ABOUT US

The Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just, and equitable society. Since its founding in 1949, the Institute has been driving change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the most critical challenges facing communities in the United States and around the world. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the Institute has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, and an international network of partners.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

To achieve our mission of a more free, just, and equitable society, we commit to working proactively to advance the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion across our myriad endeavors such as the recruitment, compensation, training, and advancement of staff. The best people-serving institutions make this commitment, and we seek to be a leader in the ways that we do so and learn from others. Visit our website to learn more about our commitment and recent actions taken toward building and nurturing a diverse and inclusive environment.

College Excellence Program (CEP)

The Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program (CEP) aims to identify and replicate practices and policies that significantly improve college student outcomes. Through our portfolio of projects, CEP works to improve colleges’ capacity to achieve high levels of success for all students and to eliminate disparities in postsecondary attainment and social mobility for students from low-income backgrounds and historically marginalized and underserved groups. Our work focuses on improving higher education institutions in six areas: ensuring high-quality learning, increasing completion rates, improving community college transfer and baccalaureate attainment, increasing post-college employment and earnings outcomes, ensuring strong access to college credentials of value, and achieving equity in outcomes across all domains. We advance those outcomes by quantitatively identifying and publicly elevating those colleges achieving excellent and equitable outcomes, conducting research on how those outcomes were accomplished, publishing reports and practical tools to support college leaders and practitioners interested in replicating effective practices, and conducting professional development programs for presidents, senior teams, boards of trustees, and others. Learn more about our work at https://highered.aspeninstitute.org/.

ABOUT THIS ROLE

The Executive Assistant will provide high-level administrative support to CEP’s Executive Director, with the potential for supporting CEP’s Managing Director or other senior team members as needed. This is a full-time position based in our Washington, DC office with a minimum of 40% in-person work (two days per week) and a target salary range of $65,000 - $90,000. For highly qualified candidates, we will consider applications seeking a part-time role. This role will report to CEP’s Director of Operations.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Maintain the Executive Director’s calendar. Exercise discretion in evaluating needs, prioritizing requests, and committing time. Schedule meetings, appointments, and other engagements with necessary transition periods.

• Coordinate travel arrangements for the Executive Director. Book transportation (airfare, train, rental vehicle), hotel accommodations, and other reservations (meals) based on travel preferences, personal needs, and event considerations (purpose of travel and role / expectations during the trip).

• Communicate and work directly with CEP’s Managing Director, division directors, and program teams. Be proactive in clarifying requests to minimize assumptions. Maintain awareness of progress in committing the Executive Director’s time or providing the support needed.

• Communicate professionally and accurately with internal (Aspen) and external (e.g., philanthropies, college presidents, partners) stakeholders. Prioritize responses based on the stakeholder’s role, urgency of their request, and content required.

• Manage multiple, concurrent tasks and requests with the capacity to adapt for changing deadlines and priorities. Determine the priority of matters requiring the Executive Director’s attention, redirecting lower priorities to colleagues or handling personally, as appropriate. Keep the Executive Director advised of time-sensitive issues.

• Organize and support all aspects of meetings to include gathering documents, in-person and/or virtual meeting logistics, and taking minutes. Assist with the review of presentations and reports, as requested.

• Organize and support all aspects of events and convenings to include logistics planning, preparations, and bookings; contracts facilitation; event itinerary scheduling and execution support; debriefings with documented follow-up actions; and post-event expense processing, invoice tracking, and contract closeout.

• Routinely perform a variety of support duties to include preparing, reconciling, and submitting expense reports.

• Hold confidential information with respect and professionalism.

• Other duties as assigned.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO THRIVE

• 5+ years of relevant experience as an Executive Assistant for an Executive Director, Chief Executive Officer, or senior leader is required. Experience in the nonprofit sector is preferred.

• A high school diploma and 7+ years of professional experience are required; a bachelor’s degree is preferred.

• Experience working as a member of an administrative team or collaborating with administrative colleagues across an organization is required. Experience in a hybrid work environment is preferred.

• Experience with enterprise systems for credit card and expense processing (e.g., SAP Concur, Tipalti), grants management (e.g., Airtable), and customer relationship management (e.g., Salesforce) is preferred.

HOW TO APPLY

All interested applicants must submit the following for full consideration:

1. A one-page cover letter. CEP prefers cover letters that describe what motivates you and how you understand and relate to our mission rather than a narrative version of your resume. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.

2. Resume/CV.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Aspen Institute offers a generous benefits package including health, dental, vision, and prescription benefits, retirement benefits, and paid leave.

The Aspen Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all District and federal laws. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or protected veteran or disabled status and will not be discriminated against.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation regarding the accessibility of our website, a modification or adjustment of the job application or interview process due to a disability, contact HRSupport@aspeninstitute.org or call (202) 736-5800.