Executive Assistant to the CEO

Acumen, an international nonprofit working to solve problems of poverty, is looking for an Executive Assistant to support the CEO. This role is full time, eligible for overtime, a yearly bonus and benefits. Acumen’s New York office operates on a hybrid schedule, with in-office work Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. While this role is not “always on,” it is often on.

About Acumen
Acumen is a global force of entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists, and social innovators working together to build a world based on dignity. We were founded by Jacqueline Novogratz on the radical idea that business, when cultivated with moral imagination, can break the cycle of poverty. We invest in transformational companies, build sustainable markets, and prepare leaders with the tools they need to create a more just and inclusive future. Since 2001, we have scaled companies and shaped markets in some of the hardest-to-reach communities on the planet, impacting over half-a-billion lives. To learn more visit acumen.org. 

About the role
The CEO operates at the intersection of global investing, philanthropy, moral leadership, and systems change. Her work spans a complex network of relationships across entrepreneurs, investors, board members, partners, and public thought leaders, often across multiple geographies and time zones in a single day.

This role serves as a trusted operational partner to the CEO, responsible for the excellent execution of the CEO’s time, travel, communications, and day-to-day workflow. But this is more than an administrative role. It requires strong judgment, emotional intelligence, discretion, anticipation, and the ability to protect focus in an environment of constant motion and competing demands.

The Executive Assistant to the CEO will play a critical role in helping the CEO operate at her highest level. That means not only managing logistics with precision, but also understanding priorities, anticipating challenges, reducing friction, and ensuring that relationships and commitments are handled with care.

This role works in close coordination with, and functionally reports to, the Chief of Staff. Success in this role requires operating in true partnership with both the CEO and Chief of Staff — balancing responsiveness with discernment, execution with foresight, and independence with alignment. The person in this role must be able to make sound decisions, remain calm under pressure, and bring maturity, discipline, and humanity to highly visible work.

This role is ideal for a high-energy person who takes pride in making things work and operates exceptionally well behind the scenes, energized by complexity. The right person is genuinely motivated by Acumen’s mission and the opportunity to contribute to work that matters. This job is not for the meek of spirit.

Specific accountabilities include:

Design and manage a dynamic, complex schedule that reflects the CEO’s highest priorities and Acumen’s broader organizational needs

• Exercise excellent judgment in evaluating requests, identifying trade-offs, and sequencing commitments thoughtfully across competing demands.
• Ensure the CEO is fully prepared for every engagement, with clear and concise context on the who, what, where, why, and how.
• Coordinate and execute a seamless daily schedule, managing multiple simultaneous requests across time zones.
• Manage high-volume communications with discernment, helping prioritize, draft, and respond as appropriate to ensure clarity, timeliness, and efficiency.

Lead end-to-end travel planning and execution

• Oversee, arrange, and book all travel and check-ins, coordinating with internal and external stakeholders and planning for the CEO’s needs throughout each journey.
• Understand the CEO’s preferences and working style, executing against them where possible and communicating clearly when constraints arise.
• Prepare comprehensive travel packs, including itineraries, logistical confirmations, diplomatic and/or medical clearance materials, meeting schedules, and relevant background context.
• Maintain real-time awareness of the CEO’s movements and evolving needs while traveling, proactively adjusting plans to ensure continuity and effectiveness.
• Forecast well in advance and secure required medical documents, passport pages, visas, and other travel materials for international trips.
• Ensure all relevant calendars, meeting details, and supporting information are accurate and current in advance of travel.
• Support a CEO who travels approximately 60–70% of the year.

Help run a highly effective Office of the CEO

• Serve, alongside the Chief of Staff, as a primary point of contact for the CEO’s office.
• Help prioritize and route incoming requests, escalating issues when needed and resolving problems quickly, calmly, and thoughtfully.
• Contribute to an Office of the CEO that is highly organized, responsive, discreet, and trusted.
• Support strong coordination across the CEO’s internal and external commitments so that the office operates with consistency, clarity, and care.

Ensure operational excellence and disciplined follow-through

• Prepare and track expense reports in a timely manner; review and advise on expense reports for the CEO and her direct reports in accordance with Acumen’s Travel & Expense Policy; manage CEO timesheets.
• Coordinate with Talent, Legal, and Finance on contracts, signatures, approvals, and related documentation.
• Obtain and track necessary information and signatures for documents related to the CEO, ensuring proper processing and delivery.
• Take on additional assignments as needed, including research, writing, presentation design, and other operational support.

Skills & Qualifications

• Minimum of 11 years of experience supporting senior executives in high-demand, fast-paced environments, with demonstrated ability to operate with discretion, judgment, and autonomy.
• Demonstrate ability to anticipate needs, navigate ambiguity, and make sound decisions in real time, with appropriate escalation to the Chief of Staff when needed.
• Ability to plan and execute with the end goal in mind, with strong attention to user experience and the ability to communicate the implications of changes.
• Total discretion with sensitive information in all contexts.
• Excellent relationship management skills: ability to understand the players, their needs, their timelines, and treat them with dignity.
• Excellent project management skills: ability to coordinate across stakeholders, manage competing priorities, and drive execution with minimal oversight.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills: crisp, clear, kind.
• Ability to remain calm when plans change or go awry.
• Ability to anticipate needs and identify challenges before they arise. Ability to solve for them or communicate barriers up the line.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with people across geographies, backgrounds, and levels of seniority.
• Mastery of tech apps including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Gmail, and Zoom.
• Self-reflective and deep alignment with Acumen's mission and values; curiosity about the ideas, people and places at the intersection of capital, poverty and climate.
• Permanent authorization to work in the United States.

The salary range for this role is $78,000  to $83,000 USD  and is eligible for overtime plus a performance-based bonus. This range represents the present low and high end of pay range for this role. Actual compensation will vary based on various factors including but not limited to experience. Acumen has equal pay, so pay is determined through comparison to a cohort of employees in the market at the same level of accountability.

 

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