Administrative Assistant, Global Programmes - Sweden

Context

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance – International IDEA – is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to promoting sustainable democracy worldwide. Its mission is to strengthen democratic institutions and processes. The Institute serves as a catalyst for democracy building by offering global comparative knowledge resources, tools, and policy proposals, and by supporting democratic reforms upon specific national requests. These reforms encompass electoral processes, constitution building, political participation, democracy assessment, gender and inclusion, sustainable development, climate change, digitalization, and conflict sensitivity.

Global Programmes (GP) implements IDEA’s institutional thematic areas, including electoral processes; constitutional governance and rule of law; political participation and representation (including climate change); digitalization and democracy; democracy and inclusion; and assessments of the global state of democracy. With GP increasingly sustained by restricted project funding, there is a growing need for strong coordination across projects to ensure operational efficiency, alignment with institutional goals, and effective delivery. To meet this need, the Project Coordination Team (PCT-GP) was established, and one of its 3 pillars is Procurement, Logistics and Administration. The post Administrative Assistant is part of the PCT-Admin.

The Administrative Assistant provides dedicated operational, logistical, and administrative support to the different programmes/units under Global Programmes. The role plays a central part in supporting Global Programmes as a whole and in ensuring high‑quality delivery of activities across the institute.

Duties and Responsibilities

 1. General Administration (40%)

• Provides comprehensive administrative support to Global Programmes, and its teams, ensuring adherence to International IDEA and donor policies and procedures;

• Supports coordination across workstreams by maintaining schedules, tracking deliverables, organizing shared documentation, and facilitating smooth day‑to‑day operations, in close collaboration with Coordinator – Procurement, Logistics, Administration. It also includes supporting timely follow‑up on actions, collection of inputs, and documentation of activities;

• Supports internal and external communication flows, including drafting and preparing correspondence, reports, meeting notes, and ensuring proper approval processes and filing in line with institutional guidelines;

• Provides support to the different Global Programmes units during annual planning and budgeting periods; when requested, support fundraising proposal budgets in pricing of activity lines, in close coordination with Project Financial Officer;

• Provides support to other Global Programmes teams as required, to address gaps in administrative, procurement, logistical and financial support during peak workloads, staff absences, or special assignments, and in contributing to coordinated delivery and institutional consistency;

• Supports knowledge‑management activities by maintaining updated records, filing systems, and shared folders to ensure continuity and institutional memory.

2. Travel and Logistics (30%)

• Assists in organizing complex and detailed travel plans, itineraries, agendas, and related documentation for team members and stakeholders, ensuring compliance with International IDEA’s Travel Policy and cost‑control standards;

• Organizes and provides logistical support for internal and external meetings or workshops, consultations, and high‑level conferences, including preparatory documentation, venue and virtual arrangements, coordination with participants, refreshments, follow‑up materials and minutes, as needed;

• Supports timely processing of travel and expense claims and reimbursements, in line with International IDEA Travel policy.

3. Procurement and Contracting (30%)

• Assists with programme‑related procurements (including obtaining quotes and booking services, goods, events, and consultants), documentation and supplier information in the ERP, and proactively addressing bottlenecks and delays, in line with International IDEA Procurement policies and procedures;

• Processes basic financial transactions in the ERP system, maintains accurate supporting documentation (invoices, receipts, purchase orders, project advances, expenditure records), and assists with monitoring budget lines and variances relevant to administrative tasks, suggests possible cost-saving measures, in an efficient and timely manner and in coordination with the Project Financial Officer.

General Profile

•  Knowledge and skills in planning, coordination, and administration of programme support, acquired through formal training and work experience;

• Possesses professional level verbal and written communications skills (via phone, email and in-person);

• Experienced in exercising discretion and confidentiality with sensitive and confidential information;

• Adds value to activities in Global Programmes; collaborates with other entities of the Institute as required;

• Follows internal procedures to ensure high standards of performance and compliance with Institutional guidelines;

• Acts in accordance with International IDEA’ s core values: Respect, Integrity and Professionalism;

• Integrates gender equality, diversity, and social inclusion (GEDSI) considerations into all tasks and activities, in alignment with the Institute’s Core Values and commitment to the GEDSI policy.

Reporting line

•  Coordinator, Procurement, Logistics and Administration

Education and Experience

• High school diploma, preferably with business education. A university background in management, administration, or a related field from a recognized university is considered an advantage;

• Minimum of two (2) years of professional experience in administration, programme or project support, logistics support, procurement, and/or business, preferably within projects related to democracy support, governance, community engagement, or in a related field;

• Demonstrated experience in networking and communicating with different stakeholders such as government, UN, NGOs, and other organizations;

• Demonstrated experience in organizing multi-stakeholder events within projects;

• Demonstrated experience in procurement within the framework of project implementation, preferably within an international organization.

Terms of Contract:

• Local Post.

• Fixed term appointment for one (1) year.

• Remuneration - SEK 27, 732 NET per month

Please note as this is a local post, International IDEA will bear no costs relating to the relocation of the selected candidate to the duty station. This position is open to those legally authorized to live and work in Sweden at the time of application and for the duration of the contract. International IDEA is not able to support work permit applications. 

Use of AI in Recruitment
International IDEA places strong emphasis on human input in recruitment. Candidates must disclose any use of AI tools. All application materials, written assessments, and interview responses (as applicable) must be entirely human-generated and reflect the candidate’s own knowledge, skills, and experience. The use of AI to generate content or misrepresent qualifications is not permitted. AI‑powered assistive technologies (such as screen readers or speech‑to‑text tools) may be used for accessibility purposes to ensure equal access to the recruitment process.

Applying for this position:

• Applications should be submitted online no later than 23:59 (CEST) 10 May 2026. 

• Please note that all applications must be made in English.

Selection Process:

• Evaluation of qualified candidates will include a written test assessment and up to two (2) interviews.

• Candidates selected to proceed to the next stage of the process will be contacted once all applications have been carefully reviewed.

• All candidates will be notified of the status of their application via email once the process has been finalized.

Due to the anticipated volume of applications, International IDEA will review applications on a rolling basis, and the vacancy may close earlier than the advertised deadline. Applicants are therefore encouraged to apply early.

International IDEA is an equal-opportunity employer which seeks to further diversify its staff in terms of gender, culture and nationality.