Executive Operations Manager: Office of the DVC Research, Partnerships& Innovations at University of Fort Hare

The key responsibilities include:

• Following up and monitoring all the executive’s initiatives that are of strategic nature/interest to the university and drawing up their progress reports; tracking and monitoring of progress on tasks assigned by the executive to various senior managers in his/her Division and integrating or collating reports where required; and taking minutes at meetings that are not supported by the Committees section.
• Ascertaining quality assurance on the executive’s submissions to the Management Executive Committee(MEC), other University structures, partners, and stakeholders.
• Ongoing monitoring of the Division’s performance in relation to the APP and other planning instruments and identifying areas of concern.
• Preparing presentations, notices, circulars, and drafting speeches for the executive; handling incoming and outgoing correspondence at executive level; and drafting appropriate responses on behalf of the executive while ensuring compliance with timelines and all requests for information from external institutions such as DHET, NSFAS, SAQA, the CHE, the NRF, DST, etc.
• Conducting research for executive strategic advice and collating background information to support the executive in the execution of his/her functions; drafting data-driven briefing documents and summaries of reports for high level decision-making; and writing evidence-based reports on behalf of the executive for internal University structures as well as external bodies.
• Leading or coordinating key projects assigned by the executive with excellent project management skills such as tracking progress on project deliverables, managing their timelines and workflows, and report writing.
• Compiling the budget and monitoring expenditure in the office while ensuring sound human relations within the office including good interactions with the university community and external stakeholders.

Minimum requirements

• At least a Master’s degree
• 10 years experience in a leadership role and/or supporting senior/executive management
• Knowledge of higher education sector and an understanding of the operations and affairs of a University environment will be an added advantage