Executive Assistant to the Chief of Staff

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) is the nation’s first and largest organization dedicated to serving the 2.5 million veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, from their first day home to the rest of their lives. IAVA strives to build an empowered generation of veterans through programs in four key impact areas: Health, Education, Employment and Community.

• Health - IAVA makes it a priority to ensure that both mental and physical health needs are being effectively addressed in our community, and has provided support to over 20,000 returning veterans nationwide.
• Education - With nearly a million new veterans headed back to school under the New GI Bill, IAVA has provided over 500,000 with the tools and support needed to make informed decisions about their education.
• Employment - No veteran should come home from Iraq or Afghanistan to an unemployment check. To fight shockingly high joblessness rates, IAVA’s Combat to Career initiative helped over 270,000 veterans in their transition to civilian careers in 2011.
• Community - Less than 1% of the country served in Iraq and Afghanistan – a stark contrast to the 12% that served during WWII. Building community, both online and on the ground, is a critical factor in fulfilling IAVA’s mission, which means bridging geographical divides to create a united, supported and proud movement of new veterans

Based in our New York City Headquarters, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) is seeking an Executive Assistant to the Chief of Staff . This is an exciting opportunity to join a dynamic organization at the highest level as it enters its second decade at the forefront of the veterans’ movement, supporting and advocating for our newest generation of heroes.

The Executive Assistant must be a team player with a can-do attitude and able to handle many details in a fast paced environment. This role will have highest-level exposure to an exciting world of political, military, nonprofit and corporate leaders, and is an opportunity to significantly drive IAVA’s overall impact. Based in IAVA’s New York, NY headquarters, the Executive Assistant reports directly to Chief of Staff and will be expected to work in partnership daily with the Manager of Executive Office Operations.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Supports the Chief of Staff in all that she does to ensure maximum effectiveness and impact of IAVA and its team.
• Keeps the Chief of Staff on top of her game by managing a demanding calendar of internal and external meetings; thinking ahead in preparation of meetings and helping to enhance relationship building by composing and preparing correspondence.
• Responsible for arranging travel, outlining itineraries, and organizing complimentary agendas in addition to assisting with back-end work to includecompleting expense reports and trip round-up reports.
• Responsible for ensuring the Chief of Staff’s time is prioritized and is expected to be gatekeeper to protect her time and ensure best flow of information to/from the office.
• Assists the Chief of Staff with managing deadlines and commitments to ensure balls aren’t dropped.
• Proactively identifies ways to open up the Chief of Staff’s time to ensure maximum attention is given to the high-priority.
• Prioritizes conflicting needs; handles matters expeditiously, proactively, and follows-through on projects to successful completion, often with deadline pressures.
• Maintains the Chief of Staff’s contacts.
• Occasional domestic travel.
• Responsible for ensuring proper protocol is followed for high-level guests at IAVA HQ.
• Occasional event support/ aide de camp/”body person” work.
• Other administrative duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAITS

• Strong oral and written communication skills are a must.
• Ability to work in in a fast-paced environment.
• Exceptional attention to detail.
• Positive attitude and exceptional professionalism.
• Calm and efficient under pressure.
• Ability to exercise discretion and independent judgment about priorities and high-level conversations.
• Strong political sensibilities.
• Willing to work a flexible schedule; working at times until the mission is done regardless of when the day is done.
• Enjoys and excels at working as part of a team.
• A sense of humor.
• Passion for IAVA’s mission.
• A willingness to learn—and teach.
• Innovative problem solving skills.
• Solid understanding of technology and modern news media

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Experience and interest in internal and external communications, partnership development, and fundraising.
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, and Power Point) and Google Apps, Salesforce a plus.
• Track record of delivering superior results, commanding respect, and assuming leadership roles.

Start Date: Immediate

Application Deadline: Rolling

Salary and Benefits: Salary is commensurate with experience. IAVA provides comprehensive health and dental coverage, access to vision benefits, a Flexible Spending Account, Transportation Savings Account and a 403(b) retirement plan, in addition to thirty Paid Time Off days per year.

To Apply : Please apply here http://iava.org/careers/.Include a cover letter that concisely explains how your experience could be applied to IAVA. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered. No phone calls, please.

IAVA is an equal opportunity employer; VETERANS OF THE CONFLICTS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN ARE HIGHLY ENCOURAGED TO APPLY.

To learn more about IAVA’s history, mission and model, click here.