Special Assistant to the CEO

Title: Special Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Growth Officer (CGO)

Salary: $90,000 - $100,000

About The James Beard Foundation:

The James Beard Foundation("JBF") is a vital cultural institution with deep roots honoring and advancing the culinary arts industry. JBF's mission is to celebrate, support, and elevate the people behind America's food culture and champion a standard of good food anchored in talent, equity, and sustainability. As a 501(c) (3) national non-profit organization, JBF brings its mission to life through the annual James Beard Awards, industry and community-focused initiatives and programs, advocacy, partnerships, and events across the country.

The Special Assistant to the CEO and CGO is a strategic role that handles complex projects, research, managing communications, and acting as a key liaison to the board and other executives. This position requires strong organizational skills, discretion, and the ability to anticipate the CEO's and CGO's needs to free up their time.

Reporting to the CEO and CGO, the Special Assistant will be responsible for high level administrative and general office operations support; calendar management, travel coordination, contact and database management, drafting correspondence, conducting research, and managing a broad range of special projects. This role has significant interaction with executive staff, trustees, Foundation staff, members of the Restaurant community and other key stakeholders.

Responsibilities:

Strategic and Administrative Support

• Provide executive leadership with extensive, continuous, and proactive calendar management, travel management, expense management, detailed meeting plan management, and all other executive support
• Act as representative of executive leadership regarding internal and external relations and correspondences and assist with screening communications
• Coordinate meetings, create presentations, draft correspondence, and compile monthly reports
• Arrange on- and off-site meetings, events, appointments & travel for departmental leadership with supporting materials as needed
• Provide general office operations support.

Communication Management

• Serve as the key point of contact and manage the flow of communication for the CEO and CGO
• Respond to a wide variety of requests for information, policies and procedures, and executive action
• Ensure that executive leadership is informed of priorities, deadlines, and challenges
• Draft correspondence as needed

Board and Executive Liaison

• Schedule board and executive committee meetings.
• Prepare and distribute board packets and agendas
• Run presentations and technology on-site at board meetings
• Oversee all logistics and admin pertaining to Board meetings
• Ensure the central Board portal is up to date with all key documents

Project Management

• Take ownership of and manage a variety of special projects, which may include event planning and companywide initiatives.
• Independently perform special projects that require a combined knowledge of administrative needs and technical operations

Informational and Data Handling

• Maintain strict confidentiality in all aspects of team and company information
• Assist executive leadership in tracking key operational metrics by organizing and compiling data, researching facts, and coordinating information retrieval
• Analyze needs and problems and determine approach and priority
• Track internal and external contacts and maintain contact databases

Requirements:

• 8 years minimum prior experience supporting C-Suite executives
• The ability to manage multiple tasks, schedules, and projects simultaneously is crucial
• Self-motivated with strong organizational skills, analytical talent, and attention to detail
• Accuracy and a meticulous approach to work are essential
• Exceptional written and verbal communications skills are essential for interacting with executives, board members, colleagues, supporters, patrons, etc.
• Ability to meet and perform under tight deadlines, think clearly under pressure, and exercise good judgment, take the initiative, prioritize tasks, and meet deadlines is critical
• High level of integrity and discretion, especially when handling confidential information.
• The ability to identify and resolve issues independently and adjust to changing priorities and situations is important, along with the ability to anticipate needs
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Applications (Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams, etc.)
• Experience with Salesforce or another relational database desired

Benefits:

JBF offers its employees a dynamic work environment with benefits including medical, dental, and vision coverage for employees and their dependents; life insurance; flexible spending account; commuter benefits; retirement savings; employee assistance program; tuition reimbursement/ professional development; and generous paid time off. We also offer fertility planning support and up to 18 weeks (about 4 months) of paid parental leave. Additional perks include staff events, tickets to events at Platform by JBF (Pier 57), and much more.

The Foundation currently works on a hybrid schedule that requires employees to be in our NYC office 2 days per week. This position is not eligible for relocation.