Encore.org is a national nonprofit building a movement to leverage the experience of adults in midlife and beyond to improve communities and the world. This innovative and influential organization seeks an exceptionally organized, detail-oriented, energetic professional with a strong background in both executive support and general office operations to join our team as special assistant to the president.

The special assistant will be expected to support the president, serve as Board liaison, and manage day-to-day operations for the New York City office, currently housed at WeWork SohoWest, at 69 Charlton Street. We are looking for an individual who takes initiative, enjoys juggling multiple big-picture priorities while attending to the smallest details and is a skilled liaison for the president’s internal and external relationships. This position requires regular office presence in order to attend to the on-site demands of the role.

What We Do

Through an inventive program portfolio, strategic alliances and storytelling, Encore.org demonstrates the value of life experience in solving society’s greatest problems – from education to the environment, health care to homelessness – and builds the case for the encore movement as a new source of human talent dedicated to creating a better future for future generations. Encore.org engages in significant communications work, is the hub of an expanding network of individuals and organizations and runs programs designed to leverage the experience of those in later life for social good. For more on our programs, visit www.encore.org.

Our Culture

Our staff members are part of a social movement that challenges old norms and seeks to establish a new definition of success in later life. We are a small, geographically distributed team, committed to making a significant impact. We attract people who think about how small investments can yield big results in the service of Encore.org’s mission.

As an organization focused on deploying human talent in innovative ways, we try to walk the talk. We strive to have an intergenerational team. We also encourage and sometimes require flexible work; results matter more than face time. Many Encore.org positions require some or a great deal of travel; all require the use and mastery of a growing array of virtual tools.

Though we work hard, we value our colleagues as people and talk freely about our lives and the causes we dedicate time to outside of working hours. As a group, we like good food, strong coffee and long walks (often in place of sit-down meetings). We understand the importance of commitments -- family and otherwise -- beyond Encore.org. Vacation time is meant to be used.

Perhaps most important, Encore.org is in a period of transition and growth. We work in a dynamic environment that values mutual respect, rapid response to changing conditions or new opportunities, flexibility and intelligence, as well as a sense of humor and humility. Those who thrive tend to be creative, entrepreneurial types who are dedicated to our mission and who know how to execute ambitious plans in a lean environment.

The Position: Special Assistant to the President

The special assistant will support the president on key internal and external priorities, while making the New York City office an effective, efficient and pleasant place for all team members to work. The successful candidate will be highly skilled at managing relationships in multiple time zones, a rapid flow of work, changing priorities and a wide range of logistics.

The special assistant will handle dozens of details each day, including scheduling and preparing for meetings, managing and appropriately routing email traffic, arranging travel, handling expense reports and more. The job will evolve over time, but will always have a significant administrative component. This is a great learning opportunity to grow with an innovative organization.

This role will report to the president, with a dotted line to the VP of Marketing and Communications.

Key Responsibilities

Help the president use her time as effectively as possible.

• Provide ongoing administrative support for Encore.org’s president, including scheduling meetings, arranging travel and submitting and tracking expense reports.
• Assist the president with preparing for external meetings, including providing supportive research and drafting presentation materials.
• Support the president with troubleshooting on all technology, including but not limited to Apple OS X, Apple Mail, PowerPoint, Gmail, Google Plus and Box.com.
• Coach the President on the use of major social media platforms.

Manage the New York City office.

• Serve as office manager and main point of contact for Encore.org’s New York office, including ordering supplies, arranging for meetings (including meals, space and logistics) and ensuring timely guest access.
• Be the primary point of contact for all visitors to Encore.org-NYC, including helping guests with transportation and lodging support.
• Serve as local point of contact with WeWork community managers/landlords.
• Serve as the liaison between the New York office and the San Francisco office, particularly with the Operations and Finance teams.
• Keep the NYC office space well organized and effectively manage use of desks and conference room space in a co-working environment, including tracking use of allotted conference room credits.

Support effective meetings of the Board of Directors and the Leadership Team.

• Serve as lead administrative and project manager for board meetings and all other board matters and communications.
• Handle logistics for board meetings; serve on internal team to prepare board meeting materials and support senior managers preparing for meetings with the board.
• Schedule and support regular internal meetings among members of the organization’s leadership team, as needed.
• Regularly update internal management metrics and dashboards.

Help out where needed.

• Act as an internal resource and liaison for various operational needs as requested, including researching issues related to technology, insurance, information security, general office administration and select programmatic issues.
• Support other team members or projects at the president’s request.

Qualifications

Above all, the special assistant must be a fast and eager learner who thrives on helping others succeed. We are looking for a hard working, collegial, fun and collaborative team player with a “no job too small” attitude.

In addition, the ideal applicant will demonstrate:

• A strong commitment to Encore.org’s mission and goals.
• A high level of emotional intelligence and people skills, with an emphasis on resilience.
• A can-do, positive attitude – serving an important role as the “glue” for the NYC office and its role in a bicoastal team.
• Demonstrated capacity for discretion and for handling confidential information with care.
• Proven experience managing a diverse portfolio of responsibilities with competing deadlines.
• Excellent project management abilities, including creating timelines, budgets and reports.
• A high level of proficiency with multiple types of technology, including word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software, and familiarity and comfort with knowledge management systems and databases. Facility with Mac technology is critically important for this role; PC facility is a plus.
• Comfort with social media for both individual and organizational purposes.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills. Demonstrated capacity to produce business correspondence, program plans, status reports, responses to request for information and input and other documents and electronic communications.
• Ability to develop relationships and credibility with internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to work independently as a productive member of a team, under pressure of deadlines/timelines.
• Comfort and experience with managing up, collaborating with peers and working with colleagues remotely and in different time zones.
• Creative problem-solving ability, with the capacity to negotiate solutions and reach consensus.
• Facility and interest in social media and other online/digital communication tools.
• Rigorous, almost obsessive, attention to detail.
• Flexibility to manage changing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Board secretariat experience a plus.

A college degree is required, with a minimum of five years of work experience that shows increasing operational responsibilities and a proven record of success. Experience in both nonprofit and corporate environments is a plus.

Salary and Benefits

• Competitive nonprofit salary, commensurate with experience.
• Employer-subsidized health, dental, vision and disability coverage.
• Paid vacation, sick and holiday leave.
• Participation in a national organization and movement that offers flexibility and encourages creativity while providing a national network of skilled colleagues advancing social change.

How to Apply

Please send your resume in Word or PDF format along with a cover letter describing your interest, qualifications and salary expectations. Cover letters will be judged as writing samples; therefore, no application will be considered without a cover letter.

Cover letters should include a clear response to these two questions:

• What makes you a great person to support a busy executive in a bi-coastal organization?
• What learning and growth opportunities do you think this role offers you?

Please send your resume and letter as one document to [email protected]. Mention the special assistant position in your subject line, and name your attachment with the format: Last Name NYCSASearch2015. (For instance, Jones NYCSASearch2015.) Applications that do not follow this format may not be reviewed.

No calls please. Principals only. For more information about Encore.org, visit www.encore.org.

While we appreciate every application, we are only able to contact candidates who are selected for an interview. Thank you.

It is Encore.org’s policy to employ, compensate and advance personnel without regard to race, creed, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, height and weight, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, partnership status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, military status, arrest record and any other characteristic protected by law. We are an Employer of National Service: AmeriCorps, Peace Corps and other national service alumni are encouraged to apply and to tell us how your service experience has shaped your career.

We are seeking to develop a multigenerational and diverse team. Qualified people of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

Open until filled.