Executive Assistant & Board Liaison

Description

About Us: 

Shenandoah National Park Trust is dedicated to preserving and enhancing the natural, cultural, and historic resources of Shenandoah National Park. Our goal is to connect communities to this remarkable landscape, fostering a deep sense of stewardship to ensure the park thrives for generations to come. 

Position Overview: 

The Executive Assistant & Board Liaison is a full-time position that provides high-level administrative support to the Executive Director of Shenandoah National Park Trust and is the primary administrative liaison to Shenandoah National Park Trust Board of Trustees (BOT), its committees (Board, Executive, Governance, Finance & Investment, Development), and the Board Emeritus. As the board liaison, the Executive Assistant holds the authority and responsibility to get the board functioning from a foundational point of view.

 This position reports to the Executive Director (ED). This is a unique opportunity to be a part of a dynamic, collaborative, direct, and fun team working to build a diverse community of stakeholders enabling the Shenandoah National Park to make bold steps into the future. 

Job Duties

Responsibilities and Duties:  

• Proactively support the ED with administrative duties and manage the ED’s calendar to ensure relevant stewardship of all key stakeholders locally, regionally, and nationally. This includes coordinating multiple internal and external calendars.
• Schedule meetings, speaking engagements, travel itineraries, and events to efficiently manage the ED’s time.
• Coordinate and provide briefings and agendas for the ED’s appointments/meetings/speaking engagements, and work with ED to coordinate follow up items as needed.
• Provide support for high-level donor stewardship and engagement events.
• Assist the ED with communications (may include emails, reports, drafting documents and letters, BOT communications, presentations, press releases, etc.).
• Liaison with Park Superintendent’s Office to coordinate schedules and priorities of the Trust’s team.
• Organize all gatherings inclusive of regular and committee meetings, new BOT orientation retreats, receptions, house parties, and events as directly related to the BOT, Emeritus, and ED.
• Develop a working knowledge of what our Board needs to be accomplishing, monitoring compliance issues and individual board member performance requirements.
• Provide administrative support for BOT, Emeriti, and committees: scheduling meetings, securing meeting locations, maintaining official minutes, updating and managing the online portal, preparing for BOT meetings and all committee meetings including the preparation of agenda and board packets, sending out all packets (agendas and minutes), printing handouts, setting up projector/screen/conference tech, coffee/water/meals as needed, etc.
• Work with ED to ensure action items and follow up after all BOT and committee meetings.
• Support ED with project management of key initiatives.
• Office management: as the initial contact for SNPT office, this role requires phone system management, maintenance of relationship/communications with office vendors, inventory of office supplies & individual office needs of team members, support for the ED with internal documentation of general operations for office, working closely with bookkeeper and technology support.
• Support for SNPT office: organizing/communicating staff functions, registration/travel itineraries for team professional development, support for fundraising team in special event planning/coordination when needed.
• Other duties as assigned.

Skills Required

Desired Skills and Qualifications: 

• A commitment to the importance of public lands, National Parks, and the Trust’s mission.
• Integrity – Candidate is widely trusted and seen as a direct, truthful individual; keeps confidences; admits mistakes; doesn’t misrepresent her/him/themself for personal gain.
• Approachability – Is easy to approach and talk to; spends extra effort to put people at ease; can be warm, pleasant, and gracious; is sensitive to and patient with interpersonal anxieties of others; builds rapport well; is a good listener.
• Interpersonal Skills – Relates well to all kinds of people, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; listens; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; truly values people; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.
• Planning Skills – Accurately scopes out length and difficulty of tasks and projects; sets objectives and goals; breaks down work into the process steps; develops schedules and tasks assignments; anticipates and adjusts for problems and roadblocks; measures performance against goals; evaluates results.
• Perseverance – Pursues everything with energy, drive, and a need to complete tasks and projects; seldom gives up before finishing, especially in the face of resistance.
• Problem Solver – Uses rigorous logic and methods to solve difficult problems with effective solutions; probes all fruitful sources for answers; can see hidden problems; conducts honest analysis; looks beyond the obvious and doesn’t stop at the first answers.
• Action Oriented – Enjoys working hard; is full of energy for the things he/she/they sees as challenging; not fearful of acting with a minimum of planning; seizes more opportunities than others.
• Results Oriented and Accountable – Can be counted on to exceed goals; is constantly and consistently one of the top performers; steadfastly pushes self and others for best results.
• Written Communication – Is able to write clearly and succinctly in a variety of communication settings and styles; can get messages across that have the desired effect.
• Discretion – Is able to deal with sensitive issues and information in a professional and, as required, confidential manner.
• Team Oriented – works effectively with others; actively contributes to the achievement of the group.
• Project Management – At times, the needs of the organization will require the EA to take on newly identified projects; this position will require working with partner groups for new projects and initiatives as the organization’s needs change.
• Ability to perform and excel in a digital environment.

REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE 

• 2-3 years of experience/education required.  
• Proficiency in O365 with a strong working knowledge of Outlook. A general familiarity with relationship and/or donor databases is helpful. 
• Demonstrated executive support experience required. 
• Strong writer with high attention to detail.
• Bachelor’s Degree preferred. 
• Capacity to work outside normal business hours to meet the stewardship needs of the organization.  

Work Schedule

This position is based in Charlottesville VA. We believe in flexibility in our work environment; however, due to the nature of this role, it is primarily based in office. With he opportunity to work at home 1 day after a successful 90 days. 

Our offices hours are 9-5pm. However, this position will be required to work some weekends and nights for Board meetings and key stewardship events.

Additional Info

 Salary: $40,000-$55,000, with competitive benefits; including staff hikes and a Shenandoah National Park pass. In an effort to be equitable and transparent we post our salary ranges. To honor this transparency, we will not go above the salary range posted. 

Interested in joining the Trust team? Submit a letter of interest and professional resume by email with the subject line: Executive Assistant to Jessica Cocciolone at jcocciolone@snptrust.org. Please no phone calls. Position open until filled.