Administrative Assistant to the Core Team

To Apply

Please use the Idealist.org platform to provide a personal cover letter or short introductory video in English that shares a bit of your story along with your resume/CV by January 30, 2025.

Applicant materials will be reviewed and interviews invited on a rolling basis. We kindly ask that cover letters drafted by an artificial intelligence not be submitted as we rely on these to get a sense of your individual personality, your writing style and how you organize your thoughts.

Job Structure & Compensation

• Fully-remote one-year employment position, with possibility of renewal
• Open to US-based professionals with legal right-to-work in the US
• Full-time work hours generally aligned with US east coast time zone, with scheduling flexibility and occasional request to attend a virtual meeting on a different time zone
• Travel within the US may be requested up to twice per year
• $55,000-$60,000 annual salary plus generous benefits including:
  • 4 weeks vacation plus holidays and office closures
  • full health benefits and generous 401(k) matching
• Positive work environment on a close-knit, multi-national team;
• Engagement with leadership team, including Founding Director

About IRIS

The International Resource for Impact & Storytelling (IRIS) is a new international philanthropy-facing donor collaborative connecting creative visual storytellers, civic innovators and narrative analysis, with a focus on global-south-based and -focused work across a range of interconnected social justice issue areas. Launched in 2021 by a small-and-growing team of specialists, IRIS works with its partners to design innovative projects that interweave research, fluency in narrative strategies and content cultivation for impact. IRIS supports network strengthening, peer learning, and solidarity building activities that are locally relevant and globally connected.

A Note about Diversity

The IRIS team, partners, and grantees come from a beautiful diversity of regions and backgrounds that span the globe. Principles of diversity, equity and inclusion are key to our founding and vision and a backbone in our unique structure and approach. All candidates are encouraged and welcomed to apply, including women, LGBTQIA+, and candidates residing in Indigenous communities and areas affected by socio-environmental concerns.

Role Overview

IRIS is seeking a conscientious and detailed administrative assistant for a one-year, full-time support position that directly interfaces with our leadership and supports our core team during a period of growth and evolution. If you are a deeply organized early- to mid-career professional with a gift for clear communication and an incisive ability to juggle priorities, looking to build your experience with a young initiative in the global social justice space, we’d love to hear from you.

We can offer a considerate and trust-based organizational culture, involvement in compelling work with partners around the world, and the potential to expand this coordination role beyond the first year. This role will answer to the Director of Operations and Learning, and will closely interface and coordinate with the Founding Director, Operations Manager, and Systems & Project Manager.

Responsibilities

• Financial Support (30%): partner with the Core Team to carry out financial coordination, tracking, data entry and processing for budgeting, contracting, grant-making, and expense tracking processes, including through:
  • serving as delegate for team expense processing and documentation (Airbase)
  • contract data entry, tracking (Trello), and processing (Airbase)
  • spreadsheet management and budget updating (MS Excel)
  • financial system access (Netsuite)
  • administrative communication with contractors/vendors and grantees related to payment system onboarding, invoicing, and payment timing
• Team Coordination (30%): Serve as team coordinator and logistical wheel hub, including through:
  • taking on scheduling, calendaring (Google), to-do list (Monday), reminders and nudges for Founding Director and recurring team touchpoints, as well as supporting advisory circle (board) meetings as requested
  • coordinating meetings across time-zones and platforms
  • coordinating agendas, sending follow-up emails and collating next steps
  • managing meeting platforms (Zoom and Google Meet, primarily), taking and/or organizing meeting notes and recordings, coordinating links and other materials, and providing accompaniment and follow-up support in meetings, especially to the Founding Director
  • managing logistical communication and arrangements internally and externally (with consultants and partners) for team touch points
  • works with the Director, Operations and Learning, to track, streamline and respond to inreach and information requests
• Knowledge and Process Management Support (20%): To the extent time and workload allow, process building and process tracking activities in close partnership with IRIS Systems Manager and Director, Operations and Learning, including:
  • [template-based] document outlining, drafting and updating with version control and feedback collation and coordination
  • information and file management support
  • IRIS creative assets organization and tracking, including audio and video assets, images and logos, web links, QR codes and internal datasets
  • data entry and data updates to key team documents including dashboards and trackers
  • monitoring and updating of project management platforms, especially Trello & Monday.com
• Special Projects (20%): Following onboarding and to the extent time and workload allow, participates in special projects and supports IRIS events including:
  • Designing, formatting, and copyediting/proofreading written documents and slides
  • Providing input, interview and materials coordination and other assistance to select special projects, including IRIS Reports, IRIS newsletters, websites and learning efforts
  • Conducting basic online research and providing written summaries, bullet points or highlights as requested, including through the considered use of AI (Claude preferred) where appropriate

Who You Are

• An early-career professional with at least 3 years of experience in a full-time administrative, operations, or executive assistant position or similar
• An organizer and administrator with strong communication skills and a broad command of systems and tools
• Patient, responsive and generous in nature; your ability to build relationships and trust is a point of pride
• Open, transparent, and responsive; able to demonstrate ease with remote time management
• Ready to learn, quick to recognize confusion and set it right, confident in asking questions, capturing details, and creating right-sized systems to navigate ambiguity
• You’re at home in an evolving—and at times shape-shifting—environment
• Surefooted in demonstrating dignity and respect for everyone you come into contact with at all times
• A colleague who brings a calm and level-headed kindness to their remote team

Generous benefits including: 4 weeks vacation plus holidays and office closures; full health benefits; generous 401(k) matching; insurance coverage and optional supplemental options; employee assistance program