We’re Hiring! Executive Assistant

Posted By Pillars Fund  /   May 6, 2024

About Pillars

Pillars Fund is a national nonprofit that amplifies the leadership, narratives, and talents of Muslims in the United States to advance opportunity and justice for all. Since our founding in 2010, Pillars has distributed more than $10 million in grants to Muslim organizations and leaders who advance social good. We invest in community-focused initiatives, push back against harmful narratives, uplift Muslim stories, and organize Muslim donors to give together strategically.

The Role

We are seeking a full-time executive assistant to join our team. The executive assistant plays an essential administrative role, offering support to operationalize the organization’s strategic priorities, ensuring the smooth functioning of the executive office, and providing support to the organization’s leadership team. Pillars’ day-to-day communication is primarily remote, and experience in a comparable role is strongly preferred. The ideal candidate will be highly organized with meticulous attention to detail, an exemplary scheduler and communicator, digitally savvy, and a masterful project manager skilled in building and maintaining systems. The ideal candidate is also self-managed and has a solid ability to manage up to support executive leadership proactively. The executive assistant shares our passion for creating an equitable world, is committed to amplifying Muslim leadership in the United States, and brings a growth mindset to the work. This is a full-time role.

Primary Responsibilities

President and Executive Administrative Support

Communications

• Demonstrate impeccable accuracy in all tasks with an ability to respond quickly to and course-correct errors.
• Support the president with relationship management via timely communications with the Pillars staff, our network of members, and external partners.
• Draft and proof emails, take dictation of ideas by phone, create a working draft, and populate existing communications.
• Serve as the primary administrative support for Pillars’ president and the main point of contact for the executive office, including the vice president of programs and managing director of culture change.
• Preparedness to work across many time zones, nationally and internationally, as the president works across two zones with various partners and requests.

Calendar management

• Manage the president’s complex calendar and scheduling needs, balance competing priorities, ensure evolving priorities are adequately addressed, and keep the president well-informed and prepared for upcoming commitments and responsibilities.

Travel and logistics

• Proactively plan travel and accommodations and keep the president apprised of his schedule through forward-looking calendar management at monthly, quarterly, and yearly increments.
• Respond to ad hoc schedule and travel changes caused by travel delay and disruption, changing priority levels, and external requests.
• Manage the president’s personal travel and event priorities as they interact with work-related events and travel.
• Manage conference and travel experiences by capturing agendas and itineraries, creating calendar holds that reflect all event details, and interfacing with conference planners to solicit additional detail and answer questions.
• Perform other administrative duties as assigned.

General Administrative Support

• Support scheduling and calendaring for the leadership team, which includes the vice president of programs, managing director of culture change, and director of people and culture.
• Manage the team calendar by scheduling and shifting partial or complete staff meetings to accommodate new priorities and to create meeting availability for the administrative team.
• Support administrative program-specific work, including scheduling with an average of three to six stakeholders each week, coordinating international calls and payments, and creating calendar events and ongoing meeting cadences for projects with multiple stakeholders.
• Provide leadership with support related to lodging and travel coordination during periods of time sensitivity around major organizational events such as the Pillars Artist Fellowship, national convenings, and trustee meetings. The candidate should be prepared for these events to occur domestically and internationally.
• Provide travel planning and booking support to guest speakers and other guests of the organization.
• Coordinate mailings to staff, trustees, and board of directors. Assist with purchasing branded items and gifts.

Travel Planning

• Collaborate on ad hoc teams for special projects and major events such as the Annual Trustee Meeting, Pillars Artist Fellowship programming, Pillars national convening, and in-person team meetings.
• Provide leadership with support related to lodging and travel coordination during periods of time sensitivity around major organizational events such as the Pillars Artist Fellowship, national convenings, and trustee meetings. The candidate should be prepared for these events to occur domestically and internationally.
• Provide travel planning and booking support to guest speakers and other guests of the organization.

Payroll and Finance

• Work closely with the CFO to submit expense reports monthly for the organization.
• Support the president in the accurate management of his individual expenses, and add detail and receipts to expense reports.
• Ensure all org expenses are submitted promptly.
• Support the president in the assurance of up-to-date payroll information.

