Executive Assistant, Legal

Lambda Legal•New York, NY

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Lambda Legal seeks a capable, mission-driven professional to serve as a key partner to its Chief Legal Officer (CLO). This role goes beyond traditional executive support: the Executive Assistant will be a proactive problem-solver and reliable driver of the CLO's priorities, ensuring that time, focus, and initiatives are executed with precision and follow-through. The person in this role will anticipate needs, take ownership of complex workflows, and play a critical coordination role across the Legal Department and the broader organization. This is also a role with genuine room to grow — the ideal candidate brings strong foundational skills, sound judgment, and the drive to take on increasing responsibility over time.

Requirements

A minimum of 3 years supporting C-suite or senior leadership across core administrative functions, including calendar management, travel logistics, expense support, executive communications, and meeting coordination.
Demonstrated experience supporting or coordinating complex projects, including working with stakeholders, tracking progress, and driving initiatives to completion.
Experience supporting budget planning, expense management, and vendor coordination.
Exceptional organizational skills with a high degree of accuracy, attention to detail, and ability to manage competing priorities.
Strong initiative and self-starting instincts — a demonstrated ability to anticipate needs, act without close supervision, and follow through reliably.
Proven ability to exercise discretion and maintain strict confidentiality with sensitive organizational and personnel information.
Strong written and verbal communication skills, including experience drafting professional correspondence, reports, and presentations.
Ability to build trust and effective working relationships across diverse colleagues, partners, and stakeholders at all levels of an organization.
Strong professional judgment and discretion, with a proven ability to handle sensitive matters, navigate ambiguous situations, and make sound decisions with limited oversight.
Receptiveness to feedback and ability to incorporate it for continuous improvement; comfort with direct, candid communication, including the ability to proactively raise concerns or flag issues with senior leadership.
Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, and SharePoint).
Commitment to and familiarity with LGBTQ+ civil rights, HIV advocacy, or related social justice issues, sufficient to engage meaningfully with the CLO's work and communicate appropriately with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with legal operations, legal department workflows, or the nonprofit sector.
Experience with WestLaw and/or iManage.
Exposure to project management tools or methodologies (e.g., Asana, Monday.com, etc.).
Experience utilizing technology-driven solutions to enhance efficiency, accelerate progress, and optimize day-to-day workflows.
Prior experience at a civil rights organization, advocacy nonprofit, or legal services organization.
Successful candidates will welcome the opportunity to work in a racially- and gender-diverse environment and contribute to a positive and inclusive atmosphere.
Working at Lambda Legal requires a demonstrated awareness of and commitment to the concerns of the breadth of the communities that Lambda Legal serves.
Prior work on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community and/or people living with HIV is highly desirable.
Experience working with other historically marginalized communities (in a professional or volunteer capacity) is also desirable.

Responsibilities

Own and actively manage the CLO’s priorities, maintaining visibility across key workstreams, and ensuring time and focus are aligned to the most critical matters.
Oversee and optimize calendar and meeting strategy — not just scheduling, but ensuring meetings are purposeful, prepared, and outcome-driven.
Manage budget and expense processes with a focus on accuracy and efficiency, including tracking expenditures, processing invoices and expense reports, coordinating vendor payments, and preparing budget summaries for CLO review.
Coordinate extensive executive travel — including complex multi-leg domestic itineraries across Lambda Legal's regional offices, conferences, litigation-related travel, and policy and advocacy engagements — with full ownership of logistics, contingency planning, and execution.
Drive preparation for internal and external meetings, including synthesizing materials, preparing agendas, identifying key issues, and ensuring the CLO is positioned for effective decision-making.
Draft, refine, and quality-control written materials — including correspondence, meeting follow-ups, reports, and presentations — ensuring clarity, accuracy, and strategic alignment for CLO review; develop increasing independence in drafting in the CLO's voice over time.
Act as a trusted liaison, managing communications and relationships with internal and external stakeholders — including external pro bono counsel, co-counsel organizations, coalition partners, and donors — with sound judgment and discretion.
Ensure follow-through on key decisions and action items by tracking progress, surfacing risks, and following up with stakeholders to drive accountability.
Manage confidential documents and sensitive information with strict discretion, consistent with Lambda Legal's information security practices and the particular confidentiality demands of legal and advocacy work.
Leverage technology and productivity tools to enhance efficiency across drafting, research synthesis, scheduling, and project management, while exercising sound judgment about data confidentiality and organizational information security protocols.
Lead and manage special projects assigned by the CLO, from scoping and planning through execution and close-out, ensuring deliverables are met on time and within scope.
Conduct research and synthesize findings into clear, actionable written reports, briefings, and recommendations for CLO review and decision-making.
Track milestones and maintain project documentation to ensure visibility and accountability across all active initiatives.
Support the Legal Department with strategic planning materials, including presentations and departmental reports.
Identify opportunities to improve Legal Department workflows, processes, and communications, and help design and implement solutions.
Serve as a connective operator across teams, proactively coordinating work and removing barriers to progress.
Other duties as assigned.

Benefits

Medical benefits that begin on your start date
Dental, Vision, and Life insurance (effective 30 days from your start date)
Short & Long-Term Disability plans (effective 30 days from your start date)
403(b) Retirement Plan (employer contribution and matching program begins after 90 days of employment)
Paid Vacation (15 Days)
Sick Leave (12 Days)
Personal Leave (3 Days)
Religious Observance Leave (3 Days)
Bereavement and Bereavement Anniversary Leave
Floating Holiday (1 Day)
12 paid holidays and 5 early office closures
Flexible Spending Account (FSA/DC FSA) and Commuter Benefits
Health Reimbursement Account
Annual professional development funds
$50 monthly mobile phone reimbursement
Summer Fridays from Memorial Day to Labor Day
Premium subscription to the Calm App
Paid sabbatical after 7 years of service at Lambda Legal (4 weeks for non-exempt positions and 8 weeks for exempt positions)