Executive Assistant, Vice President, Latin America and the Caribbean

Job Title: Executive Assistant, Vice President, Latin America and the Caribbean

Department: Programs, Latin America and the Caribbean

Center Background:  The Center for Reproductive Rights (the Center) is a global human rights organization working to ensure that reproductive rights are protected in law as fundamental human rights around the world. With offices in New York City, New York; Nairobi, Kenya; Bogota, Colombia; Geneva, Switzerland; and Washington, D.C., the Center is a non-profit, non-partisan organization changing law and policy throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the United States. Our 230+ diverse professionals are committed to advancing the Center’s human rights mission through game-changing litigation, legal policy, and advocacy work. This has powered the Center’s exceptional growth to an operating budget of over $50 million and won the respect of law firms in countries around the world, with an additional $29 million annually of donated legal services, representing the work of countless lawyers from more than 46 countries. 

The Center’s Strategic Plan sets a high mark for impact: By 2030, half of the world’s population will be living under stronger protections for reproductive rights than they are today. The Center has a track record of success to back up this ambitious goal. Since our founding in 1992, the Center has transformed how reproductive rights are understood and applied by courts, governments, and human rights bodies worldwide on issues including maternal health, abortion, assisted reproduction, and adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). We have won groundbreaking cases before national courts, U.N. Committees, and regional human rights bodies. Additionally, the Center has led the development of historic, proactive legislation advancing robust protections for reproductive rights and has built the legal capacity of women’s rights advocates in more than 65 countries and counting.

The Role: 

The Executive Assistant to Vice President, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) will ensure smooth and effective administrative support, including managing scheduling, preparations, documentation, follow-ups of all internal and external meetings, expense reports, and travel arrangements. They will work closely with Associates of LAC and members supporting Associate Directors in LAC, serving as a liaison for the VP on internal and external programmatic projects as well as implementing processes and procedures to maximize operations and the efficient execution of daily operations in LAC. This position will report to the Vice President, LAC, who is based in Bogotá. 

The position will be based in the Center's Bogotá office. 

Primary Responsibilities:

Scheduling:

• Oversee the day-to-day activities of the Vice President, LAC, including the delivery of quality, high-level administrative support to her, specifically in regard to calendar management, travel arrangements, and meeting preparation/follow-up.  
• Manage the Vice President, LAC’s calendar to reflect strategic priorities and help effectively manage her time toward achieving operational goals. 
• Assume responsibility for the overall execution, planning, and related advance and logistics for the Vice President, LAC travel schedule, across LAC’s region and globally: organize trip planning calls with internal/external stakeholders, develop written, detailed schedules, confirm travel plans and appointments, manage all related transportation and lodging. 
• Develop and maintain processes, templates, and formats related to scheduling, including request templates, event memos, and agendas.

Meeting Preparation and Follow-up:

• Ensure the Vice President, LAC, is prepared for all internal and external meetings by overseeing and organizing all briefing memos, remarks, talking points, and additional collateral, coordinating across departments, anticipating needs, and strategizing solutions. 
• Serve as liaison between Vice President, LAC, and other members of the LAC team and other departments: attend meetings, develop agendas, record minutes, maintain records, monitor action items, and follow up.
• Draft and file meeting notes, follow-up correspondence, and key actions and ensure communication thereof with all relevant parties as appropriate.

Management (time and communications):

• Manage Vice President, LAC incoming email—prioritizing for attention and drafting responses as appropriate.
• Manage information flow into and out of the LAC unit, ensuring follow-up with and engagement of appropriate staff.

Executive Representation:

• Anticipating the needs of the program and having initiative in strategizing solutions.
• Advancing Key actions involving relevant parties across the Center and externally.
• Representation of the LAC team in institutional and external platforms.

Other supporting responsibilities:

• Provide assistance to visiting CRR staff and coalition allies.
• Support when needed the logistics of program-related events and meeting setups such as LAC convenings, Inter-American Human Rights hearings, and meetings logistics.
• Assist with organizing and maintaining the Global LAC SharePoint site, uploading required information on time.
• Office Services and Other Responsibilities: Meet and greet guests; draft and mail correspondence; sign for packages and mail; answer phones.
• Reviewing documents in Spanish, translating documents from Spanish to English, and vice-versa.
• Acting as the main contact person during the absence of team members, including responding to urgent correspondence and following up on urgent issues with appropriate staff.
• Maintaining and updating the team’s databases and mailing lists using the Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

Qualifications:

• Commitment to the Center’s mission, purpose, and values.
• Experience in support of executive/senior managers faced with the challenge of prioritizing their time in a complex, faced-paced environment.
• Minimum of 8 years of related, progressively responsible work experience, including scheduling and travel management experience.
• Fluent in Spanish and English; any additional language is an asset.
• Must be highly organized, with a strong work ethic and attention to detail.
• Excellent presentation, writing, editing, and proofreading skills.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality with sensitive information.
• Solutions-oriented approach with strong analytical/reasoning skills. 
• Professional and friendly demeanor and strong customer service skills. 
• Must be able to work proactively and independently, multi-task, and work under tight deadlines. 
• Dependability, diplomacy, and a sense of humor are necessary.
• Ability to work in a multicultural, diverse, and highly performance-driven environment. 
• Ability to see and understand the big picture and translate into a strategic schedule. 
• Excellent computer skills including Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint; with the ability and curiosity to adapt to new technologies.

