Executive Assistant

Ready to Make a Difference?

The Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York, a nonprofit civil legal services program, is seeking an Executive Assistant. Legal Aid’s mission is to fight for fairness, dignity, and justice for those living in poverty and for a society that is inclusive and equitable for all. We transform lives, build communities, and empower people by using the law to address individual and systemic wrongs and inequities. Our service area spans sixteen counties, in upstate New York, encompassing six regional offices. This position will be based out of our Albany office. For more information about our work, our staff, and our clients, visit www.lasnny.org.

We are a unionized program with excellent benefits, offering generous time off, excellent health insurance coverage with premiums primarily paid by LASNNY, health and long-term disability insurance, retirement contributions, tuition reimbursement, qualifying moving expenses, and flexible hybrid-remote and alternative work schedules.

About the Role

We are currently looking for an executive assistant to be a supportive force to our Executive Director and a key point of coordination for our Board of Directors. The ideal candidate will be a proactive problem solver with exceptional communication skills and meticulous attention to details. This person should have experience working in an office environment providing executive administrative support to management level or above positions and boards. Given the dynamic nature of the executive landscape, we rely on executive assistants to be flexible and consistent while maintaining the confidentiality of high-level systems and operations.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Manage complex calendaring and scheduling for the Executive Director, including agendas, mail, email, phone calls, and other program logistics.
• Set up and maintain, for the ED, their appointments, deadlines, and other due dates.
• Coordinate the flow of information to and from the Executive Director to internal staff, external agencies, funders, Board members, media, consultants, etc.
• Maintain relations with a wide range of diverse people and groups including members or representatives of the Board, funding sources, other Legal Services Programs, human services agencies, staff, public officials and the media, among others. In the absence of the Executive Director or to save them time, use independent judgement consistent with established guidelines and the need for retaining effective diplomatic relations.
• Maintain professionalism and strict confidentiality with all materials.
• Under the broad discretion of the ED, exercise discretion and judgement in conducting or coordinating ongoing or special non-recurring projects relevant to the program’s management that would otherwise be done by the ED.
• Compose original non-legal work product pursuant to instructions and, where requested, subject to review.
• Schedule and organize Board and executive management meetings and/or trainings (locations, reservations, travel, food), including preparing meeting agendas, materials, reminders and minutes.
• Assist in the basic administration of the program by helping to gather grant application materials, managing filing systems, and maintaining records for the office of the ED.
• Serve as a key point of coordination for the Board of Directors, including scheduling board and committee meetings and maintaining the board calendar.
• Prepare and distribute board meeting agendas, packets, and materials in advance of meetings, and assist with maintaining accurate board minutes, records and files.
• Serve as a liaison between the Executive Director and Board members, and support board onboarding and recordkeeping of governance policies.

Skills and Education Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree plus 3 years of administrative or executive assistant experience, or 6 years of administrative/executive assistant experience in lieu of a degree; experience in a nonprofit or governance-related setting preferred.
• Experience supporting a Board of Directors or senior leadership, including meeting coordination, materials preparation, and recordkeeping, preferred.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with sound judgment in interactions with internal staff, Board members, funders, and other external stakeholders.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent projects and competing de…