Aid to the Executive

King County•Chinook Building 401 5th Avenue Seattle, WA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Under Executive-elect Girmay Zahilay’s leadership, we are making King County a high performing government, transparently delivering services that improve the lives of residents. To support this vision, we are seeking a seasoned, detail oriented, and highly collaborative Executive Assistant. The Executive Assistant will provide comprehensive, high-level administrative support to Executive Zahilay, applying specialized administrative expertise, sound judgment, and exceptional organizational skills. As the highest-level Executive Assistant role in King County, this position is expected to model the administration’s values by serving with integrity, showing initiative, and approaching challenges with a collaborative mindset. This role requires strong attention to detail, a customer-focused approach, and the ability to anticipate needs and adapt in a fast-paced environment. The ideal candidate brings a continuous improvement mindset, actively seeks opportunities to enhance workflows and streamline processes, and demonstrates flexibility–including the ability to shift start and end times as needed to accommodate the Executive’s schedule and priorities.

Requirements

Have a strong background providing professional-level support to an Executive Director, CEO, COO, or other senior leader, with the ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise sound judgment, tact, and diplomacy when making independent decisions.
Demonstrate the ability to work effectively with people at all levels, maintain a positive attitude, and show a strong commitment to equity and social justice.
Possess the ability to navigate differing or conflicting stakeholder perspectives with professionalism and clarity.
Be proactive and able to coordinate a high volume of diverse assignments, managing multiple competing priorities while maintaining excellent attention to detail.
Possess strong editing, writing, presentation, and communication skills.
Understand how large organizations operate, including how to navigate formal and informal channels to move work forward.
Demonstrates flexibility and adaptability, including the ability to adjust start and end working hours, urgently respond to alterations in the schedule, and recognize shifting priorities to support the Executive when unexpected demands arise.
Exhibit a commitment to continuous improvement in an aim to increase the efficiency, accuracy, and effectiveness of the role.
Be highly proficient using office productivity software and relational databases in daily work (Microsoft Office, PeopleSoft HCM, and Oracle EBS) and demonstrate comfortability learning new systems and processes.

Responsibilities

Provide direct administrative support to the King County Executive, serving as the primary point of contact for all scheduling needs.
Manage the day-to-day administrative operations for the Executive, including scheduling all appointments, meetings, speaking engagements, and other commitments.
Prepare, compile, and distribute background materials and supporting documents for meetings and follow-up actions, to ensure the Executive and support staff are fully briefed for all engagements.
Coordinate with internal teams and external partners to gather accurate, timely information into a briefing binder that will guide the week ahead.
Coordinate with the Executive Protection Unit on all engagements needing security oversight and support.
Maintain an efficient and professional flow of information between the Executive and internal and external stakeholders, ensuring alignment on organizational priorities and readiness for all engagements.
Serve as a liaison between the Executive, department leadership, county staff, and community partners, fostering strong working relationships and supporting effective collaboration.
Build and maintain positive, collaborative relationships across all levels of the organization, modeling professionalism and supporting effective communication and teamwork.
Coordinate and review all travel arrangements for the Executive, including preparing itineraries, confirming lodging and transportation, and processing travel reconciliation.
When necessary, staff the Executive at assigned events, ensuring logistics run smoothly and the Executive is supported throughout the engagement.
Assist in shaping new roles and responsibilities as the needs of the Executive Office evolve.
Perform other administrative duties as assigned to support the Executive Office operations and priorities.
This role requires flexibility and a willingness to assist with a variety of tasks that support the Executive Office.