Executive Assistant, Legal Division

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals • New York, NY

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

Join the ASPCA’s Legal Division as an Executive Assistant and play a central role in supporting the legal, compliance, safety, and risk-management work that helps advance our mission. In this role, you’ll partner closely with the Chief Legal Officer and a collaborative legal team to keep critical operations moving with precision, discretion, and purpose. The Legal division provides full-service legal consultation to each department to ensure that risk is appropriately evaluated and managed or mitigated. They provide oversight and guidance on various internal and external policies, contracts, grant agreements, compliance, and protocols, as well as oversee the ASPCA’s safety, security, and risk-management efforts. The Legal Division prioritizes respect for our internal clients, business partners, colleagues, and others; excellence in the work that we perform and the advice that we provide; and being present in the life-saving work of the ASPCA by showing up for our colleagues, clients and constituents.

Requirements

• Proficiency with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, with ability and willingness to learn and train others on new software
• Excellent judgment and discretion, especially regarding confidential and sensitive matters
• Research and analysis skills
• Presents information clearly in oral and written form
• Plans, organizes and prioritizes work
• Accepts accountability for and effectively executes responsibilities
• Asks questions to identify needs that may not be stated
• Ability to manage projects independently (requires reliability, superb follow through, meeting deadlines, time management, multi-tasking)
• Self-starter with motivation to manage a busy workload and identify ways to improve efficiency throughout the division
• Detail-oriented with a premium on accuracy
• Flexibility to effectively manage new and evolving assignments and changes to workload and priorities based on management or client requests and current regulatory issues
• Ability to exemplify ASPCA’s core values and behavioral competencies.
• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent professional experience required
• 5 years of professional experience working on or with teams that deal with confidential matters (i.e. legal, financial, medical, etc.) required
• 3 years of experience providing administrative support with at least 1 year of experience providing administrative support at the executive level, including providing logistic support for ongoing work and priorities required
• Experience providing administrative support to a legal team strongly preferred
• Experience with budgeting support and expense reporting for others strongly preferred
• Experience managing projects is a plus
• Experience taking meeting minutes and subsequently outlining, tracking and supporting the completion of next steps required
• Experience supporting external inquiries, such as handling questions from new clients, new customers, or the general public, required
• Language: English (Required)

Nice To Haves

• Interest in and familiarity with animal welfare issues is preferred
• Valid New York State notary license a plus; ability and willingness to be licensed as a notary in New York State required

Responsibilities

• Manage and protect the Chief Legal Officer’s calendar. Schedule and prioritize all appointments, troubleshoot scheduling challenges, and help convene and coordinate division meetings.
• Maintain knowledge of the Chief Legal Officer’s priorities and workflow to partner with the Chief Legal Officer to help ensure time is appropriately allocated for team meetings, skip levels, visits, and quarterly check-ins throughout the year; juggle frequent last-minute changes, and coordinate with internal and external constituents.
• Complete all travel logistics and itineraries, facilitate preparation for travel, and prepare and submit expense reports.
• Conduct general administrative responsibilities for the Chief Legal Officer, including summarizing information, editing documents, filing and maintaining organization of various folders (both paper and electronic), and other administrative needs, as requested.
• Monitor new technologies and applications in-use at ASPCA; learn them and guide the Chief Legal Officer in implementation for maximum efficiency/effectiveness
• For in-person meetings: prepare agendas, order meeting supplies, make copies, set up room and audio/visual, coordinate with speakers, order/pick-up/lay out refreshments, etc.
• Provide project support for the Chief Legal Officer, including note taking; recording and archiving notes, decisions, and action steps; tracking tasks and follow-ups; and conducting document management
• Coordinate with Executive Assistants, including for the CEO and members of the Executive Leadership Team, to align schedules, priorities and meeting needs, including providing back-up support to other EAs if/as necessary to ensure seamless support of ASPCA executives.
• Support attorneys with legal matters and management of very busy nonprofit in-house Legal Division
• Coordinate with the Administrator, Corporate Counsel’s Office and other key stakeholders within the Legal Division to help ensure administrative support is aligned and needs are thoughtfully addressed across the division
• Handle Legal Division’s physical mail, tracking, organizing, routing, and responding as appropriate
• Oversee administrative tasks across the division including intaking and managing Conflict of Interest disclosures, renewing subscriptions and services provided by third parties, ordering supplies, and other tasks as requested.
• Complete, approve/deny, edit and maintain expense reports in compliance with submission deadlines & requirements
• Code and submit all invoices for payment (for example, Litigation, Trusts & Estates, Safety & Compliance, State Registration Fees), provide statements of accounts, and obtain initial documents to set up firms as new vendors with designated payment elections
• Initiate and act as a point of contact when reporting incidents (personal and auto) to insurance carrier and ordering certificates of insurance
• Manage coding and submission of all division bills and expenses, through coordination with Finance Team
• Develop, organize and deliver onboarding processes for new employees within the Legal Division
• Serve as a notary for documents as appropriate, coordinating signatures and maintaining organized records to support timely, accurate document execution.
• Support special projects as assigned
• Oversee the Legal Division inbox and respond to all messages, including various inquiries from the general public in a timely and thoughtful manner (pet custody, vet/hospital malpractice, dog bites, landlord eviction, providing referrals to animal law attorneys and animal welfare agencies)
• Maintain up-to-date list of resources to provide to callers on above-described topics and stay knowledgeable about appropriate internal and external contacts who may provide additional assistance.
• Work with not-for-profit animal welfare organizations who are applying to the New York State Department of State for nonprofit status, such as a Humane Society or SPCA

Benefits

• Affordable health coverage, including medical, employer-paid dental and optional vision coverage.
• Flexible time off that includes vacation time, paid personal time, sick time, bereavement time, paid parental leave, and 10 company paid holidays that allows you even more flexibility to observe the days that mean the most to you.
• Competitive financial incentives and retirement savings, including a 401(k) plan with generous employer contributions — we match dollar-for-dollar up to 4% and provide an additional 4% contribution toward your future each year.
• Robust professional development opportunities, including classes, on-the-job training, coaching and mentorship with industry-leading peers, internal mobility, opportunities to support in the field and so much more.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive