Staff Assistant

Cortek•Washington, DC

8d•Onsite

About The Position

Cortek is seeking a Staff Assistant to support the Front Office of the Bureau of Arms Control and Nonproliferation (ACN/FO). The ACN Bureau works to prevent the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), their delivery systems, and related technologies, protect U.S. critical technologies, promote civil nuclear cooperation and U.S. advanced nuclear technologies, strengthen deterrence, enhance strategic stability through new arms control arrangements, and modernize multilateral arms control and nonproliferation forums. The incumbent of this position manages and coordinates the large volume of information (i.e., action memoranda, information memoranda, briefing memoranda, and policy papers) that comes into and out of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Arms Control and Nonproliferation. The Staff Assistant is responsible for exercising quality control of these documents and reports to the ACN Chief of Staff. Information flow is primarily directed to and from the Executive Secretariat and State Department senior officials at the Under Secretary level and above. Effective performance in this position requires that the incumbent understand the policies and priorities, and be skilled in the articulation of such policies.

Requirements

A. or B.S. and three or more years of experience in nonproliferation, international security, or related fields
Demonstrable professional experience supporting senior-level leadership and office administration
Familiarity with Department of State and/or U.S. Government processes
Possess and demonstrate superior verbal and written communications skills
Strong interpersonal, collaborative and team skills
Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and manage multiple tasks simultaneously
Active Secret Clearance is required.

Responsibilities

Tracks and monitors the status of memoranda and correspondence within the Bureau.
Reviews outgoing documents for proper format, consistency, grammatical accuracy, completeness, clarity, makes necessary corrections, and returns documents to the originator for further changes and updates.
Advises Bureau personnel of overdue items, upcoming deadlines, priority of issues, format, and Department/ACN procedures for processing documentation.
Prioritizes and tasks requests for memoranda and other information to Bureau offices in accordance with directives of the Department's Executive Secretariat, the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, and the Assistant Secretary for Arms Control and Nonproliferation.
Compiles Bureau inputs for the ACN Daily Activity Reports and the ACN Bureau Weekly Activity Reports for the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, ensuring they are accurate and submitted on time.
Supports travel preparations for the Assistant Secretary and other Bureau senior leadership, including tasking papers, supporting the development of travel briefing books, and preparation for trip briefings.
Ensures the Chief of Staff is advised of pertinent and time-critical information taskings of interest to the Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary.
Ensures the quality and timeliness of written products drafted within the Bureau by providing guidance, enforcing deadlines, and reviewing for format, style, coherence, accuracy, content, and clearances.
Ensures that information flows are timely and accurate.
Correctly prioritizes and tasks all incoming papers and projects, as soon as feasible after receipt.
Ensures consistency with Bureau policies and procedures and synchronization with the Assistant Secretary's plans and goals, as well as Department policies and procedures.
Regularly reviews and adjusts procedures to improve organization and paper flow in order to ensure optimal efficiency, including proposals of new methods for increasing effectiveness and productivity.
Determines the feasibility of meeting deadlines on specific documents and notifies task originator if any extension is required.
Takes action to avoid, minimize, or eliminate these problems in the short and long-term.
Maintains and utilizes the ACN Front Office SharePoint site and ACN Tasker System, ensuring appropriate information is made available to the Bureau through the SharePoint site, as well as accuracy of links, attachments, and due dates.
Evaluates current Front Office procedures to identify process improvements.