Assistant Officer Afromontane Research Unit (ARU) at University of the Free State

Duties and responsibilities:

• Provide personal assistant/secretarial support to the Research Chairs, including travel planning, office management, meeting administration, generation of annual reports, etc.
• Administer finances for two Research Chairs, including managing the UFS financial system for related entities.
• Co-operate with, support, and if need be, mentor other ARU administrative personnel (e.g. administrative contract incumbents for large grants, interns, student assistants, research assistants, etc.).
• Manage assets and consumables for the Research Chairs, including signing out of research equipment, keeping an assets registry, and advising on necessary actions for repair, replacement, etc. in close consultation with key personnel responsible for the management of assets and consumables in the life sciences departments.
• Assist with organising, planning, and implementation of flagship events for Research Chairs, including workshops, conferences, seminars, colloquia, annual governance meetings.
• Provide in-house hospitality to visiting academic guests.
• Provide logistical support to research leaders affiliated with the Research Chairs, as needed.
• Be the day-to-day point of contact between the Research Chairs at the Qwaqwa campus and the Directorate Research Development on Bloemfontein campus.

Inherent Job Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree or an advanced diploma/BTech degree/postgraduate certificate on NQF Level 7.
• A minimum of one (1) year of relevant work experience aligned with the duties and responsibilities of the role, including experience in office administration, financial administration, meeting coordination, and/or data management.

Recommendations:

• Two (2) years of relevant experience in administrative and financial office support.
• Evidence of budgeting skills and understanding of financial management.
• Experience with the PeopleSoft system.

Closing Date

10/4/2026