Freelance Office Management Volunteer
Job Description
Yunus Social Business is recruiting one (1) volunteer for at least six (6) months for the position of Office Management Volunteer to begin as soon as possible in Frankfurt, Germany.
Yunus Social Business (YSB) is social business accelerator, focusing on incubating and financing social businesses globally. A social business is a new kind of company that combines the strengths of both the social development and the business world. It is created with the sole purpose to solve a social problem – like NGOs – but to do so in a financially sustainable way – like businesses.
YSB was co-founded by Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus, founder of the microfinance organization Grameen Bank, as well as a variety of social businesses in Bangladesh and worldwide. A social business ourselves, we report directly to Professor Yunus, and we are part of the Grameen network of over 40 social businesses and more than 50,000 employees.
We at YSB are currently a global team of 40 people with experience in entrepreneurship, consulting, venture capital, business incubation, finance and international development. YSB further has a large pool of expert volunteer consultants that contribute to its global and local operations.
Our main office is in Frankfurt, Germany and we have an on-the-ground presence through our local country teams in Albania, Brazil, Colombia, Haiti, India, Uganda and Tunisia.
Our core business is the incubation and financing of social businesses in the following manner:
• We design and implement incubation and/or accelerator programmes in our local countries to search for, coach and mentor entrepreneurs to create strong, investment-ready social businesses
• We also serve as a financing vehicle for the most promising social businesses in a defined geographic area (country, region or city), using a methodology similar to those used in the venture capital space
• We further provide on-going advice and support post-investment, including a peer-to-peer exchange with other social business entrepreneurs
Main responsibilities of the Office Management Volunteer
YSB Global Initiatives is looking for a dynamic and self-motivated team member with strong organizational and time management skills to join its small, entrepreneurial team.
The Office Management Volunteer will work closely with the Executive Assistant of YSB Global Initiatives to ensure YSB Global Initiatives has the highest possible quality of administrative support. She/he will also liaise with the teams in YSB’s 7 country offices around the world.
Her/his responsibilities include, but will not be limited to:
• Office management for the YSB team in Frankfurt (12 team members)
• Problem solving/ trouble-shooting questions of day-to-day work (including dealing with various suppliers)
• Assistance in Human Resources related projects
• Carrying out administration and IT projects
• Research for the Fundraising Team
• Data Entry
Qualifications of the candidate:
An ideal candidate should display the following qualities, skills, and experience:
• Warm, ‘can-do’ and hands-on attitude with a strong team spirit in supporting the entire team, including the following:
o Ability to work independently in a fast-pace loosely structured environment
o Ability to adapt quickly to change
o Comfortable working with an entrepreneurial and international team
• Enthusiasm for organizational tasks, skills incl:
o Attention to detail
o Ability to multi-task
o Ability to consistently meet deadlines and
o Ability to engage in 100% follow-through
• Highly motivated to the cause and to the tasks, with an interest in social business
• Familiarity and comfort with Microsoft Office and Google Apps
• Fluency in written and oral German and English is a must
• Diplomacy, negotiation skills, and teamwork skills
• Availability to work ideally for 6 months full or part-time, 3 months minimum
• A good sense of humour and a positive attitude.
The candidate will be offered the opportunity to gain deep, hands-on experience on the job. YSB Global Initiatives is working on addressing important social challenges; this will give the candidate a great insight into a start-up environment as well as the opportunity to be interacting with a highly motivated and diverse team.