Grants Management and Executive Assistant, Chesapeake

Position Overview
The Grants Management and Executive Assistant provides administrative and grants management support for the Foundation’s Chesapeake office and staff, primarily Kenneth Turner, the Program Director, Community Engagement; Julie Hester, the Program Director, Watershed Advocacy, and Alex Echols, the Program Strategist, Agriculture.

The successful candidate has a passion for being helpful and supportive, with a natural inclination to anticipate the needs of others, whether that be Chesapeake staff or grantees. They are capable of managing up and assuring that the staff have all the information in place that they need for projects. They are supremely organized and continuously seek to refine their own systems.

They have the ability to focus on minute details while balancing and instinctively prioritizing tasks. They are meticulous, a talented planner, and are able to consistently forecast three to six months out, maybe even a year.

The candidate is good at taking direction and following current procedures, but also willing to make suggestions for improvement in any area. They are not afraid to ask for help or clarification, and can also integrate feedback, even at a rapid pace. The candidate will have proven skills maintaining confidentiality and being discreet. Familiarity with grants terminology, grantmaking scenarios and due diligence is a plus.

Signs that you may be the right candidate include: you get a feeling of great satisfaction when you balance an account, have a specific way you like to set up file naming conventions, love it when formatting is immaculately consistent, are notoriously punctual, and/or think data cleanup is actually fun.

While some candidates with experience in support roles may have been treated as “just an assistant” by other employers, the opposite is true at The Campbell Foundation. We have the utmost respect for those in support roles and have a deep understanding of how their contributions keep all systems running smoothly and efficiently. Our high volume and rapid-paced grants portfolio absolutely depends on the support staff, and we strive to listen with sensitivity as issues arise. Senior leadership at the Foundation have decades of experience in support roles themselves.

There are tools in place that will help this candidate be successful, including:

• A collection of well-developed systems to manage the operations of the Foundation
• Regular and frequent meetings with the Program Directors and other team members
• A thorough onboarding/training process
• A first-six-months, and then annual, employee review
• Professional development and mentoring opportunities

As you consider if this role is right for you, keep in mind that the Foundation is happy to consider candidates who may not meet all the listed requirements, as well as candidates who are at various stages of their career or come from other industries or fields. We are most interested in candidates whose values align with the Foundation and who have diverse backgrounds that would contribute meaningfully to our work.