Administration Officer -Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Room to Read is a global organization transforming the lives of millions of children in low-income countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Founded in 2000 on the belief that World Change Starts with Educated Children®, our innovative model focuses on deep, systemic transformation within schools in low-income countries during two time periods which are most critical in a child’s schooling: early primary school for literacy acquisition and secondary school for girls’ education. We work in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments to develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children and ensure girls can complete secondary school with the skills necessary to negotiate key life decisions. By focusing on the quality of education provided within the communities and ensuring these outcomes are measured, we have created a model that can be replicated, localized and sustained by governments. Room to Read has benefited 10 million children across 17,000 communities in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Vietnam and Zambia, and aims to reach 15 million children by 2020.

Position Overview:

The Administration Manager is a member of the Country Team. S/he is responsible for administrative operation of the office including day to day logistic arrangement, office management, and all procurement management both program and non-program items. This position will support office assistants in the country office and report to the Program Operations Director.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Day to Day Management of Office Administration

• Oversee all administrative and operational matters in compliance with Country and Global Office policies
• Maintain third party contracts, agreements, policies, etc.
• Ensure full functionality of Room to Read office functions at all times (e.g. electricity, utilities, internet, plumbing, internet, security, insurance and office set-up if need be)
• Organize all program related travel and/or transportation needs
• Organize all visitor related travel and/or transportation needs
• Ensure appropriate level of compliance by all staff for adopting and following administrative policies and procedures.
• Guide and coach the administrative staff (Assistants) in maintaining office equipment’s and management of the records and also all the administrative issues and supports.
• Participate in any other activities which may be required to be undertaken to fulfill the objectives of the organization
• Explore opportunities for partnerships and knowledge sharing with NGOs, experts and institutions involved in teacher training and literacy initiatives

Procurement Management

• Prepare annual procurement plan for all procurement related (program and non-program) as per approved budget with consultation with the program team linking with the program implementation calendar,
• Implement all procurement activities well in advance as per approved budget and annual procurement plan.
• Oversee the procurement process and ensure that the procurement is completed in time and in a very cost effective manner for goods and services,
• Implement and follow RtR procurement policy and procurement guidelines/manual and procurement norms for all type of procurement (goods and services)
• Work with program team in obtaining purchase requisitions with detailed specification in order to start the procurement process well in advance,
• Work with procurement committee for all purchase above $5000 as per the organization policy,
• Coordinate and work closely with program team to process procurement in timely manner
• Do a market survey regularly in order to assess the market trends and to know average costs of material/items needed by RtR, availability of types of goods/materials and services and share the same to the management,
• Maintain market price/rate of all goods/materials that generally RtR purchases and help the program team to prepare the estimation before the purchase process is started.
• Obtain and maintain, the general practice of procurement process in other similar organization and local government,
• Ensure RtR procurement norms are accordance with the local statutory requirement. Any difference should be brought to the attention of the management,
• Maintain vendors/suppliers list with their contract address according to the type of business and trade and update it regularly,
• Update the Country Director, Operations Director and the program team on the status of the procurement process in a regular basis,
• Maintain procurement file in an appropriate fashion and order including – requisition, quotes/bids, comparison, evaluation, approval, contract/purchase order, delivery note etc. for each purchase,

Warehouse Management

• Oversee the overall management of the warehouse,
• Ensure that the warehouse is being managed as per the standard guidelines, the goods are being kept in the proper manner and recorded in the warehouse inventory.
• Ensure that the inventory is up to date all the time – a proper check in and check out system is placed and maintained all time,
• Supervise and oversee the work of the warehouse staff,
• Ensure the goods are packed and dispatched to the final destination as per the schedule and requirement of the program team,
• Make sure that the goods are safe and secured against damaged and insured 

Qualifications:

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree with minimum of five years’ experience in an administrative position especially in procurement management
• Experience in successful completion of a wide range of procurement activities especially  large procurements that involve public bidding,
• Strong verbal and written communication skills in English and local language.  

Preferred:

• Experience in procurement activities in International Development organizations with public bidding experience
• Strong planning, supervisory, and management skills
• Work independently and as part of a team.
• Strong Negotiation skills.
• Have strong sense of market situation and trend

To be successful as a member of the Room to Read team, you will also:

• Have passion for our mission and a strong desire to impact a dynamic nonprofit organization
• Be an innovative and creative thinker that tries new things and inspires others to do so
• Have a very high level of personal and professional integrity and trustworthiness
• Have a strong work ethic and require minimal direction
• Work well independently as well as part of a team
• Thrive in a fast-paced and fun environment

Compensation:

Room to Read offers a competitive salary with excellent benefits; benefits including 13^thmonth bonus, provident fund, health and accidental insurances for staff and their family; leaves and staff professional development. The non-monetary compensation includes a unique opportunity to be part of an innovative, meaningful, fun, and rapidly growing organization that is changing, transforming the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education.

Application Procedure:

Please send a cover letter and resume by email, with Admin Officer in the subject line, totz.info@roomtoread.org or send by post to Associate Director Africa, Room to Read Tanzania, Post Box 105459, Ileje Street, Mikocheni B, Plot No 36, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. If you do not hear from Room to Read within one month of the closing date, please accept that your application was unsuccessful. Please note that late applications will not be considered and correspondence will be limited to short-listed candidates only. 

Room to Read is proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to identifying and developing the skills and leadership of people from diverse backgrounds.