ABOUT THE COMPANY:

We are a small town planning practice in Observatory, Cape Town. This is a progressive and informal yet professional working environment where your ability to organise, think on your feet, and pay attention to detail and anticipate will be crucial. Two town planners and an accountant need the support of an admin assistant and office manager. The team is a close knit team and your love of cats is a prerequisite, since any one of three will visit your workstation regularly! We work from home, so your honesty, integrity and reliability is important for us.

SUMMARY:

Provide administrative and office support to the company. Duties include general clerical, receptionist and project based work. The successful person must project a professional company image through in-person, email and phone interaction. Previous experience working for architects, engineers, town planners, land surveyors or environmentalists or any other built environment government department will be beneficial.

OVERALL APPROACH:

You will report to the Director of the Company, a professional town planner with 29 years experience. You will also report to, and work closely with other town planning and accounting staff (both full time employed and subcontracted) on project related tasks.

SKILLS REQUIRED:

• Advanced knowledge of MSWord essential
• Intermediate knowledge of Excel and Power Point required;
• Business writing skills such as basic letter writing, email communication, minute taking & typing professional communication skills essential
• Corel Draw and/or Turbo Cad an advantage (not essential);
• Excellent reading/writing/speaking in English essential to enable you to do advance editing and proofreading of professional reports;
• Reading/writing/speaking in Afrikaans and/or Xhosa an advantage;
• Must be able to type reasonably fast and accurate;
• General computer literacy, knowledge of file management structures, email and web research essential;
• Knowledge of websites an advantage;
• Knowledge of basic financial administration not essential but an advantage (petty-cash reconciliation);
• Own vehicle an advantage but not requirement.

QUALITIES REQUIRED:

• Principled and trustworthy, respectful and caring of the home-office environment we work in;
• Ability to organise and prioritise;
• Ability to think independently and take initiative ;
• Ability to anticipate the needs of the director and assist her to fulfil her functions more effectively and efficiently, including preparation for and attendance of out-of-office meetings
• Ability to fit into an informal, self-disciplined and self-motivated work environment;

• Ability to focus on service delivery and personal attention to clients and the needs of your team;
• Friendly and people orientated personality –ability to ‘get to know’ our clients and adapt to their
differing requirements and styles;
• Attention to detail –especially making sure that all documents and reports are of a high standard.

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE POSITION:

• Work hours: 8:30 to 5:30 Mondays to Thursdays and 8:30 to 3pm on Fridays;
• No company medical aid/pension benefits, although employee can elect to join company medical aid (Momentum) which is then deducted from salary;
• Interest in the built environment and project work is important since administrative duties will include project administration such as advertising of applications, project follow up, and so forth.

TASKS:

Administrative tasks

• Answer office phone, assist callers where possible and take messages if required;
• Meet and greet visitors and clients;
• Arrange meetings and workshops when necessary, and attendance at conferences (including basic catering for meetings where needed);
• Research accommodation and travelling costs/options and make travel arrangements;
• Do filing, organise the office library, office CD’s and maintain the electronic filing system;
• Capture time sheets and prepare expense reports; prepare time sheet and expense reports for all employees for billing purposes;
• Prepare invoices on Excel/Word; send out completed invoices via email;
• Organise monthly company petty-cash and other expenses for accountant & capture onto excel;
• Manage petty cash;
• Assist with payments of accounts –ensure invoices are paid on time
• Office stationery and other consumables & supplies: keep inventory and purchase when necessary
• Keep office space tidy
• Make tea and coffee daily and wash dishes when needed
• Run errands (collecting mail, deliveries, etc)
• Email management and electronic filing and archiving
• Printing and photocopying; make photocopies, take plans for printing to print shop, print, package and bind reports and documents
• Manage overtime and leave registers
• Assist with preparing, packaging and finalising tenders for the company
• Assist with the Company’s annual BB BEE rating
• Any other administrative duties required in the office.
• Manage property rentals for the Director and also including any personal tasks, errands or duties for the Director which may required from time to time.

Project related tasks

• Assist with the revision (and periodic updating) of ****@*****.*** web site;
• Obtain and collect information from the deeds office, deeds website and Surveyor General’s office
and SG website;
• Obtain and collect information from the Council’s planning offices about properties when required;
• Undertake site meetings to investigate matters that the Director may require;

• Reports and applications: Assist in typing, formatting and proof reading, inserting diagrams and photos, cross references, table of contents, citations, captions etc. and manage report preparation for project;
• Printing and binding of application reports and plans where necessary;
• Manage the company Drop-box where others can access project information
• Letters, correspondence: Finalise and format letters and prepare them for emailing;
• Format, edit, proof read and fine tune presentations on Power Point;
• Assist with submitting applications on e-filing, checking or undertaking advertising of applications, sending out registered notification letters, preparing advertising signs when needed and erecting site notices on site and taking them down;
• Assist with all administrative tasks associated with projects, including follow up with authorities to ensure applications are being processed and tasks are being undertaken;
• At completion of project, prepare “project information sheet” for portfolio and website;
• Take minutes of meetings, write and type minutes, send minutes out to participants;
• Any other tasks as may be required by the town planner working on the project

All applications must be accompanied by a letter of motivation highlighting your suitability to the role.