National Center - Executive Assistant

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

The Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) is a national leader in mental health services for the adoption, foster, and kinship care community. We envision a world where every child and family connected to adoption, foster, and kinship care thrives, embracing our individual and collective diversity. We improve the well-being and permanence of children and their families by delivering adoption-competent mental health services, training a national network of professionals, and informing the field through research and advocacy. We work nationally to build the capacity of States, Tribes, and territories to create competent systems and service arrays and improve access to those services.

For over 25 years, C.A.S.E. has combined best practices and innovation to provide specialized individual and family therapy, psychiatric services and support groups, education, and training. We have become a local, national, and international resource for adoptive, kinship, and foster families and the professionals who support them. C.A.S.E. set out in 2021 on a new strategic direction to grow our clinical and training programs into our Academy for Elevating Clinical Practice in Permanency. It is an exciting time as we grow our evidence-based, adoption-competent clinical model and our accredited, award-winning training programs nationwide.

C.A.S.E has an annual budget of $14M and a staff of 70+ employees.

National Center- EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

ABOUT THE POSITION

The National Center for Adoption Competent Mental Health Services is a federally funded cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau. The National Center is a federal grant issued to C.A.S.E. Adoption Support Center & Services | C.A.S.E. and partners with national system leaders, parents, caregivers, and young adults with lived expertise to strengthen systems, expand workforce capacity, and improve access to adoption competent mental health services for children, youth, and families impacted by child welfare.

The Executive Assistant serves as a trusted administrative and operational partner to the National Center for Adoption Competent Mental Health Services Director and supports the effective execution of the National Center. The role combines high-level executive support with grant operations, project coordination, meeting and event management, stakeholder communication, and administrative systems of leadership.

The Executive Assistant anticipates needs, organizes complex workflows, tracks priorities and commitments, and helps ensure that grant deliverables, team goals, and partner responsibilities move forward on time and with a high standard of quality. Success requires exceptional judgment, discretion, initiative, attention to detail, and the ability to work effectively and independently across internal teams, national partners, subcontractors, states, Tribes, and territories in a hybrid environment.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Executive Support and Priority Management

• Provide proactive executive-level administrative support to the National Center Director, including complex scheduling, correspondence, expense reporting, and travel coordination; align the Director’s calendar with strategic priorities, protect time for preparation and focused work, and resolve competing requests with sound judgment.
• Manage the Director’s email and incoming requests, as delegated; prioritize time-sensitive matters, draft routine responses, and track items requiring the Director’s review or follow-up.
• Anticipate the Director’s needs, identify potential conflicts or gaps, and proactively resolve routine issues while elevating matters requiring leadership attention.
• Manage and organize the Director’s workflow, priorities, commitments, and follow-up, ensuring alignment with National Center goals, grant requirements, and key deadlines.
• Draft, edit, and format executive correspondence, presentations, reports, briefing materials, agendas, and other work products.
• Conduct background research and synthesize information into concise briefing notes, summaries, and presentations to support the Director’s meetings, external engagements, and decision-making.
• Prepare the Director for upcoming meetings and external engagements by confirming objectives, participant background, key issues, briefing materials, and required follow-up.
• Maintain confidentiality and exercise sound judgment in handling sensitive organizational, personnel, partner, and grant-related information.

Grant, Project, and Strategic Operations

• Partner with the National Center Director and team to develop, maintain, and monitor all projects, including schedules, deliverables, decision logs, and action-item trackers.
• Track priorities, commitments, dependencies, and due dates; follow up with responsible parties and flag risks or delays early.
• Support administrative components of grant management as requested by the Operations Manager.
• Coordinate across C.A.S.E. departments to support consistent information sharing, timely decision-making, and execution of National Center priorities.
• Identify opportunities to streamline administrative processes, strengthen documentation, and improve team workflows.

