Program Executive Assistant & Admin Business Support

About The Synergist

 Synergist is a social venture that addresses a growing need to collectively face societal issues by addressing broken or inefficient systems and accelerating societal (co-)impact. 

We believe we can solve the most urgent societal issues collectively, and we are bringing our model to make this happen by inviting all change agents to approach our world differently. 

Our world, our societies, and our lives as we know them face critical and escalating challenges. Many of these are complex, deeply entrenched, and urgent, and they can’t be solved in isolation. A bigger approach is required to tackle these with the impact and durability needed. This approach requires coherent bridging between strong efforts of the past and next-generation strategies, between a broad range of sectors and stakeholders, and towards a movement of synergies between people, minds, and strategies. 

To address this need, we built a social venture designed to collectively tackle societal issues by addressing broken or inefficient systems together and thereby accelerating societal (co-)impact. To this end, The Synergist acts as an independent, neutral backbone and incubator. We bring together the right people, organizations, and institutions globally. We foster an organized, safe, and collaborative environment that enables collective impact by co-defining a shared vision, goals, and strategies with members; establishing and maintaining a transparent and balanced governance structure; coordinating and driving activities, and bringing to life concrete projects and solutions that have been shaped with and complemented by a broad stakeholder group. This is what we call ‘leading from behind’. 

• 2023 annual report
• The origin story of the Synergist by Nicholas Brooke
• Co-creation and collective intelligence in practice (Patient Engagement Open Forum)

Location: Brussels-based, including remote working
Job Type: Full-Time
Reports To: Executive Assistant 

Your role

As part of the Business Support Unit, you will play a key role in delivering a range of administrative, organizational, and office management support to The Synergist team. This includes managing priorities, meeting deadlines, and facilitating the seamless operation of office functions with an emphasis on quality, accuracy, efficiency, and cost awareness. 

Additionally, in your capacity as a personal assistant to the Executive Program Director(s), you will provide critical logistical day-to-day support, ensuring that the leadership is able to focus on strategic priorities while maintaining smooth operational workflows. 

This position requires a strong attention to detail, excellent organizational skills, and the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously in a fast-paced environment. The successful candidate will play a key role in supporting the organization’s overall effectiveness and contributing to its continued success. 

Key Responsibilities

1. Executive Program Director(s) Personal Assistant 

• Mailbox Management: Oversee and manage the email inboxes of Executive Program Director(s), ensuring prompt responses, prioritization of emails, and timely follow-ups. 
• Calendar and Schedule Management: Efficiently manage and coordinate Executive Program Directors’ calendars. Support scheduling key meetings requiring their presence, ensuring alignment with their availability and priorities. 
• Travel & Event Registration: Handle travel arrangements, including flight bookings, transfers, hotel accommodations, and other travel logistics for events, conferences, and other professional engagements, ensuring timely sign-ups and relevant materials. 
• Fundraising support: Assist with drafting and editing fundraising-related emails to sponsors and stakeholders. 

2. Operational Support 

• Office Management: Manage office supplies and equipment, ensuring all resources are stocked, organized, and in working order. 
• Workspace Organization: Ensure the workspace is tidy, organized, and equipped with necessary materials, communicating with the SQ team as needed to resolve any issues. 
• Record Keeping and Filing: Maintain organized filing systems, both physical and electronic, ensuring easy retrieval of documents and compliance. 
• Inventory Management: Monitor and manage inventory levels of office supplies, anticipating needs and placing orders to prevent shortages.
• Internal Meetings Coordination: support with scheduling of the key internal meetings, including preparation meetings for team training sessions.
• Production Coordination: Assist Communications Team in the production and distribution of training materials, ensuring all materials are prepared on time and meet the required standards.

3. Legal and Compliance Support 

• Review Membership/Sponsorship Contracts: Support the review and administrative management of membership and sponsorship agreements, ensuring compliance and proper documentation. 
• Support CRM Updates: Regularly update and maintain the HubSpot CRM system with relevant information on current deals and partnerships, ensuring accurate tracking and reporting. 
• Confidentiality Management: Handle sensitive information with the utmost confidentiality, adhering to data protection regulations and organizational confidentiality agreements. 

4. General Team Admin and Support 

• Oversee Leave Handovers: Manage leave handovers, including calendar updates, coordinating virtual meeting links, and ensuring a smooth transition for team members during absences. 
• Travel Management for team events: Coordinate travel logistics for team members attending internal events, ensuring smooth and timely arrangements. 
• General enquiries: Oversee and manage team’s Admin requests, ensuring timely responses and resolution of issues. 

The successful candidate will be expected to:

• Have an educational background equivalent to a Bachelor degree with 1-3 years of working experience in secretarial/administrative duties. 
• Have a keen interest in shared value initiatives 
• Have an excellent command of written and spoken English (French is considered a big plus) and excellent communication skills 
• Have prior working experience in a quickly changing business environment and be comfortable with working directly with senior level employees (stakeholder engagement, partnership management, client service) 
• Have maturity in handling confidential information discreetly (internally and externally) 
• Have advanced technical skills (advanced user of Google Suite, CRM tools, etc.) and be able to learn and adopt new technologies fast 
• Have a solutions-oriented, proactive and innovative approach with a hands-on attitude 
• Have complete attention to detail, methodological and thorough, be not afraid of repetitive work, very well organized, and at ease with balancing many conflicting priorities at once 
• Be curious and open-minded, open to new ideas, concepts, and people 

Preferred:

• An EU work permit
• Experience working in the healthcare or environmental sector
• Professional or personal experience in social entrepreneurship or corporate social responsibility
• Experience in EU and other funding systems for societal projects
• Fluency in one or more foreign languages

What's In It for You:

• A full-time job with a degree of flexibility to work from home (on average 2 days per week) 
• The opportunity to work with global profit and not-for-profit players to address societal needs (like patient engagement, precision medicine, women's health, rare diseases etc.); 
• The opportunity to join a dedicated, dynamic, diverse, and fun team that works to develop innovative and efficient programs aimed at solving challenges that others ignore or have been unable to resolve;. 
• The successful candidate who wishes to grow at The Synergist will have the opportunity to advance and grow with the organization. 

Application Process:
Interested candidates should submit a resume and a cover letter detailing their qualifications and experience. Applications can be sent to talent@thesynergist.org