Administrative Support Assistant

Provide high-level administrative support to the Director of the department. Manage the Director's calendar, schedule appointments, and coordinate meetings, ensuring efficient use of time. Prepare and format correspondence, reports, presentations, and other documents for the Director. Screen and prioritize incoming communications, including emails, phone calls, and mail, and respond or redirect as appropriate. Liaise with internal and external stakeholders on behalf of the Director, maintaining professionalism and confidentiality. Organize travel arrangements, accommodations, and itineraries for the Director's business trips. Prepare expense reports, process invoices, and monitor the Director's budget. Maintain accurate records and files, both electronic and physical, ensuring easy retrieval of information. Manage the BF (task and deadlines tracking) list for the Director, ensuring all tasks are recorded, tracked, and completed in a timely manner. Assist in the preparation of meeting agendas, materials, and follow-up actions, including taking minutes when required. Handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion and integrity. Collaborate with other members of the administrative team to ensure smooth operations and support departmental initiatives.

Coordinates and verifies the routing of organizational client documents submitted for linguistic services; ensures specifications and special instructions are considered and followed; and gathers information or obtains documents relevant to the work of translators and editors. Compares versions of documents, including verifying and analyzing documents and delivers translated texts to clients. Compiles statistics and generates statistical and translation tracking system reports on an ongoing basis. Assists employees of the Linguistic Services Directorate with any special or ad hoc requests as required. Serves as a main point of contact for service providers administrative support team.

Achieved financial objectives by preparing annual budgets, scheduling expenditures, analyzing variances and initiating corrective actions. Arranged sales incentives with store management and vendor representatives to reward deserving team members for exceeding expectations. Worked actively with management team to create daily and weekly sales plans based on weekly sales trends. Developed and implemented plans to maximize sales and meet or exceed goals. Aligned projects and daily activities with company vision, strategies and tactics. Raised brand awareness through consistent marketing efforts and product campaign launches. Built professional relationships with distributors, customers and media staff by attending trade shows. Handled problematic customers and clients to assist lower-level employees and maintain excellent customer service. Walked through store department to identify and proactively resolve issues negatively impacting operations.

Optimized schedules to keep coverage and service in line with forecasted demands. Oversaw employee performance, corrected problems and increased efficiency to maintain productivity and sales goals. Used weekly sales data (reports) to analyze company growth and optimize operational strategies. Opened and closed store 3-4 days per week by counting registers, making deposits and storing and filing all daily paperwork. Acted as in-store sales leader and maintained strong presence on floor to build relationships with customers, support and develop team and increase revenue.

Liaised with external vendors and commercial banking institutions as required. Responsible for office management, including facility maintenance, general services and IT support. Managed confidential information as needed. Orchestrated successful conferences, facilities and support services, preparing presentations, materials and documentation for use by manager team in meetings, committees and events. Greeted arriving visitors, determined nature and purpose of visit and directed individuals to appropriate destinations and accommodations. Organized international and domestic travel arrangements for up to 15 staff members, including all transportation and hotel stays. Prepared documents, reports and presentations for executives and board members using advanced software proficiencies. Developed and supported for annual budgets in collaboration with financial.

Supervised group of 22 professionals and their office tasks in cities of Bogota and Medellin. Spearheaded setup efforts for new office in Medellin city, worked with external vendors and unit management, driving all tasks from facility design to final construction, as well as personnel moving plans. Negotiated contracting terms with suppliers, resulting in 35% saving of approved budget. Delivered top-notch administrative support to office staff, promoting excellence in office operations. Collaborated with accounting and management teams to set budgets, monitor spending and process payroll. Managed event logistics and operations. Managed administrative logistics of events planning, event booking, and event promotions. Negotiated and executed contracts on behalf of department. Updated reports, managed accounts, and generated reports for company database.