Executive Assistant to the President

Center for Global Development (CGD) Executive assistant
Location Washington DC, United States
Application deadline 14 January 2022
Contract type Permanent
Hours Full-time
Salary USD60,000 - 65,000
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The Center for Global Development (CGD) is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit policy research organization in Washington, DC and London, UK that focuses on the issues and institutions that are critical to inclusive development. Through rigorous empirical research and active engagement with the global policy community, we focus on the policy intersections of low- and middle-income countries and the governments, institutions, and corporations that can be partners in delivering greater progress.

Since its creation in 2001, CGD has earned a global reputation as a highly effective “think-and-do tank.” Headquartered in Washington DC with a Europe presence led from our London office, the Center has about 130 full-time staff and an annual budget of approximately $37 million.

The role

CGD is currently seeking an experienced Executive Assistant to the President to oversee the administrative, operational, and internal communications affairs of our President, Masood Ahmed. The Executive Assistant will perform a range of duties including managing the President’s communications, serving as Secretariat for CGD’s Executive Office-related meetings, and broad responsibility for the President’s scheduling, travel, and other administrative functions which are key to ensuring the President can effectively meet the organization’s strategic goals and objectives, including maintaining a high level of regular engagement with our Board of Directors. The incumbent must be able to exercise discretion, good judgment, and significant initiative. To be successful, the Executive Assistant must develop a clearly defined sense of what needs to be done and be able to build and maintain the internal and external relationships necessary to facilitate the smooth execution of the role. The ideal candidate will be energetic, collaborative, proactive, and able to creatively problem-solve, while demonstrating excellent communication, organization, process improvement, administrative, and relationship-building skills. This position works within the Executive Office, interfacing regularly with both internal and external constituencies on a variety of issues. A true team player who can work across the organization is key.

Key roles and responsibilities

Responsibilities include:

Administrative

  • Proactively managing President’s busy calendar with an eye toward maximizing productivity through planning, forecasting, and adapting to a highly dynamic schedule of engagements and meetings.
  • Manage complex travel arrangements; Create detailed itineraries and instructions to manage logistics, secure travel visas and process travel expenses and reimbursements.
  • Research, summarize and prioritize information needed by the President to carry out high-level engagement and decision-making. Work closely with internal colleagues across functions to gather information and present a holistic picture to the President.
  • Collaborate with and support other Executive Office team members to ensure the overall coordination and smooth, resilient operation of administrative and governance duties across the Executive Office.

Secretariat

  • Serve as Secretariat for Executive Office meetings, including our leadership, director-level, and other ad-hoc meetings. In this role the Executive Assistant will have responsibility for setting agendas, tracking progress for updates to President and key leaders, liaising with other colleagues to facilitate the execution of complex initiatives and policies, and communicating to the wider staff relevant messages from these meetings on behalf of the President.
  • Build strong, collaborative relationships with colleagues to facilitate meetings, understand the cultural and organizational context of issues that come before various bodies, and develop the internal capital to get things done.
  • Engage with staff across the organization, in all our different work streams and functional areas, to identify and connect the dots on issues of importance that are appropriate for leadership and senior staff to consider and proactively engage around.

Communications

  • Working closely with others, strategically plan and manage the President’s communications with friends of CGD, our Board of Directors, Funders, and other VIPs.
  • Facilitate consistent, transparent communication from the Executive Office to the staff by working with other leadership team members and key internal stakeholders to draft, revise, and finalize communications around issues of organizational importance.
  • Draft the monthly President’s Report in collaboration with our Executive Vice President and Institutional Advancement colleagues.
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Experience and skills

Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree and a record of mid-to-senior level administrative experience. Additional experience in board relations, project management, nonprofit governance, HR/People, or communications is a plus.
  • Able to digest and synthesize a large amount of information quickly to summarize key points.
  • Experience organizing meetings including maintaining meeting hygiene to ensure frequency, duration, agenda, and follow-up are consistent and serve to strengthen a meeting’s usefulness.
  • Poise, confidence and an ability to interact with a variety of constituents, both internal and external, ranging from associate-level colleagues to CEOs and key supporters.
  • High-level proficiency in Microsoft Office. Expert Outlook calendaring skills required. Skills in Adobe Acrobat, Sharepoint, One Drive, and/or Salesforce are a plus.
  • Professional, positive attitude with an ability to exhibit discretion and confidentiality.
  • Superb interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills including grammar, editing and proofreading.
  • An interest in development and geographical knowledge of developing country settings.
  • An innovative spirit, a way with people, a calm-under-pressure, and flexible approach when things move quickly.