EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT: CHICAGO POETRY CENTER
Mission & Programs
The Chicago Poetry Center’s mission is to connect people with poetry, equitably engage poets with communities, and foster creativity and literacy in schools. We do this work through education programming across Chicago, public poetry events, and special projects and online resources.
Culture
We are a small and actively growing organization that sets our goals into action through collaboration, clear communication and expectations, and strategic and creative thinking. Staff work both independently and as part of a team. Pre-covid, we operated with a mix of remote days, in-office days, and site visit days, we assume this will be true in the future as well. During covid, we are adjusting as everyone’s continued safety and best practices require. Our culture is one that supports feedback, communication, and growth.
Commitment to Inclusion
The Chicago Poetry Center values diversity at all levels and understands that a safe and supportive environment is necessary to facilitate our work in valuing and uplifting creative expression. The Chicago Poetry Center commits to inclusion and will not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, socio-economic status, age, religion, national origin, marital, parental, or veteran status, or any other legally protected status. We strive to uphold our values in action through our decisions, programming, community building, and fostering an environment of continuous learning.
About the Position
The Chicago Poetry seeks a highly organized, self-starting Executive Assistant. The Executive Assistant (EA) has exposure to every aspect of growing and operationalizing CPC’s development, events, communications and marketing initiatives, and will:
- Support the day-to-day capacity of the Executive Director (ED), and other Directors/organizational leadership as-needed.
- Build trust with Team and Board members with diligent attention to detail and accuracy in operational execution.
- Ensure that CPC is maximizing opportunities to engage with donors and the general public to achieve fundraising targets.
The EA will report directly to the ED, and provide executive support in a one-on-one working relationship. The EA serves as the primary point of contact for the ED and also serves as a liaison with CPC’s internal Team and the Board of Directors. EA will collaborate with the Director of Programs and other staff to support administrative needs across CPC’s work. The EA must be creative and enjoy working within an environment that is mission-driven, results-driven, and community-oriented. The ideal individual will have the ability to exercise good judgment in a variety of situations and will possess strong written and verbal communication, administrative, and organizational skills. The ability to maintain a realistic balance among multiple priorities is imperative. The EA must be able to work under pressure at times, to handle a wide variety of activities and confidential matters with discretion.
GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES
- Manage ED calendar, schedule, and contacts, and support the ED on scheduling meetings and events
- Schedule meetings for the ED, and send and share needed support documentation via Google Suite and Zoom to other participants
- Prepare meeting rooms in advance, including virtual
- Support invoicing and management of accounts payable/receivable (archiving receipts and paperwork, ensuring accurate records)
- Serve as primary editor for all outgoing executive office materials, checking for clarity, grammar, and flow
- Maintain organized records and support ingoing and outgoing paperwork and documentation as needed
- Support growth and operationalizing across CPC’s development, administration, and programmatic work
PROJECT SUPPORT OPPORTUNITIES
- Draft and/or edit content for internal communications with Team and Board
- Facilitate inbound and outbound communication for the ED
- Ghost-write emails and other internal communications
- Collaborate with the ED and other Team and Board members on organization-wide priorities
- Coordinate special projects for ED, including preparing professional reports and presentations and working with all Team members
- Provide backup support for Program Director as needed
In addition to tasks listed above, all Poetry Center team members are expected to contribute to the organization’s success by:
- Attending weekly staff meetings & trainings
- Participating in fundraising events.
- Perform other duties as required.
QUALIFICATIONS
Skills and Experience
- At least one year of office administration experience (preferred)
- Self-directed and able to work independently; resourceful, strategic problem-solving ability
- Flexible and adaptable; open to change, learning, and improvement
- Meticulous about details and follow up; believes no task is too big or too small
- Excellent relationship builder; able to communicate with firmness and warmth, and to demonstrate a high level of tact, discretion, and diplomacy with all internal and external stakeholders. Must demonstrate ability to maintain confident/sensitive information
- Exceptional relationship management and communication skills (written and oral)
- Exceptional organization, time, and resource management skills
- Excellent judgement and creative problem-solving skills
- Skilled in planning and project management related to the functions of this role, able to take an idea from concept to completion
- Able to thrive in a culture of professional development: gives and receives continuous constructive feedback, creates and participates in a culture of mutual support
- Intellectually curious; seeks to understand, learn, and grow
- Demonstrated alignment with CPC’s mission, values, and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Technical Proficiencies
- Strong proficiency in the Google Suite: GMail, Calendar, Drive (Sheets, Docs, Slides & folder organization)
- Strong proficiency in Microsoft Word
- Proficiency in Constant Contact, WordPress and/or comfort with blogging platforms is ideal
- Proficiency in QuickBooks/Intuit is a bonus
- Proficiency in creative software (Adobe, Canva, iMovie) is a bonus
- Proficiency in Tableau is a bonus
REPORTING & COMPENSATION
- This is a part time employee position that reports to the Executive Director
- The starting annual salary for this position is $20K
- This position includes paid time off
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
- CPC works in partnership with Chicago Public Schools as well as other school districts. In doing so we must meet all compliance requirements of those districts.
- Hours: EA will work with directors to determine standard weekly hours (20). Occasional nights and weekends required to support events and meetings. Work will typically fall in standard business hours, Monday through Friday, 9am – 5pm.
- Travel: May require occasional travel within the metropolitan area.
- Work Location: Chicago metro area required
- Work Remotely: Temporarily/as-needed due to COVID-19. CPC is currently working one day in office as safety allows, and otherwise conducting meetings remotely. COVID-19 precautions will be taken at any in-person engagements and remote work will be supported as safety precautions require.
HOW TO APPLY
Please submit your letter of interest, resume, and three references (name, professional relationship, email and phone) to jobs@poetrycenter.org with the subject line: Executive Assistant Application [Your Name]. Your letter of interest should further elaborate on your resume or offer further information on why you are interested in and a strong candidate for this position. Your resume should be included as an attachment and have a clarifying file name (ex: Lastname_Resume). We encourage you to share volunteerism and unpaid efforts that are relevant to this work, in your application. Please note that we are accepting applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
www.poetrycenter.org
