Executive Assistant to the CEO

Position Summary

Serves as the primary point of contact for internal and external constituencies on all matters pertaining to the Office of the CEO. The Executive Assistant also serves as a liaison to the board of directors and senior management teams; organizes and coordinates executive outreach and external relations efforts; and oversees special projects. The Executive Assistant must be creative and enjoy working within a nonprofit environment that is mission-driven, results-driven and community oriented. The ideal individual will have the ability to exercise good judgment in a variety of situations, with strong written and verbal communication, administrative, and organizational skills, and the ability to maintain a realistic balance among multiple priorities. The Executive Assistant will have the ability to work independently on projects, from conception to completion, and must be able to work under pressure at times to handle a wide variety of activities and confidential matters with discretion.

Duties &

Responsibilities

Executive Support:

• Completes a broad variety of administrative tasks for the CEO including managing an active calendar of appointments; completing expense reports;
  composing and preparing correspondence that is sometimes confidential; arranging travel plans, itineraries, and agendas; and compiling documents for meetings.
• Plans, coordinates and ensures the CEO's schedule is followed and respected. Provides "gatekeeper" and "gateway" role, creating win-win situations for direct access to the CEO's time and office.
• Communicates directly, and on behalf of the CEO, with Board members, donors, Foundation staff, and others, on matters related to CEO's programmatic initiatives.
• Researches, prioritizes, and follows up on incoming issues and concerns addressed to the CEO, including those of a sensitive or confidential nature. Determines appropriate course of action, referral, or response.
• Provides a bridge for smooth communication between the CEO’s office and internal departments; demonstrating leadership to maintain credibility, trust and support with senior management staff.
• Works closely and effectively with the CEO to keep her well informed of upcoming commitments and responsibilities, following up appropriately. Acts as a "barometer," having a sense for the issues taking place in the environment and keeping the CEO updated.
• Provides leadership to build relationships crucial to the success of the organization and manages a variety of special projects for the CEO, some of which may have organizational impact.
• Successfully completes critical aspects of deliverables with a hands-on approach, including drafting acknowledgement letters, personal correspondence, and other tasks that facilitate the CEO's ability to effectively lead the company.
• Prioritizes conflicting needs; handles matters expeditiously, proactively, and follows-through on projects to successful completion, often with deadline pressures.

Board Support and Liaison:

• Serves as the CEO’s administrative liaison to Mary Crane’s board of directors
• Maintains discretion and confidentiality in relationships with all board members
• Adhere to compliance with applicable rules and regulations set in bylaws regarding board and board committee matters, including advance distribution of materials before meetings in electronic/paper format.
• Participates as an adjunct member of the Executive Team including assisting in scheduling meetings and attending all meetings
• Assists in coordinating the agenda of senior management team meetings and off-sites, and all-staff meetings
• Facilitates cross-divisional coordination of travel and outreach plans
• Ensures that the CEO’s bio is kept updated and responds to requests for materials regarding the CEO and the organization in general
• Edits and completes first drafts for written communications to external stake holders
• Follows up on contacts made by the CEO and supports the cultivation of ongoing relationships
• Edits all, and creates acknowledgement letters from the CEO to donors
• Strong organizational skills that reflect ability to perform and prioritize multiple tasks seamlessly with excellent attention to detail
• Very strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with stakeholders, including staff, board members, external partners and donors
• Expert-level written and verbal communication skills
• Demonstrated proactive approaches to problem-solving with strong decision-making capability
• Emotional maturity
• Highly resourceful team player, with the ability to also be extremely effective independently
• Proven ability to handle confidential information with discretion, be adaptable to various
• Demonstrated ability to achieve high-performance goals and meet deadlines in a fast pace competing demands, and demonstrate the highest level of customer/client service and response environment.
• Forward-looking thinker, who actively seeks opportunities and proposes solutions

Job

Requirements

Education and/or Experience:

• Bachelor's degree required
• Strong work tenure: five to 10 years of experience supporting C-Level Executives, preferably in a non-profit organization
• Experience and interest in internal and external communications, partnership development, and fundraising
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), Adobe Acrobat, and Social Media web platforms.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Excellent oral and written communication and presentational skills.
• Demonstrated capability to interface and maintain effective relationships with administration, staff, consultants, regulators and founders in a team-oriented environment.
• Capacity to assume responsibility for own professional development.
• Detail-oriented, logical, and methodological approach to problem solving.
• Ability to plan and schedule the work of others.
• Flexible, with the ability to work in a highly demanding, stressful environment.
• Proficiency using word-processing system.
• Ability to cooperate successfully as a member of a team.
• Ability to communicate effectively with others, including giving and receiving feedback on the quality of services.
• Meet any specific content area requirements.

Language

Skills

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk, hear and see.
• The employee frequently is required to stand, walk, sit; use hands to handle or feel; reach with hands and arms; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.
• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 30 pounds.
• Specific vision requirements include the ability to see at close range.
• At times, may require more than 40 hours per week to perform the essential duties of the position.
• Fine hand manipulation (keyboarding).
• Transportation time spent purchasing items for the center, commuting between centers, attending trainings and in-services, and on home visits.
• The employee may be required to work at multiple agency locations if necessary.
• Internal office space and classroom.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate to high.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Internal office space and classroom.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate to high.