Administrative Assistant, Office of the CEO

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

The Administrative Assistant, Office of the CEO, carries out duties in the following two major categories: 

Board Operations

• Support event planning and logistical elements relating to meetings of Oceana Board of Directors three times per year in various cities around the world.
• Research and secure vendors and locations for all aspects of the meeting (e.g. hotel, meeting venue, restaurants, on-the-ground transportation).
• Manage contracts with hotels and meeting venues, liaising with venue staff to reserve hotel room blocks, selecting catering providers and menus, and working with audiovisual staff on-site to ensure seamless and professional meetings.
• Process vendor payments and board member reimbursements.
• Arrive at the location of the board meetings early to ensure adequate coordination with the facilities management; food and beverage; local transportation; etc. related to the Board meetings. Provide day-of meeting support, with room setup and as point of contact with facilities management (AV technician, caterers, etc.).
• Support production and distribution process for extensive board meeting materials.
• Manage the physical production, assembly, and mailing of board books per meeting.
• Assist the Manager of Board Operations in drafting communications to board members. 
• Support tracking of meeting attendance for different groups of attendees, including board members, special guests, and guest speakers. Assist attendees in obtaining formal invitation letters to enter the host country and/or travel visas for meetings when necessary.
• Coordinate all-staff webinars with the help of the IT department following each board meeting.

 
Executive Operations

• Maintain executive calendar, and screen emails and calls to help set priorities. Responsible for scheduling and coordinating all CEO’s appointments, meetings (internal/external), and calls.
• Set up logistics and prepare meeting rooms for CEO led meetings and events, including greeting visitors, and coordinating with the Office Support team as needed, such as ordering catering.
• Book all elements of the CEO’s travel needs (flights, train travel, hotel stays, vehicle rentals, etc.) and prepare meticulous itineraries.
• Assist Chief of Staff as needed in booking meetings and travel logistics.
• Support CEO meeting with direct reports through the assembly of meeting agenda, supporting documents, and drafting of communications.
• Maintain the Office of the CEO’s OneNote records, adding on a daily basis the outcomes from meetings, next steps and assignments, email messages of importance and other task-related notes. Prepare regular reports on priority to-dos for the CEO and other staff to ensure timely follow-up with commitments, communications and deadlines. 
• Prepare and submit weekly timesheets and monthly expense reports for the CEO. Review and approve timesheets for all of the CEO’s direct reports on a weekly basis and expense reports on a monthly basis.
• Process payments relating to the Office of the CEO, working closely with external vendors and customers to ensure timely satisfaction of invoices.
• Manage subscriptions and supplies for the Office of the CEO, including Oceana materials (i.e. annual reports, magazines and brochures).
• Serve on the International All-Staff Meeting planning team and other steering committees or work groups as needed to show collaborative spirit and to represent CEO support for organization-wide employee activities.
• Perform additional duties as needed and/or assigned.
  
  

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Education and work experience:

• Bachelor’s degree required and at least 3 years of relevant full-time experience, in event planning, or in a fast-paced environment or an equivalent combination of education and work experience.
• A second language is desirable but not required.

Skills and knowledge:

• Must have excellent and sophisticated knowledge of the Microsoft Office Suite, including advanced document formatting, email and calendar organization, database creation and maintenance, etc.
• Must possess excellent organizational, written, and verbal communication skills.
• Must be willing to accept varied workload and meet hard deadlines.
• Must be able to travel (domestic/international) and work outside of normal work-week hours.
• Must be a team player who can build partnerships and work collaboratively with all staff to meet the shared objectives of the organization.
• Must be able to represent Oceana and the Office of the CEO in a professional and responsive manner at all times and across all modes of communication.
  
  

Required Competencies:

• Ensures Accountability: Follows through on commitments and makes sure others do the same. Has a reputation of taking ownership and responsibility for decisions, actions and failures.
• Action Oriented: Makes things happen. Takes on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
• Manages Ambiguity: Must be able to manage ambiguity and operate effectively even when things are not certain or clear. Is willing to forge ahead, solve problems and get things done during changing and unpredictable times.
• Effective Communication: Understands the value of effective communication. Can deliver messages in a clear, compelling and concise manner. Actively listens, checks for understanding and adjusts content and style to meet the needs of different stakeholders.
• Customer Focus: Is skilled at anticipating customer needs (internal and external) and providing services that are beyond customer expectations. Establishes and maintains effective customer relationships
• Nimble Learning: Takes on the challenge of unfamiliar tasks. Can quickly adapt to new situations and to draw on past successes and failures to solve current problems.
• Situational Adaptability: Recognizes the need to be flexible and act differently in different situations – bring empathy in times of stress and change, firm direction in times of uncertainty, or diplomacy in times of conflict.
• Optimizes Work Processes: Can figure out the processes necessary to get things done. Sees and implements ways to improve processes, from small tweaks to complete reengineering.