Established in 2008, the East Asia Program in the Asia Pacific Regional Office of Open Society Foundations aims to contribute to just, equitable and human rights respecting democratic societies in the East Asian countries. Specifically it engages in the areas of democratic practice and human rights protection, working predominantly through grant making to local, regional and international partners. The program currently works on China, Taiwan and the Korean Peninsula, with an expanding sub-regional body of work.

Job Profile             

We are looking for a Program Administrative Specialist to join our team based in Seoul. The successful candidate will be a committed and dynamic team player, responsible for performing high level administrative and program duties to assist the smooth operations of the East Asia Program. This is an administrative and operational role providing support to all program staff of the East Asia team. The OSF won’t support work visa for this position.

Essential duties and responsibilities will include:

·        Providing advanced administrative support for grant making activities and/or other program functions.

·        Assisting with processing grants (including data collection pertaining to organizational assessments) and ensuring efficient flow of grants processing, payments, reporting and other similar information, as well as identifying and implementing grants related best practices.

·        Conducting research and synthesizing large amounts of data/information to be used in decision-making, strategy development, and evaluation of programs.

·        Managing team/unit's budgets, including planning, tracking, and variance monitoring and reporting.

·        Staying abreast of relevant policies and compliance requirements and assist staff with understanding, operationalizing, and adhering to relevant policies and guidelines.

·        Assisting in complex events planning and managing related travel, logistics, and budgets.

·        Liaising with vendors and consultants, and assisting with compliance and procurement processes, managing associated contracts and payments. 

·        Assisting in managing the team calendar and arranging meetings across multiple time zones.

·        Ad-hoc responsibilities: May occasionally be involved in conducting basic research; reviewing grantee updates.

Candidate Profile

·        Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field of study or equivalent experience/education with at least 3 years of experience in the East Asia region; or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.

·        Demonstrated high proficiency with office technology and IT solutions used by OSF, including the Microsoft Office suite. Must be comfortable learning new proprietary software systems.

·        Proficiency in managing data in a complex environment is critical and proficiency in using data management and visualization platforms and databases (e.g. Salesforce, NetSuite, Foundation Maps, Concur, etc.)

·        Proven ability to work efficiently in a fast-paced environment; to troubleshoot and follow projects through to completion, consistently on schedule, without loss of attention to detail and budget.

·        Previous experience in data management, evaluation, and/or organizational learning preferred.

·        Excellent written and spoken communication in English and Korean. Fluency in Chinese or Japanese a plus.

We are strengthened by the diversity of our colleagues across the Open Society Foundations. We welcome applications from people of all cultures, backgrounds, and experiences, and are committed to providing reasonable accommodations so that colleagues with disabilities are able to fulfill the essential functions of the job.