioning of a multi-country technical portfolio and the timely delivery of programme activities.

The role coordinates unit administration, procurement, travel and logistics, consultant and vendor processes, financial administration, event support, documentation and selected people-operations activities. Working closely with programme staff and corporate support departments including Finance, Procurement, HR, Legal, ICT and Administration, the position helps translate technical workplans into well-organised operational delivery while ensuring compliance with Amref policies and donor requirements.

The incumbent is expected to execute established operational processes accurately and on time, maintain reliable systems and records, analyse and report routine operational information, identify practical improvements and resolve day-to-day issues within delegated authority while escalating exceptions appropriately.

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Unit Administration & Executive Support (~20% LoE)

• Provide day-to-day administrative support to the Director, SDoH and the wider Unit, helping organise priorities, schedules and routine information flow.
• Coordinate calendars, meetings, travel schedules and internal communications, anticipating dependencies and ensuring relevant materials are available in advance.
• Prepare agendas, meeting packs, minutes and action trackers, and follow up agreed actions to support timely closure.
• Maintain organised unit filing systems, shared drives, contact lists, templates and document repositories with appropriate access and version control.
• Coordinate onboarding and administrative arrangements for staff, consultants and interns in collaboration with HR, ICT and line managers.

2. Programme Operations, Workplanning & Coordination (~15% LoE)

• Support translation of annual and activity workplans into operational schedules, trackers, procurement plans, travel plans and logistical requirements.
• Maintain operational trackers for key programme activities, deadlines and dependencies and provide routine status updates to the Director and relevant team members.
• Coordinate operational communication between the SDoH Unit, country offices, partners and corporate support functions, ensuring requests are complete and followed through.
• Support programme start-up, implementation reviews and close-out activities by ensuring required documentation, approvals and administrative steps are completed.
• Compile routine operational inputs for programme reviews, donor reports, presentations and management updates.

3. Procurement, Contracts, Consultants & Compliance (~20% LoE)

• Coordinate procurement requests in accordance with Amref policies, delegated authority and donor requirements, ensuring specifications, approvals and supporting documentation are complete.
• Support preparation, processing and tracking of consultancy contracts, service agreements, purchase orders and related documentation.
• Maintain procurement, contract, consultant and vendor trackers, proactively flagging upcoming expiries, pending actions and documentation gaps.
• Liaise with Procurement, Finance, Legal and programme teams to ensure timely processing and resolution of routine queries.
• Support due diligence, vendor onboarding and administrative compliance processes for consultants and service providers.
• Maintain complete audit trails and support responses to routine compliance, audit and document requests.

4. Travel, Logistics & Event Support (~20% LoE)

• Coordinate international and domestic travel including flights, accommodation, visas, insurance, travel approvals, per diems and itinerary documentation.
• Provide end-to-end logistical support for workshops, meetings, conferences, field missions and partner convenings, both virtual and in-person.
• Coordinate venues, participant invitations and registrations, materials, transport, equipment and other event requirements in line with approved budgets and procurement procedures.
• Support operational planning for major convenings including COP, UNGA, WHA, AHAIC and other regional or global events, working with technical leads and external partners.
• Maintain accurate travel, participant and logistical records and support post-event reconciliation and documentation.

5. Financial Administration & Budget Support (~15% LoE)

• Prepare purchase requisitions, payment requests, advance requests, expense documentation and other routine financial paperwork accurately and on time.
• Monitor operational expenditures against approved activity budgets and maintain expenditure and commitment trackers in collaboration with Finance and programme colleagues.
• Support budget monitoring, reconciliation, forecasting and follow-up of outstanding advances, invoices or supporting documents.
• Verify that financial documentation is complete, accurate, properly approved and audit-ready before submission.
• Support consultants, vendors and programme colleagues with routine guidance on required finance and administrative documentation.

6. People Operations, Systems & Continuous Improvement (~10% LoE)

• Coordinate selected administrative aspects of recruitment, onboarding, leave planning, induction, consultant engagement and staff transitions in collaboration with HR and line managers.
• Maintain unit dashboards, operational tools and routine data required for planning and management oversight.
• Support consistent use of templates, filing conventions and standard operating procedures across the Unit.
• Identify recurring administrative bottlenecks and propose practical process improvements, including appropriate use of digital tools, automation and AI-enabled solutions within Amref standards.
• Provide reliable service to internal and external stakeholders and uphold confidentiality, safeguarding, professionalism and Amref values in all interactions.

Education and Professional Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Project Management, International Relations, Development Studies, Procurement, Finance, Public Administration or another relevant field.
• Relevant professional qualification or training in administration, procurement, project operations or a related area is an advantage.

Experience

• Minimum of four (4) years' relevant experience in administration, programme operations, project support or a similar role, preferably within an NGO, development, research or multi-country environment.
• Practical experience supporting procurement, travel, logistics, financial administration, consultant/vendor processes and document management.
• Experience maintaining trackers, workplans, shared repositories and operational records to a high standard.
• Experience supporting donor-funded programmes and working with cross-functional teams is an advantage.
• Exposure to HR-related coordination such as recruitment logistics, onboarding or staff transitions is desirable.

Knowledge, Skills and Competencies

• Strong administrative, organisational and operational coordination skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines.
• High attention to detail and commitment to accuracy, completeness, documentation quality and compliance.
• Ability to implement organisational systems, policies and procedures consistently and to identify when exceptions require escalation.
• Good numerical and analytical skills, including the ability to maintain expenditure trackers, reconcile routine information and prepare clear status updates.
• Strong digital literacy, including Microsoft 365 (Teams, SharePoint, Excel, Word and PowerPoint) and familiarity with ERP or workflow systems; ability to adopt new digital and AI-enabled tools responsibly.
• Strong interpersonal and customer-service skills, with the ability to work effectively with technical teams, country offices, vendors, consultants and corporate support functions.
• Practical problem-solving skills and initiative in resolving routine operational challenges and improving processes.
• Professional discretion, confidentiality, integrity and respect for safeguarding, equity and organisational standards.
• Excellent spoken and written English.
• Willingness to travel when required to support programme activities and major convenings.

Your application should include a cover letter detailing why you are the best fit for this position and your CV with relevant skills and experience. Closing date will be September 17th 2026 at 23:59 EAT.

Amref Health Africa does not require applicants to pay any money at whatever stage of the recruitment and selection process and has not retained any agent in connection with recruitment. Although Amref may use different job boards from time to time to further spread its reach for applicants, all open vacancies are published on our website under the Vacancies page and on our official social media pages. Kindly also note that official emails from Amref Health Africa will arrive from an @amref.org address.

Amref Health Africa is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff to share this commitment. Amref Health Africa is is dedicated to diversity and is an equal-opportunity employer with a non-smoking environment policy.