Board Logistics Planning

• Coordinate mailings to staff, trustees, and board of directors. Assist with purchasing branded items and gifts.
• Assist in preparing meeting agendas and materials and tracking follow-up items.
• Work closely with the board chair and president on the board of directors’ scheduling cadence and schedule for the entire board term.
• Lead logistics planning for a yearly board retreat.

Board Liaison

• Serve as the primary point of contact for all board members, executive committee members, and board-related matters.
• Maintain discretion and confidentiality regarding all board and executive committee members.
• Provide administrative and strategic support regarding board matters.
• Attend all board meetings, preparing minutes and agendas.
• Develop, implement, and coordinate a board engagement strategy.
• Manage outreach to board members around sign-on letters, RSVPs for meetings and events, membership on committees and subcommittees, and other board communication.

Attributes of the Executive Assistant

• To be successful in this role, you’ll excel at bringing attention to detail, administrative expertise, proactive problem-solving instincts, a growth mindset, executive communication skills, digital fluency, and project management expertise to your work.
• Skilled administrator. You have three to five years of experience working in executive-level administrative support and hold a high degree of competence in tech and executive management, remote project planning and management, external-facing communications, and relationship management.
• Pro planner. Planning, prioritizing, and executing tasks is your professional sweet spot. You have exceptional organizational skills and an understanding of workflow processes with a track record of leaving things better than you found them. You understand how to be proactive in every aspect of your job.
• Exceptional communicator. Your communication is proactive, responsive, and excellent in both written and verbal form. You can effectively interface with various stakeholders across various levels and functions and make things happen when you need them to.
• Remote technology power user. You use Google Suite and project management systems (such as Airtable) with expertise and ease. You can juggle multiple calendars and multiple platforms, manage CRM data, and run a Zoom meeting. You look for ways to use virtual office technology efficiently and are not afraid to try new tools.
• Proactive, resourceful problem solver. You effectively manage high-stakes work and are not easily flustered when faced with new or unexpected operations scenarios. You exercise independent judgment and handle confidential information with discretion and professionalism.
• Collaborative colleague. You believe in working together for the greater good and enjoy collaborating with team members.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary for this role begins at $80,000. The Pillars Fund offers a competitive total compensation package, including health, employer-subsidized dental and vision, basic life insurance, short- and long-term disability, parental leave, and generous time off. Pillars believes in investing in talent and providing opportunities for professional growth. We offer professional development such as training, conferences, and other opportunities to grow one’s leadership.

Location

Pillars has a physical office in Chicago, where much of the team is based, and staff members are encouraged to work from the office if desired. This role is remote for candidates not based in the Chicago area.

Project Management and Writing Samples

As a part of the application process for this position, project management and writing samples are requested. Writing samples will ideally showcase the skills and abilities outlined in this job description. For example, work directed at specific audiences or stakeholders (like newsletters or email blasts), writing related to project management (like briefs or updates), or anything that showcases the ability to communicate complex information succinctly (like laying out complex travel choices and making recommendations for a busy executive) would all be good writing samples.

To Be Considered

Pillars Fund ​is ​committed ​to ​building ​​an ​organization ​that actively pursues equity ​and ​fosters ​an environment ​of inclusion. Pillars embraces diversity across multiple dimensions and does not discriminate against any employee or job applicant based on race, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship, socioeconomic background, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, pregnancy, marital status, family responsibilities, or any other protected characteristic as established under law. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, termination, promotion, transfer, layoff, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Pillars will make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities in our hiring process and on our team. Please let us know at any stage of the process if you need any accommodations to participate fully. Some examples include, but are not limited to:

• Providing written materials in different formats
• Modifying application/assessment exercises
• Adjusting the interview format (in most cases, interviews take place via Zoom)
• Providing qualified readers or interpreters

Those wishing to be considered should submit a cover letter, résumé or CV, and two writing samples or project management samples to this form. Applications for this role close on May 17, 2024.

Pillars will keep all inquiries and submissions confidential. Candidates who have been selected for an interview will be contacted.

Apply HERE