Special Assistant, Executive Office

JOB SUMMARY

• The Special Assistant is a key member of the Executive Office, reporting to the Chief of Staff and working closely with the President & CEO and members of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT).
• This is not a traditional Executive Assistant role. It is a fast-paced, high-trust position combining executive support, project coordination, communications, international travel, ELT and Board support, and special projects. It offers an unusual opportunity for an ambitious, early-career professional to learn how a complex global organization is led while taking on increasing responsibility.
• The Special Assistant helps ensure that the CEO’s time, information, travel, communications, and engagements are aligned with Orbis’s highest priorities. The role also supports the Chief of Staff in ensuring that the ELT operates effectively, decisions translate into action, and important organizational priorities move forward.
• Sitting at the center of a complex global organization, the Special Assistant will have visibility across Orbis’s programs, regions, functions, Board, and external partnerships. The individual will move easily between strategic and practical work: coordinating a multi-country CEO program visit; working with colleagues to prepare a briefing for a government meeting; attending an ELT meeting and coordinating follow-up; preparing CEO talking points; supporting a Board engagement; drafting an internal communication or social media post; or helping manage a special project that cuts across the organization.
• We are looking for someone who is intellectually curious, flexible, highly responsive, calm under pressure, exceptionally organized, and eager to learn. The successful candidate will anticipate needs rather than wait to be asked, ask good questions, absorb new information quickly, and become increasingly comfortable connecting dots across the organization. They will know when to act independently, when to seek guidance, and when to engage the Chief of Staff or CEO.

LOCATION, TRAVEL & WORKING STYLE

• Flexible/global
• Orbis is a global organization, and this role may be based in a range of locations. New York City is preferred. Candidates based elsewhere must be willing and able to travel quarterly to New York City and work effectively with colleagues across global time zones.
• Given the global nature of Orbis and the Executive Office, this is not always a conventional 9-to-5 role. International travel, changing CEO schedules, and engagements across time zones will require flexibility outside traditional working hours.
• In return, the role provides exceptional exposure to the day-to-day leadership of Orbis International and an opportunity to learn from colleagues, partners, and leaders across a truly global organization.
• Travel: Regular domestic and international travel required

REPORTING & WORKING RELATIONSHIPS

• The President & CEO, Chief of Staff, and Special Assistant operate as a closely coordinated three-person team, with distinct but complementary responsibilities.
• The President & CEO sets organizational direction, makes key decisions, leads the organization internally and externally, and manages Orbis’s most important institutional relationships.
• The Chief of Staff serves as the CEO’s strategic partner and organizational integrator—helping translate CEO priorities into action, orchestrating the Executive Leadership Team, driving cross-organizational priorities, managing sensitive and emerging issues, and helping ensure the CEO’s attention is focused where it can have the greatest impact.
• The Special Assistant provides critical coordination, preparation, and follow-through that enables the CEO and Chief of Staff to operate effectively. The Special Assistant helps ensure the CEO is prepared; scheduling, travel, and engagements run smoothly; ELT decisions and commitments are tracked and advanced; communications and Board engagements are supported; and special projects move forward. Working closely with both the CEO and Chief of Staff, the Special Assistant will have the opportunity to take increasing ownership as they develop in the role.
• The three roles work in close partnership, with frequent communication, high trust, discretion, and a shared commitment to ensuring that the Executive Office enables the broader organization to succeed.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS / KEY AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

1. Strategic Scheduling & CEO Support …