Operations Manager

Job Description

For more than a decade Mesfin Tafesse & Associates Law Office (MTA) has provided high quality, timely legal advice to clients operating in Ethiopia and, as a member of ALN, an integrated alliance of the pre-eminent full-service corporate law firms in 14 African countries and the UAE, we have enhanced our reach across the Continent and beyond.

 With substantial expertise across a diverse range of Ethiopian and international law, we have a sizeable market share of big-ticket foreign direct investment and cross-border M&A. We have expertise in various practice areas and industry sectors, including power and energy, mining, manufacturing, banking and finance, taxation, IT and telecoms, construction and real estate, employment and immigration, civil society laws and dispute resolution. We are committed to providing our clients with the best commercial advice and high-quality service delivery. 

 Chambers Global, Legal 500 and IFLR1000 have consistently ranked MTA as a Tier 1 legal service provider in Ethiopia.

 The Role

We are looking for a diligent and high performing Operations Manager who will be central to our Firm’s business operations.

The key responsibility will be ensuring efficient running of the day-to-day office operations by ensuring that business development, human resources, finance and administration activities run smoothly and provide support to our attorneys in servicing our clients. The ideal candidate should be self-driven, have great multi-tasking ability and possess excellent organizational skills. This position also requires a high level of attention to detail, awareness of best practices in general office operations, and trustworthiness.

More details of the duties and responsibilities are outlined below:

Office Management

• Ensures that the day-to-day activities of the office are smoothly and efficiently managed.
• Management and oversight of all office facilities and equipment and ensuring they are maintained and serviced on a timely basis.
• Managing and monitoring the general office procurement, costs, quality, delivery, and settlement of bills for MTA Ethiopia. End-to-end management of all administrative purchases for the Firm, liaising with the Finance teams & negotiating with suppliers to ensure value for money.
• Negotiating and administering contracts for office supplies with vendors, service providers, and other third parties.
• Ensuring the renewal of relevant office licences.
• Providing day to day guidance to support staff relating to their duties and responsibilities.

 Administrative Support

• Organizing regular staff and management meetings ensuring that the agenda is agreed upon and shared in advance.
• Assisting in planning and organising internal and external events.

  Human Resource Related Matters

• Works closely with the Principal Attorney to identify, recruit and onboard the right talent for the Firm.
• Maintaining all staff personnel files and related employee records on soft and hard copy and ensuring the details are up to date.
• Ensuring leave records are maintained and that the leave process is well managed.
• Assisting with the onboarding and exit process for staff.
• Working with the leadership to drive Performance Appraisal process .
• Plays a leading role in ensuring harmonious relations within the team and champions team building events such as Birthdays, tours, and team activities.

 Data Management

• Sets up, organizes, and maintains paper and electronic filing systems in accordance with recognized procedures and standards of MTA.
• Develops innovative ways of data management systems and procedures relevant to MTA.
• Files and maintains matter related and client documents, retrieves, and provides information and documents from files as required.

 Information Technology

• Ensures effective utilization of information technology across the office’s processes, including optimization of the office’s investments in IT.
• Assists in effective utilization of the MTA Platform or other systems in use by all MTA team members.

Business Development Support

• Supporting attorneys in the proposals preparation process in response to requests from prospective clients.
• Ensuring logistics associated with proposal delivery have been met, proper records of all proposals are kept.

Terms and remuneration

• The contract for this work will be permanent and full-time.  The salary will be competitive and is negotiable dependent on experience.

Job Requirement

Knowledge and Skills Requirements:

• 5+ years of experience a professional services environment. Experience in a legal environment is of an added advantage.
• Must have a business-related degree or appropriate business qualification coupled with some years of experience in operations management.
• Computer savvy with proficiency in general office applications (Microsoft Office Skills including Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and ability to quickly learn new tools and technologies.
• Fluent in speaking English.
• Excellent understanding of the Ethiopian operations environment.

The potential candidate will need to demonstrate the following skills:

• Presentable, inspires confidence and has strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Must possess excellent organizational skills.
• Multi-tasking and time-management skills, with the ability to prioritize tasks and handle multiple projects simultaneously and meet deadlines.
• Ability to adhere to the expectation of complete confidentiality on all business matters.
• Ability to command respect, effectively communicate and collaborate with a diverse range of people and job functions.
• Ability to work independently and alone with minimum supervision.