The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) advances rights and opportunities for women and girls to ensure a more gender-equal world. For 49 years, ICRW has been the world’s leading non-profit building evidence and promoting solutions for how to improve the lives of women, girls, and other marginalized people.

Serving the continent from its offices in Kenya and Uganda, ICRW Africa has a history of working in more than 25 African countries. To generate and provide contextually grounded evidence on four thematic focus areas—economic opportunity and security; health and sexual and reproductive rights; equitable social norms and power dynamics; and climate action—our work in the region frequently involves active collaboration with communities as well as national, regional, and international bodies.,

About the role

ICRW Africa is a lean, high-impact research-to-action NGO tackling some of the most pressing development challenges in Africa. We’re looking for a sharp, resourceful, and highly organized professional to be the right hand to the Africa Director and a key support to our programs and fundraising efforts.

If you’ve thrived as an Administrative or Executive Assistant and are ready to step into a role where you’ll hit the ground running, manage competing priorities, and keep things moving without constant oversight — this is your opportunity.

Primary Duties:

1. Executive & Administrative Support

• Serve as the main administrative point of contact for the Africa Director.
• Manage the Director’s calendar, schedule meetings, and coordinate appointments with internal and external stakeholders.
• Arrange complex travel logistics, including accommodation, visas, and transportation.
• Prepare meeting materials (agendas, presentations, briefing notes) and take accurate minutes, ensuring follow-up actions are tracked and completed.
• Draft, proofread, and format documents, reports, and presentations to a professional standard.
• Maintain organized office records, files, and archives for easy retrieval.
• Support Board(s) coordination.

2. Program Management Support

• Assist in coordinating program activities, workshops, and events from planning to execution.
• Track project timelines, deliverables, and budgets, flagging issues proactively.
• Compile program data, reports, and knowledge management resources.
• Maintain and update program databases, mailing lists, and shared platforms (e.g., SharePoint).

3. Fundraising & Resource Mobilization Support

• Maintain donor and partner contact lists, profiles, and briefing notes.
• Compile background research, past performance data, and supporting documents for proposals and donor reports.
• Support the preparation of fundraising materials and scheduling of donor meetings.
• Track funding opportunities and share timely updates with the Africa Director and program team.
• Monitor implementation of the Fundraising Strategy

4. Light Operations Support

• Process expense claims, petty cash, and basic finance documentation.

Professional Experience:

• 5 years’ experience in a senior admin or executive support role, ideally in a non-profit or research setting
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail
• Highly organized, resourceful, and able to anticipate needs
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively with diverse teams and stakeholders
• Proactive problem-solver who thrives in a lean, fast-moving environment

Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences, Project Management, Business Administration, Development Studies, or a related field.

Additional Information:

ICRW has zero tolerance on sexual exploitation and abuse. All employment offers are conditional upon the receipt of satisfactory references and signing of our code of conduct and Safeguarding Policy.

ICRW is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as established under law.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Please note that due to the high volume of applications, only candidates selected for further consideration will be contacted.