Administrative Officer at Stellenbosch University

Duties
Administrative Support to the Head of the Department (HOD):

• Diary management for the HOD.
• Managing the departmental calendar in accordance with the University and Faculty calendars.
• Meeting coordination for the HOD and departmental meetings.
• Documentation preparation, including drafting and editing memos, letters, announcements, reports, agendas, and preparing and distributing accurate minutes of the meetings.
• Acting as the primary liaison between the HOD and all internal and external stakeholders.
• Keeping accurate filing records of departmental documents, data and statistics.
• Assisting with coordinating the submission of the annual report to Faculty.

Financial administration and budget control:

• Timeous and efficient execution of financial administrative tasks related to the daily functioning of the Department and in line with Stellenbosch University's financial policies, including processing requisitions, issuing requisitions, placing orders and receiving goods, processing departmental bursaries, ad hoc payments, and interacting with debtors and creditors.
• Managing cost centres of academic staff and researchers in the Department.
• Using the University's financial system to enter and extract financial data, and a thorough understanding of the Department's cost centres and accounts.
• Acting as internal liaison with SU's divisions of Purchasing and Procurement, Financial Services and the Vehicle Fleet.
• Responsible for all administrative and financial tasks regarding arrangements for national and international travel, accommodation and conference attendance for academic staff (with compliance to SU policy).

Administrative support:

• Receiving visitors, interacting with students, the effective management of email and telephonic enquiries.
• Maintaining an effective filing system of departmental documents.
• Providing secretarial and administrative support to academic staff members and implementing undergraduate and postgraduate administration.
• Handling undergraduate teaching and assessment administration.
• Handling the departmental postgraduate administration.
• Administering and scheduling activities for the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science (scheduling meetings and planned activities, events coordination, monitoring and managing diaries, taking minutes during meetings, etc.).
• Compiling financial statements, memoranda and other relevant documents as needed.
• Coordinating effective internal communication with departmental staff and students.

Job Requirements/Pos Vereistes        

• At least five years' secretarial and/or administrative experience.
• Knowledge and experience of financial, administration and information systems.
• The ability to liaise appropriately and effectively with individuals at all levels, both within and outside the University.
• Proven intermediate to advanced computer  proficiency in the use of the Microsoft Office package (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams). Shortlisted candidates will be  required to complete an applicable proficiency assessment.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.
• The ability to work under pressure without compromising accuracy.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills.
• The ability to work independently as well as in a team.
• Excellent organisational skills, and the ability to adhere to deadlines.

Recommendation

• A post-matric secretarial or administrative qualification (or equivalent experience).
• A general working knowledge of scientific terminology.
• Prior experience of administration work at a higher education institution.
• Prior experience with Stellenbosch University's online systems (SUNLearn, STEMLearn, SUNStudent, SUNFin, etc.).
• An excellent spoken and written command of Afrikaans.

Deadline:6th October,2026