Administrative Assistant, Learning Institute & Operations

Administrative Assistant, Learning Institute & Operations

The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) seeks an exceptionally organized, detail-oriented, and enthusiastic Administrative Assistant to support our Learning Institute & Finance and Operations teams’ processes and operations. Reporting directly to the Director of the Learning Institute and the Vice President, Finance & Operations, this full-time role will provide vital administrative support to the Learning Institute and the San Francisco Office, including calendaring with external parties, event planning, and operational initiatives.

This is an opportunity to support CEP’s organizational mission of creating insight so philanthropic funders can better define, assess, and improve their effectiveness. CEP’s Learning Institute supports funders in implementing data-backed changes in their work. The Learning Institute offers peer cohorts, workshops, and learning opportunities for foundation staff and leaders. If you are seeking a mission driven and socially meaningful administrative opportunity to support a highly motivated and dynamic team in a fast-paced environment, we strongly encourage you to apply.

This position is based in our San Francisco, CA office.

The Ideal Candidate

• You are highly organized and detail-oriented. You consistently produce proactive, high-quality, error-free work, reflecting an ability to complete tasks on or ahead of time with quality and accuracy.

• You are enthusiastic about serving as a key administrative resource and have a desire to go beyond standard expectations in exceptional situations. You have a strong orientation towards successful problem-solving and proactively suggest opportunities for improving current systems.

• You demonstrate good judgment and are able to independently manage multiple work streams and demands.
• You have experience being a key player in the smooth running of operations in a supportive office environment.
• You work well within a close-knit team as well as across other departments at the organization.
• You are flexible and adaptable in a fast-paced environment; you are gifted at managing up.
• You are a strong communicator, both in writing and speaking. Your interpersonal skills allow you to interact effectively with staff at all levels of the organization as well as external contacts and clients.

• You have a background and/or demonstrated interest in marketing, visuals, and writing, and seek to work in a mission-driven organization.

• Your highly positive attitude, shared commitment to excellence, and thoughtfulness are an asset to CEP.
• You are an excellent ambassador of CEP’s values, both internally and externally, and across multiple settings.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the administrative and technical aspects of the Learning Institute. This includes coordinating Eventbrite registrations; maintaining the Learning Institute’s Salesforce mailing lists, Asana-based speaker database, and participant rosters; and populating and maintaining online course materials using WordPress.
• Support external communications with customers and event participants –including event registration and calendaring of events—with an enthusiastic customer-service orientation.
• Field feedback surveys to participants, compile and synthesize responses, including with basic Excel analyses of average feedback ratings.
• In addition to performing regular high-quality data entry into Salesforce and Asana, learning and growing in use of and responsibility for various tools and software we use, including Salesforce, Eventbrite, Qualtrics, and WordPress for the organization.
• Clear and excellent notetaking and follow-up for key team meetings.

• Managing the creation and tracking of Letters of Agreement, speaking engagements, and other contractual commitments.
• Actively supporting the team in all logistics of event planning and programs. This includes successfully running event registration for virtual and in-person events, and acting as a helpful liaison for external contacts who require assistance.

• Coordinate office support tasks such as visitor reception, inter-office operations communication, office supply procurement, package acceptance, and equipment maintenance in collaboration with IT vendor.
• Collaborate with the Vice President and Operations team to ensure smooth office operations, enhance procedures, and develop Standard Operating Procedures.
• Facilitate supporting office-wide events through managing internal communication, scheduling meetings, preparing documentation, and needed order catering and supplies.
• Take notes during meetings and prepare minutes, memos, and agendas.
• Be the face of operations at CEP’s San Francisco office, and perform other tasks as needed.

Qualifications and Requirements

• 3 to 5+ years of full-time work experience required; at least three years of full-time, directly relevant administrative experience is strongly preferred.
• Strong computer/technical skills; demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook; familiarity with Salesforce, WordPress, Asana, Eventbrite, and Zoom a big plus.
• Outstanding writing and communication skills with a keen attention to detail.

Benefits

We successfully compete for top talent across the public and private sectors and offer competitive compensation and benefits, including:

• A commitment to pay parity and salary equity. The annual salary for this role is $75,000.
• Performance based incentive compensation plan
• Comprehensive health and dental insurance plans
• Generous paid time off plan, including up to 15 holidays, three weeks of accrued vacation, and two personal days per year
• Flexible working schedule options
• 401(k) plan with a 1:1 Employer Match up to 5% of total compensation
• Generous annual personal professional development allowance
• Flexible spending and dependent care tax free savings plans
• Life insurance covered 100% by the organization

Location

This role will be based in our San Francisco, California office, where we enjoy sweeping views of the San Francisco Bay.

Given the role’s requirements, the Administrative Assistant is currently expected to be on-site from Tuesday to Thursday each week to effectively support staff and manage daily operations in the San Francisco staff co-working space. This role includes the option to work remotely as permitted by weekly operational needs.

About CEP

For over 20 years, CEP has led the movement to improve philanthropy through a powerful combination of dispassionate analysis and a passionate commitment to improving lives. Today, over 350 foundations around the world have used CEP’s assessment tools to gather honest feedback from their stakeholders in an effort to learn how to be even more effective. CEOs and trustees have come to rely on our research for insights into foundation effectiveness on a wide range of topics, from assessing performance to developing strategy to managing stakeholder relationships. Our highly regarded programming—including our biennial conference—gives foundation leaders an exclusive and unprecedented opportunity to connect with their peers. Through custom workshops and peer learning cohorts, our new Learning Institute supports funders in driving changes in their philanthropic practice. CEP is based in Cambridge Massachusetts, with a second office in San Francisco, California. Strengths of CEP’s work culture are entrepreneurialism, accountability, teamwork, collegiality, diversity, and mutual respect.

To Apply

Please fill out our application for employment and attach a resume and thoughtful cover letter, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position. If you have any questions, please contact Leaha Wynn, Sr. Manager, People & Culture and D&I Strategist or Alyse d’Amico, Vice President, People & Culture and Advisor to the President at jobs [at] cep [dot] org. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

We believe that a diversity of thoughts, experiences, backgrounds, personalities, and identities helps us think bigger and better, and enables us to reach our goals more effectively. We are committed to building a diverse staff and encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply.

Once a candidate begins our process, we discourage outreach to our staff for interviews or conversations that are outside our standard interview process. We have worked hard to design a process that is fair and rigorous and achieves a good match between candidates and CEP/YouthTruth.

We evaluate candidates based on their merits. We strongly discourage unsolicited references. We will ask for references if and when a candidacy reaches a finalist stage.