The Executive Assistant / Trustee Liaison (Assistant) will provide direct administrative support to the Director of The Nature Conservancy in Kansas (Director), serve as a liaison to the Kansas Board of Trustees, support public policy work, and handle other duties as assigned. The position reports to the Director.
The Assistant will be responsible for a variety of administrative tasks to support the Director, which include arranging travel, managing schedules and calendars, communicating on behalf of the Director with a variety of people, processing expenses, planning meetings, and coordinating special events. They may also provide general administrative support, such as providing guidance on internal policies and procedures.
The Assistant will serve as the primary point of contact for the Kansas Board of Trustees. They will plan and executive at least three annual board meetings, two of which include field trips. They will regularly update trustees via a monthly newsletter and other communications, support trustee committees, and act as the primary contact for the Conservancy’s Trustee Liaison Network.
The Assistant will coordinate public policy projects, which may include planning field tours for and arranging meetings with elected officials, coordinating with the Conservancy’s government relations staff, and collaborating with partner agencies and organizations. The Assistant may take on additional responsibility on special projects and public policy work.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND SCOPE
Executive Assistant
Support for the Director:
- Manage the Director’s calendar.
- Schedule and plan meetings and events: manage logistics, prepare agendas, take minutes, and follow up on action items.
- Prepare correspondence and presentations. Respond to inquiries by phone, email, and mail.
- Arrange travel, often with multiple destinations and complex logistics.
- Handle expense reports, timesheets, and other administrative tasks as needed.
- Provide regular briefings to the Director.
Trustee Liaison
Board meetings:
- Coordinate with Director and trustees to schedule at least three board meetings and field trips annually.
- Plan and execute logistics for meetings, including booking speakers, venues, food, transportation, lodging, and other items.
- Prepare and compile meeting materials.
- With Director, program staff, and Board Chair, draft meeting agendas.
- Take meeting minutes.
Committee support
- Organize meetings for trustee committees and staff liaisons.
- Assist with drafting agendas.
Recruitment and orientation
- Help prepare and maintain a pipeline of potential trustees for the Governance Committee.
- Assist in onboarding new trustees.
- Compile trustee handbooks and update as needed.
- Manage trustee compliance training and report on progress.
- With the Governance Committee, track trustee service and assist with succession planning.
Communications, record keeping, and other
- With input from staff, write and distribute monthly newsletters and updates for trustees from the Kansas program, the Trustee Program, and the Conservancy as a whole.
- Ensure that trustees have access to necessary information, as needed.
- Maintain internal records with trustee information.
- Act as a liaison to the Conservancy’s Trustee Liaison Program.
- Field calls, requests, and inquiries on behalf of the Director.
- Manage the project budget for the Kansas Board of Trustees.
Special projects
Field tours for elected officials:
- Arrange and manage logistics of tours of TNC properties for elected officials and their staff.
- Plan meetings with elected officials and prepare briefs for staff and trustees.
Partnerships and coalitions:
- Collaborate and communicate with key partners on behalf of the Director to advance conservation policy in Kansas.
General
- Act independently on assigned tasks and exercise judgment based on analysis and experience; work is diverse and may not always fall under established practices, guidelines, and position description.
- Work within scope of program’s strategic goals.
- Coordinate complex projects so that deliverables are completed within the timeframe, scope, and budget allotted.
- Handle confidential information with appropriate discretion.
- Research, analyze, and report on information to State Director and staff.
- Ensure compliance with Conservancy policies and procedures, and external (donor/legal/IRS) requirements.
- Serve as a resource for staff and, when instructed, act in supervisor’s stead.
- Provide input through project teams to improve existing programs, processes, and workflows.
- Refer difficult questions and unusual problems to supervisor and management team.
- Travel occasionally (up to 20%); work irregular hours; and, be available outside standard business hours to respond to occasional urgent requests (e.g. rebooking the Director’s travel if a flight is cancelled on short notice).
- Work environment involves infrequent exposure to disagreeable elements and minor physical exertion and/or strain.
- Experience writing, editing, and proofreading professional correspondence and documents;
- Experience organizing time and managing diverse activities to meet deadlines;
- Experience working across diverse teams and communicating with a wide range of people;
- Experience with standard office software, e.g. Microsoft Office, video conferencing, and cloud collaboration tools.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Highly organized and attentive to detail.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Experience designing and editing digital newsletters, presentations, and other materials.
- Team player who values collaboration and others’ input but is also comfortable working independently.
- Able to analyze information to coordinate work and solve problems.
- Experience working with a board of trustees, donors, volunteers, the public, staff, partners, and other constituencies.
- Multi-lingual skills and multi-cultural or cross-cultural experiences are appreciated.
- Interest and experience in public policy.
- Passionate about conservation, climate and energy.