Don’t meet every requirement? At the Center, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace. If you are excited about this role but your past experience does not perfectly align with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles.

Critical Competencies:

• Collaborative: An empathetic, approachable team player who engenders trust and confidence, with an inherent ability to interact positively with all Center staff members.  Track record of working effectively with various and diverse individuals and groups. A willingness to actively listen and invite different views and opinions across all levels of the institution to build alignment in support of a common goal. 
• Receives and Provides Direct Feedback: Actively gives and requests feedback to and from supervisors, peers, and team about work products, behaviors, and workload prioritization, with a view on how this impacts self, other individuals, and teams.
• Accountability: Follows through on commitments and actively communicates on the ability to meet commitments in a timely fashion.  Must possess a "can-do" and "will-do" attitude. Holds team members accountable.
• Decisiveness: Consistently makes sound decisions in a timely manner, supporting the Center’s mission, values, and strategic objectives.
• Innovative: Demonstrated ability to be innovative and highly productive, focusing on excellence in a high-energy, fast-moving, deadline-oriented environment.
• Commitment to learning: Applies a growth mentality to their development. Promotes a culture of learning by modeling inquisitiveness and an openness to viewing mistakes as an opportunity to learn and improve
• Integrity: Possesses impeccable integrity and personal and professional values that are consistent with the Center's high standards and mission.
• Transparency: Consistently applies openness and honesty in communicating decisions and plans to team members.

Behavioral Competencies:

• Develop & Manage Self & Others: Take ownership of individual growth to achieve full potential; recognize the value of team members and help them develop their full potential while also achieving set objectives. 
• Collaboration (People First): Works intra- and/or cross-departmentally to support the goals and overarching strategies of the Center and its strategic plan.
• Feedback (Improve & Innovate): Actively engaged in feedback cycles: Gives and requests feedback to and from peers and supervisors about work products, behaviors, values, style, and approaches with a view on how this impacts self, other individuals, and teams.
• Accountability: Follow through on each commitment made to individual contributors, teams, and partners and proactively inform others of any delays that occur along the way.

Work Competencies:

• Project Management: Works effectively on project teams to achieve long-term project goals and objectives.
• Problem Solve & Make Decisions: Identifies, analyzes, and resolves existing and anticipated problems, using common sense to make timely decisions and reach the best solutions for the organization.
• Internal/External Focus: Anticipates internal and external partners' needs, assesses requirements and identifies new solutions that align with the organization's overall goals and objectives.
• Communication & Influence: Communicates with and influences others to gain agreement and commitment to the organization's strategic goals.

Compensation: The Center offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience and a comprehensive benefits program.

Benefits:

• Health: The Center pays up to 95%* of the premium for a comprehensive health insurance plan with no in-network deductible and best-in-class reproductive healthcare coverage, including infertility. The Center also offers Dental and Vision coverage. (* % may differ in various countries)
• Flexibility: The Center currently operates in a hybrid model, allowing staff to work 3 days in the office and work 2 days from home
• Well-being: The Center offers resources to help prevent and recover from burnout through different programs that enable mental, physical and community well-being.  The Center offers generous leave including paid parental leave, personal days, vacation, and sick leave. We are also closed the last week of December to allow staff to spend time with their loved ones.
• Growth: You will be working with and learning from some of the top legal and operational minds, all passionate about the mission of advancing reproductive rights around the world. You will also be eligible for a stipend to use towards professional growth.
• Global: You will get a front-row seat to update on the fight for reproductive rights in the global space. You will also have access to Employee Resource Groups to connect to colleagues that share similar interests/backgrounds/views.
• Investment: After the first year of employment, the Center will contribute 7.5%* of your annual salary to a 401(k) (* only applicable in US and Kenya) 

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The Center is committed to inclusive hiring and dedicated to diversity in our work and staff. We strongly encourage people from all communities to apply. If you are excited about this role and unsure about whether your past experience aligns with the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be the right candidate for this or other roles.

Our hiring processes and our work culture offer support and flexibility for staff with a variety of needs. Should you face an accessibility barrier in the application and interview process please let us know by contacting [email protected]. We will work with you to provide the accommodation that works best for you. 

To learn more about the Center’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), please visit Diversity, Equity and Inclusion | Center for Reproductive Rights

Learn more about the Center for Reproductive Rights, go to  www.reproductiverights.org

How to Apply: Please complete the application below to apply. A cover letter and resume must be included in your application. Please include these application materials as attachments.

Please note that all genuine Center openings must be applied through the Center website. The Center does not charge a fee at any stage in the recruitment process (application, interviews, or selection). Nor does it request any medical examinations or bank account information as part of this process. If someone contacts, you on behalf of the Center requesting payment for your application please notify [email protected] before taking any further action.

Our hiring processes and our work culture offer support and flexibility for staff with a variety of needs. Should you face an accessibility barrier in the application and interview process please let us know by contacting [email protected]. We will work with you to provide the accommodation that works best for you. 

Deadline for applications: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply as soon as possible. 

Center policy on visa sponsorship for US-based positions: Applicants for employment in the US must have valid work authorization that does not now and/or will not in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the US by The Center for Reproductive Rights.

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