Meeting, Convening, and Event Management

• Provide administrative and logistical support for meetings, conferences, and events in coordination with the Conferences and Events Coordinator and other relevant stakeholders. Responsibilities may include scheduling, calendar coordination, preparing meeting materials, managing invitations, and supporting logistical arrangements as assigned.
• Develop or support clear agendas and meeting materials; record decisions, action items, owners, and deadlines; distribute timely notes and track follow-through.
• Coordinate participation in C.A.S.E. staff, leadership, and other meetings when National Center preparation or representation is needed.
• Research and arrange, in collaboration with the travel agency, cost-effective air, rail, hotel, rental car, and local transportation; prepare and distribute complete itineraries.
• Provide a professional, organized, and responsive experience for participants and stakeholders in all virtual and in-person meetings.

Partner and Stakeholder Communications

• Serve as a professional point of contact for National Center inquiries and route, track, and triage requests to the appropriate team member or resource.
• Maintain productive and responsive relationships with staff, national partners, subcontractors, consultants, vendors, and representatives from states, Tribes, and territories.
• Maintain current contact lists, distribution lists, partner records, and communication files.
• Support timely, accurate, and consistent communication between the National Center, C.A.S.E. departments, and external stakeholders.

Administrative Systems, Records, and Financial Coordination

• Maintain accurate, accessible, and secure electronic records and filing structures; ensure documents are saved consistently in SharePoint and can be readily retrieved.
• Routinely enter data into a database accurately and in a timely manner.
• Use Microsoft 365 tools, including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, and Teams, to support collaboration, knowledge management, and efficient workflows.
• Maintain operational supplies, systems, equipment, templates, protocols, and administrative resources needed by the National Center

Culture and Organizational Contribution

• Model C.A.S.E.’s values of Compassion, Integrity, Excellence, and Innovation in all interactions.
• Contribute to a collaborative, inclusive, accountable, and solutions-focused work environment.
• Participate in agency-wide meetings, events, and staff engagement activities, including occasional evening or weekend functions.
• Perform other duties aligned with the position and National Center priorities

MINIMUM REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education & Professional Experience

• A bachelor's degree in business administration, Communications, Management, or a related field is preferred. An equivalent combination of relevant education, training, and progressively responsible professional experience will be considered.
• At least five years of progressively responsible administrative experience supporting an executive, senior leader, or complex program. Experience in a nonprofit, grant-funded, health, behavioral health, child welfare, or human services environment is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating complex meetings, travel, projects, events, and cross-functional work.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft 365, particularly Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, and Teams.
• Demonstrated ability to produce polished executive-level correspondence, presentations, reports, agendas, and meeting records.
• Ability to pass required state and local background checks.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Exceptional organization, accuracy, follow-through, and attention to detail.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, shifting demands, and confidential matters with professionalism, discretion, diplomacy, and composure.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to tailor communication for leadership, partners, and varied audiences.
• Proactive problem-solving, sound judgment, initiative, and the ability to distinguish between matters that can be resolved independently and those requiring leadership input.
• Ability to build effective working relationships with diverse internal and external stakeholders.
• Working knowledge of project coordination, event logistics, records management, budget tracking, and administrative process improvement.
• Ability to work independently in a hybrid environment while contributing actively to a collaborative, cross-functional team.
• Experience with Zoom, Adobe Acrobat, and design or publishing tools is helpful.

Work Environment and Physical Requirements

This is a hybrid position requiring some work in the office on a weekly basis. Minimal travel is required, along with occasional evening or weekend participation in specific agency functions. The employee must be able to perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodation, including regular computer and telephone use and occasional lifting or moving materials up to 20 pounds.

SUPERVISION

Supervision Received

The Executive Assistant reports directly to the Information & Operations Manager, who provides formal supervision, performance management, guidance, and overall operational direction. The Executive Assistant also works closely with the National Center Director, receiving day-to-day direction and coordinating executive support responsibilities, administrative priorities, scheduling, and activities that support the National Center's objectives.

Supervision Exercised

None.

CERTIFICATES, LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS:

No professional license is required. Ability to pass required state and local background checks.