Senior Administrative Coordinator

Overview

NRDC is a non-profit environmental advocacy organization. We use law, science, and the support of 3.1 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure the rights of all people to clean air, clean water, and healthy communities. NRDC was founded in 1970 and our people helped write some of America's bedrock environmental laws, including the Clean Water Act and many of the implementing regulations. Today, our team of more than 700 lawyers, scientists, economists, policy advocates, communications experts, and others work across the United States and the globe from our offices in Beijing; Chicago; New Delhi; New York; San Francisco; Santa Monica; and Washington, D.C.

NRDC is seeking a Senior Administrative Coordinator to work with the Rewrite the Future Communications team in our Santa Monica, CA office.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Senior Administrative Coordinator provides administrative and operations support for the assigned division/team Rewrite the Future. This role will have a direct reporting line to the Operations Lead. This role will receive lead direction and training from the SP&O Lead and Operations Manager and engage with the SP&O cohort across the institution for knowledge-sharing and identifying efficiency opportunities in administrative and operations areas.

This is a limited term 2 year position.

The position you are applying for is part of the bargaining unit represented by The Washington Baltimore News Guild (WBNG / The Newsguild-CWA Local 32035).  

Responsibilities

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the following essential functions:

• Provide administrative and logistical support to assigned teams with minimal guidance, per NRDC’s administrative guidelines. This includes, but is not limited to:
  • Provide budgeting and accounting support, including processing invoices, preparing and maintaining contracts, preparing reports, and tracking spend.
  • Responsible for contract submission, including framework agreements, consulting agreements, honorarium, amendments, memorandums of agreement (MOAs) etc., and coordinating internal stakeholders to comply with institutional processes related to contract approval and vendor set-up with minimal oversight.
  • Engage with central operations departments (e.g., Finance & Accounting, Office of General Counsel, Workplace Strategies, IT, etc.) directly to complete administrative tasks and resolve issues.
  • Create and manage centralized electronic filing systems and databases related to contracts, invoices and other team files for the assigned team.
  • Identify inefficiencies and potential solutions to improve operations.
• Provide administrative and logistical support to assigned team members, per NRDC’s administrative guidelines. This may include, but is not limited to:
  • Daily management of the team’s calendars and scheduling internal and external appointments and meetings
  • Draft, edit, format, or proofread materials, correspondence, or reports.
  • Create and submit expense reports on behalf of assigned team members utilizing correct project and grant codes with minimal guidance; may be asked to book travel and plan associated logistics.
  • Schedule, organize, prepare for, and follow-up on assigned meetings, including planning logistics, preparing materials, taking notes, and sending out action items.
  • Assist with event planning and management, which may require working with external parties, event scheduling, arranging catering, printing, materials preparation, and liaising with Workplace Strategy.
• Provide support to ensure effective communication, collaboration, and information-sharing within the department and with external institutional partners.
  • Pro-actively capture key takeaways and action items, synthesize information and communicate information as needed to project teams to ensure alignment and clarity.
  • Build and sustain strong relationships with assigned team, department colleagues, as well as cross-institutionally and with external partners (as applicable).
• Provide senior level administrative support to assigned teams or team members, including:
  • Coordinate with Operations Lead to deliver trainings, create training materials and serve as a resource for NRDC systems and processes through deep expertise with internal systems and policies.
  • Collaborate with SP&O and Operations Leads on special projects, and lead administrative support for project engagement and coordination with minimal guidance.
  • Lead administrative workstreams, including internal event and meeting planning tasks, and oversight of expense tracking for both project codes and grant codes and re-classification of expenses
  • Work with internal subject matter experts or points of contact to coordinate deliverables, materials, or document submission.
  • Demonstrate initiative in administrative workstreams by anticipating needs and flagging potential challenges, as well as coordinating with colleagues to suggest process improvements.
  • Propose solutions in response to barriers to administrative tasks, such as revised timelines, process changes, stakeholder engagement, clarifying communications, developing internal guidance or resources, trainings, etc.
• Provide support with Rewrite the Future presentations and workshops, including running our PowerPoint deck and videos, both for virtual and in-person events.

The above list of duties is not comprehensive but generally demonstrates the types of matters under this position’s responsibility. Other duties may be assigned.

Qualifications

Minimum Education & Experience:  

• High School Diploma or GED.
• 3-5 years of relevant work experience.
• And/or equivalent education or experience.

Skills, Abilities, Competencies

• Commitment to NRDC’s mission, values, and DEI principles
• Competence with and commitment to diversity and inclusion; ability to be an effective partner with diverse colleagues, leaders and partners.
• Demonstrated ability to perform or quickly learn new tasks, systems, and technology and develop internal relationships with minimal oversight.
• Anticipate needs, flag potential challenges and barriers to execution and proactively coordinate with colleagues to identify improvements. Ability to prioritize and efficiently execute multiple tasks, follow institutional procedures, and work independently with strong attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong problem-solving skills.
• Excellent editing, research, and data synthesis skills.
• Willingness and flexibility to work paid overtime, when needed.
• Orientation towards working with a broad range of people on different projects.
• Strict adherence to confidentiality requirements and discretion with sensitive information.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint), in addition to ability to learn accounting and finance systems, as well as relevant NRDC specific software and platforms.
• Ability to travel as needed to NRDC U.S. based offices.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS  

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this position within the described work environment.

Frequently: Perform desk-based computer tasks

Frequently: Ability to interact and communicate with employees and others as necessary

Frequently:  Attend planned meetings and collaborate with management and coworkers

Occasionally: Ability to attend events and activities and perform assigned tasks in the office or offsite as needed.

Work is sometimes performed in office.  The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet in office settings and moderate to loud in other situations, such as public events.  Hours of employment may sometimes require working flexible and/or longer hours, including nights and weekends, when necessitated by projects. The job includes work-related situations such as those involving challenging, important, urgent, time-sensitive, or multiple matters.

NRDC is committed to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion, both in our work and in our workplace. We believe that celebrating and actively welcoming diverse voices and perspectives is essential to solving the planet's most pressing environmental problems, and we encourage applications from candidates whose identities have been historically under-represented in the environmental movement.

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

We offer competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a supportive working environment. Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and is commensurate with skills and experience. Internal equity will be reviewed and considered to determine a final offer. For this position, the salary range is $65,000 to $72,000.

NRDC operates under a hybrid work model. Employees are required to come to the office 8 days per month.

As a science-based organization, NRDC aims to do our part to help contain the COVID-19 public health crisis. For the sake of health, safety, and equity, we ask that people be vaccinated unless they have an approved medical or religious accommodation or other exemption in accordance with state and local law. We consider a person to be vaccinated two weeks after receiving one full course of a CDC-approved vaccine. In accordance with state or local law, new hires will be asked to attest to vaccination, those wishing to do so may request medical or religious accommodations or other exemptions via NRDC Employee Relations. NRDC treats all vaccine-related data confidentially, in keeping with local, state, and federal laws.

To apply, visit www.nrdc.org/careers and upload your résumé and cover letter. Please mention where you saw this posting and upload any additional materials that showcase your abilities. Due to the high volume of applications, we will contact only those candidates we would like to interview. Please no phone calls, emails, or in-person résumé drop-offs.

If you experience technical problems while applying or if you are a person with a disability and need assistance applying online, please reach out to iCIMS Customer Care at 1-800-889-4422.

For more about NRDC, visit www.nrdc.org.