Special Assistant to the President

The Joyce Foundation•Chicago, IL

8d•$110,000 - $120,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Special Assistant to the President & CEO strengthens the effectiveness of the President’s office by helping the President focus on the high-level priorities, stay prepared for meetings and engagements, and ensure that decisions and commitments are strategic, well informed, and well-coordinated. Serving as a trusted partner, the Special Assistant reports directly to the President and provides high-level executive and administrative support, coordinates priorities across internal and external stakeholders, and ensures consistent follow-through with discretion, sound judgment, and exceptional attention to detail. This is a new position, offering a unique opportunity to work collaboratively with the President/CEO to customize the full scope of the partnership. Julie Morita, MD, is The Joyce Foundation President & CEO and board member. In her role, Julie oversees the charitable distribution of more than $60 million annually from assets of approximately $1.3 billion. The Foundation works to ensure that more people can prosper in the Great Lakes region. We accomplish this by championing the public policy and civic partnerships needed to advance racial equity and economic mobility, and ensure a vibrant civic life across the region. The Foundation’s values (equity, inclusion, accountability, trust, and courage) guide how we make decisions and deploy resources, how we steward relationships, and how we stay accountable to its mission.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience.
Seven or more years of progressively responsible experience providing high-level support to a senior executive, executive office or comparable leadership function, including experience managing priorities, coordinating across stakeholders, and supporting executive-level decision-making and follow-through.
Experience supporting a senior leader in a fast-paced, complex environment with multiple internal and external priorities and stakeholders to advance priorities and ensure timely follow-through.
Experience supporting Board-related activities, senior-level meetings, external engagements, or other high-profile convenings.
Excellent written & oral communication skills, including experience preparing briefing materials, meeting summaries, executive correspondence, and concise background research, with accuracy under varying timelines.
Strong project coordination skills, including the ability to track commitments, manage timelines, coordinate across teams, and ensure consistent follow-through.
Demonstrated ability to anticipate executive needs and independently resolve issues or determine when matters require escalation.
Demonstrated ability to manage complex calendars, priorities, travel, correspondence, and executive workflows with accuracy and sound judgment.
Demonstrated ability to exercise influence without formal authority and to build trust across colleagues, board members, partners, and external stakeholders.
Proven ability to handle sensitive information and confidential relationships with professionalism, discretion, and care.
Ability to take direction well and organize one’s own work while also planning and organizing the work of the President.
Ability to work independently as well as in a team setting.
Strong commitment to excellence in work products delivered by self and others.
High proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, especially Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
Proven competence in deploying technology to support efficiency, organizational flow and problem solving and confidence and experience learning new technology quickly and competently.
Proven ability to understand general information and identify solutions to routine, semi-routine and semi-complex problems.
Proven ability to proactively solve problems in a fast-paced work environment using critical thinking and creativity.
Highly developed emotional Intelligence that results in the proven ability to develop and maintain productive and trusted relationships within an organization and externally.
Known to be curious, adaptable and enjoys learning, welcomes feedback, adapts quickly to shifting priorities, and brings alignment and commitment to an organization's mission, vision and values.

Nice To Haves

Experience with board portal software is highly valued.

Responsibilities

Manage the President’s calendar, scheduling priorities, travel, correspondence, and administrative systems to ensure the President is focused on the highest-value work.
Prepare the President for meetings, decisions, and engagements by organizing materials, anticipating needs, and ensuring timely follow-up.
Serve as a primary point of coordination for requests to the President’s office, exercising judgment about urgency, sequencing, and appropriate delegation.
Track and coordinate follow-through on strategic priorities, cross-functional initiatives, and commitments that require presidential attention or visibility.
Prepare concise briefing materials, background research, and analyses to support decision-making and help the President stay ahead of emerging opportunities, issues, and risks.
Coordinate with internal leaders and external stakeholders to ensure clarity, alignment, and progress on projects connected to the President’s agenda.
Oversee preparation for board meetings, board-related sessions, and external engagements, including agendas, briefings, speaker research, and logistics.
Identify relevant speakers, partners, convenings, and thought-leadership opportunities aligned with the Foundation’s priorities and the President’s role.
Ensure timely follow-up from board, stakeholder, and external meetings so relationships and commitments are managed with care and continuity.