Executive Assistant to the CEO

POSITION SUMMARY

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the Executive Assistant (EA) is responsible for providing exceptional executive administrative services and effectively managing the CEO’s office. This key role supports governance requirements, helps manage organizational risk and ensures an effective flow of all information and documentation received and disseminated by the CEO.

The Executive Assistant will be based in Washington DC. Support is provided for relocation to Washington DC if necessary. The starting salary range for this position is between $80,000 and $87,500 per year, alongside a competitive benefits package.

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Manage and maintain CEO’s daily schedule and overall calendar and provide administrative support for associated duties and obligations.
• Plan and manage Senior Management Team meetings including preparation of agenda and distribution of materials
• Provide strategic support for the management of relation management for internal and external stakeholder
• Coordinate diplomatic outreach by identifying Ambassadors the CEO needs to meet and developing plans with the program team for a program of diplomatic discussions.
• Coordinate with AKDN and other AKF country offices as needed on issues of governance, protocol and diplomatic outreach.
• Manage CEO’s travel requirements including planning itineraries, making travel bookings, compiling expense reports and managing associated budgets.
• Receive and screen incoming telephone calls to the CEO; open, sort, prioritize and distribute incoming correspondence.
• Read and analyze emails, documents and reports to determine their significance, plan their distribution and ensure an effective flow of information.
• Compose and edit a variety of documents, including confidential correspondence, memoranda, proposals, PowerPoint presentations etc.
• Streamline CEO approval process by reviewing approval requirements on the CEO’s behalf and ensuring provision of back-up documentation where required for review.

Governance support

• Support a range of governance activities, including ongoing development and review of governance policies and processes in accordance with AKF USA’s mission, vision and values.
• Organize all aspects of the main governance body (National Committee) meetings and related events as directed by the CEO.
• Lead the development of the Committee meeting agendas and coordinate submission of items for the Committee package with relevant departments in the organization.
• Ensure that all required meeting material and documentation is distributed on time and arrange for other meeting support services, meeting room rental, equipment rental, catering, hotel reservations and other services, as required. Provide notetaking and distribution of minutes for National Committee meetings.
• Coordinate the logistics of those meetings and manage travel arrangements and bookings for National Committee Members in collaboration with the administration team.
• Follow-up on agenda items or assigned tasks with others within the organization, as needed.
• Manage all governance related documentation to ensure that it is organized, referenced, filed and searchable using effective document management practice.
• Support the National Committee recruitment and nomination process and track Committee terms and vacancies.
• Support CEO in the preparation of reports, materials and meetings.

Office Management

• Plan, develop, monitor and manage the annual budget for the CEO Office and ensure that expenses are correctly allocated and coded.
• Manage the accounts payable process for the CEO office including receiving, reconciling, coding expenses and ensuring payment of invoices and credit card statements for the relevant corporate credit cards.
• Review of PO’s coming to the CEO’s office.
• Manage the usage of the CEO corporate credit card.
• Develop and maintain effective records, documents and knowledge management practices for the CEO office.
• Perform additional duties as directed by the CEO.
• Work and coordinate with Office Administrator and Associate Director of Finance on matters related to office administration and logistics.
• EA will provide coverage for the Office Administrator position, when required.

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in business, administration, commerce or related field.
• At least 5 years of experience providing high-level administrative and office management services to C-suite executives (e.g., calendar, financial management, meeting planning, travel arrangements).
• Experience coordinating concurrent activities, prioritizing requirements, and resolving problems.
• Experience in providing advice and guidance to internal and external clients.
• Experience in the development and implementation of standards, practices, and processes.
• Experience in drafting and editing correspondence and other types of documents.
• Ability to deal with confidential matters with professionalism and tact.
• Exceptional judgement, diplomacy and discretion.
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written).
• Strong computer skills, including with Microsoft Office, online conferencing tools (e.g., Zoom), project management (e.g., Asana), and cloud-based document management (e.g., Dropbox, SharePoint).

ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES

• Dynamic, collaborative, and able to work in challenging contexts with patience, perseverance, and flexibility.
• Capacity to work independently, take initiative, set priorities, and manage a variety of activities simultaneously.
• Enthusiastic about learning from others and sharing knowledge.
• Demonstrated intercultural competence and ability to adapt professional skills to fit local conditions and constraints.
• Superb analytical, organizational, negotiation and problem-solving skills.
• Proven interpersonal and communication skills in diverse and cross-cultural settings.