Admin and Accounts Assistant
Free town, Sierra Leone | SLE 12,813.50 monthly gross salary | 1-year renewable contract
Laterite is rebuilding how we support research teams on the ground. We're looking for an Admin and Accounts Assistant who keeps our office running smoothly while owning core financial and logistics processes with autonomy and good judgment.
Who We Are
Laterite is a data, research, and analytics firm working on complex development challenges. We partner with universities, global think tanks, international NGOs, multilateral donors, and government ministries. Our clients include the World Bank, USAID, TechnoServe, the Mastercard Foundation, and others.
We operate across the Netherlands, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and Peru, with 90+ full-time staff and more than 2,000 enumerators. We believe meaningful impact requires being on the ground, building local teams, and establishing long-term trust. Our office culture is collaborative and gives people autonomy to grow into their roles.
The Environment You're Stepping Into
You will join our Sierra Leone team in a high-trust environment. We are low on bureaucracy but high on individual accountability. You won't be micromanaged here—we want you to use your judgment to solve problems, support our fast-paced field teams, and actively improve the systems you work with.
Laterite Sierra Leone started operations in 2023. Our office in Freetown is Laterite’s first step in West Africa and will build on our 12+ years of experience of research and data collection. Since then, our Freetown office has been using innovative techniques to study education outcomes in the region. Our team in Freetown currently consists of four team members.
How You'll Make an Impact
1. Running Office Operations & Supporting the Team
- Provide administrative support to ensure the smooth functioning of the office.
- Organize staff events and maintain a proper filing system (including e-folders).
- Oversee the day-to-day operations of the office, including the purchase of office supplies, equipment, and facilities.
- This will include monitoring inventory levels, coordinate maintenance and repairs, and ensuring that the office is a productive and safe environment.
- Manage office equipment (laptops, tablets, furniture, office keys, etc.) and maintain an updated asset list.
- Maintain an updated office supplies contact list and act as a key contact person to vendors, including staff medical insurance providers.
- Help with logistics for enumerator training, workshops, and meetings (booking rooms, catering, hiring furniture, organizing transport, etc).
- Be a key contact person to different teams, facilitate collaborations, information sharing, and support cross-functional tasks.
- Provide continuous help with immigration processes to assist in expats' settlement, i.e., work permit, special pass, visas, and alien card application follow-ups.
- Handle a variety of ad-hoc tasks/duties as assigned.
2. Protecting Our Financial Engine
- Perform monthly postings & reconciliations, e.g., petty cash, bank, supplier, and tax reconciliations using QuickBooks.
- Review all field expenses, including sitting with enumerators for reconciliation of budget with actual expenses, as well as preparing a project expense report for each batch of field expenses.
- Process payments for any project-related expenses and supplier payments.
- Work with the finance team for monitoring cash and bank balances and ensuring adequate balances to meet all payment needs.
- Ensure compliance and timely filing of all taxation and other regulatory requirements (NASSIT, PAYE, VAT & WHT).
- Liase with the tax advisors and external auditors to respond to queries, provide documents and seek advice/resolution from them.
- Manage filing of all contracts, invoices and salary slips and other relevant documents.
3. Building Systems That Work
- Establish systems and processes for a more efficient filing and archiving process.
- Ensure controls for certain project-related expenses and increase our cost-efficiency by diversifying and improving our agreements with suppliers.
Requirements
What You Bring
We are looking for a colleague with experience in office management and who provides administrative support during data collection projects. Specifically, you have:
- Must be a Sierra Leone national.
- BA Degree in Business Administration, Economics, Accounting, or related field.
- Minimum 3 years of relevant professional experience.
- Excellent spoken and written English communication skills.
- Excellent knowledge of office management, visa and work permit processes, and accounting and book-keeping.
- Proficiency in QuickBooks and MS Office especially Excel.
What Success Looks Like in 6 Months
- Field expense reports are highly accurate, fully reconciled, and submitted on time.
- The team relies on the digital and physical filing systems you've set up.
- You are independently managing relationships with our vendors and auditors.
- The office is running smoothly, and you've successfully implemented 2-3 of your own process improvements.
Benefits
What's In It for You?
- Competitive compensation: SLE 12,813.50 gross monthly salary (exact grade determined by experience/interviews), medical insurance, pension contribution, and 21 days of annual leave.
- Professional Growth: We are also committed to supporting our staff’s learning, providing an annual learning budget of up to $1,000 per person and 10 days of time off for professional learning each year.
- Flexibility: We also provide remote work options in accordance with Laterite's remote work policy.
