Sightsavers
Executive Assistant
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Executive Assistant, NTD Admin Unit
Salary: £29,500 to £34,000
Location: UK remote with one day in Haywards Heath office per week
Contract: 3-year Fixed Term Contract
Hours: Full-time with potential for some flexibility
Sightsavers' Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) work improves the health and well-being of some of the world's most vulnerable populations. The work contributes to the global effort to control/eliminate five of these debilitating diseases - lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, trachoma, schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths.
The Executive Assistant will work with colleagues in the Admin Unit to support the implementation of a large portfolio of projects funded by multiple donor groups across multiple countries. Projects are implemented through country office teams, ministries of health and downstream partners, and support from the NTD Directorate takes the form of both operational and technical support.
Responsibilities
- Providing high-level international travel and visa support to the NTD Senior Management Team (SMT), in particular the Director of the NTD Programme Delivery Unit (PDU) and NTD Operations Director.
- Provide professional support for regular and ad hoc NTD meetings, including liaising with external stakeholders and internal colleagues, scheduling invites, sharing agendas and presentations and taking and distributing minutes in a timely manner, in particular on the Global Trachoma Elimination Fund (GTEF).
- Delivering close support, as required, to the Director, NTD PDU, particularly in the management of GTEF.
- Compiling and reviewing presentations and reports for the SMT, NTD Grant Directors, the Institutional Fundraising Team and others as needed.
- Liaising with external event companies on large or complex meetings and events; and arranging logistics for smaller in-person meetings, including room and AV set-up, catering and document requests.
- Instigating creation and renewal of consultancy and supplier agreements with the Human Resources team and the Finance team.
- Managing internal document storage systems on Microsoft SharePoint and providing access for key donors and other external groups where required.
- Generating purchase orders and processing supplier invoices and expenses claims.
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Skills and Experience
This is a fast-paced and demanding role and whilst experience within international development or NTDs is not necessary, an ability to grasp technical language, learn quickly and confidently support individuals in high-level roles with competing and changing deadlines, is essential. If you enjoy being challenged and working in a dynamic environment, this could be an excellent opportunity to utilise and enhance your skills.
Essential criteria
- Extensive experience in a fast-paced administrative role
- Experience in supporting international travel
- Highly organised with ability to manage multiple, conflicting and changing priorities
- Experience in minute taking
- Excellent time management skills
- Experience of stakeholder management
- Able to be proactive and work independently as well as being team focused
- Able to handle sensitive information and maintain confidentiality
- Able to perform well and add value in a matrix management environment
- An understanding of the use of AI and how it can support the role
- Experience of working with other cultures
- Fluent English, both written and spoken
- An understanding of and commitment to equality of opportunity for people with disabilities
- Proficiency in using programmes across the Microsoft suite, including SharePoint, Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Desirable
- Experience of working with colleagues across multiple time zones
- Basic knowledge of French and/or Portuguese
- Experience of working in a non-profit organisation
- Experience of working in international development or public health
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This is a highly varied and involved position, and the above is not an exhaustive list of deliverables or required professional skills. Please see the Job Description for full details.
Benefits
Sightsavers offers some fantastic benefits. Our comprehensive benefits package includes generous annual leave allowance, pension, season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme, discounted gym memberships and wellness discounts. If you choose to work in or are visiting our collaborative, modern office space, you will find it an easy 20-minute train journey from Brighton or 45 minutes from London.
Next Steps
To apply for this exciting new opportunity, please submit your CV via our recruitment portal and answer all of the application questions. We are particularly interested in learning of your motivations for applying.
Please note that there will be an expectation that you can work from our modern and collaborative offices in Haywards Heath, West Sussex (RH16 3BW), once a week. The office is open Tuesday-Thursday each week except over Christmas.
We anticipate that in-person interviews will take place in the last week of October or mid-November and the evaluation process is likely to include a written task and two-stage in-person interview.
Closing date: Sunday 18 October 2026
As an equal opportunity employer, we actively encourage applications from all sections of the community. Sightsavers is a Disability Confident Leader and qualified people with a disability are particularly encouraged to apply.
Sightsavers is an employer that does not tolerate any form of harassment and has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse. All potential candidates will be subjected to rigorous background checks and controls.
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