Coordinator, Strategic And Administrative Support (Remote)

Department: WES Mariam Assefa Fund

Reporting to: Senior Director of the WES Fund

Salary: $58,000 - $63,000 CAD

Location: Remote (Candidates based in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Nova Scotia or willing to relocate)

Description:

Launched in 2019, the WES Mariam Assefa Fund (the Fund) is a philanthropic initiative aimed at catalyzing economic opportunities for immigrants and refugees and enabling immigrant communities to thrive in the U.S. and Canada. The Fund provides provide grants, investments, and other support to interventions that build more inclusive economies and the advance economic integration of immigrants and refugees. In particular, the Fund is currently focused on supporting organizations and initiatives that aim to: equip immigrants and refugees with the skills and supports to succeed; advance inclusive and equitable employer practices; foster innovation and experimentation in the workforce development and immigrant integration fields; invest in immigrant leaders; and grow the ecosystem of collaborators. Read more about our work here.

The Fund is looking for a Coordinator of Administrative and Strategic Support to join the WES Mariam Assefa Fund team. The Coordinator is responsible for assisting with program coordination, general administration, and special projects for the Fund. Areas of focus include administrative and operational support for the department including annual planning and inter- and intra-departmental coordination and administrative and project support for senior staff.

The Coordinator reports to the Fund’s Senior Director but will work closely and collaboratively with all members of the Fund team in the U.S. and Canada, as well as other Social Impact and WES departments.

Duties included but not limited to:

Direct Support for Senior Director

• Manage the Senior Director’s calendars and activities, and triage inbound requests from internal and external stakeholders.
• Coordinate travel arrangements and event/conference registration and filing expenses for the Senior Director
• Design and prep for internal and external meetings, including developing backgrounders, coordinating agendas, facilitating, and identifying and ensuring follow up on action items.

Administrative and Operational Support

• Regularly update and maintain the Fund’s calendars, including internal events, PTO, external/partner events, and relevant holidays or days of awareness
• Provide planning, administrative, and logistical support for Fund team meetings, including agenda creation, notetaking and meeting follow-up
• Assist with maintaining the Fund’s Salesforce CRM and Grants Management System to ensure up-to-date information, compile key metrics for Fund reporting and dashboards, develop analytics and other needs.
• Provide administrative and logistical support to team for Fund team events (internal - such as the staff retreat, external - such as workshops, newcomer fairs, virtual events) and participation in partner events and conferences, including coordinating and scheduling events, preparing materials, taking notes, managing registrations, organizing evaluation and post-event follow-up, bookings, and reimbursements
• Support Fund staff in administrative tasks such as planning, scheduling, formatting presentations and documents and preparing reports.

 Strategic Initiatives, Planning, and Alignment                 

• Manage the Fund team’s preparation for and involvement in key internal processes, such as quarterly Board meetings, and annual priority and budget-setting processes.
• Manage specific initiatives that support dynamic learning and evaluation for the Fund, as well as contribute critical learnings and insights to the field.
• Support the Senior Director in developing and executing additional strategic and collaborative projects as they arise, which could entail convening, grantmaking, facilitation, and other responsibilities.
• Build and manage detailed plans and project management tools to support the Fund and teammates in meeting and managing key milestones and goals.
• Manage specific work streams related to the Fund’s strategic planning in close collaboration with other Fund team colleagues and WES’ strategy team, such as defining and assessing strategic choices, conducting scenario planning exercises, and identifying and managing strategic risks.

The Ideal Candidate will:

• Have a demonstrated commitment to empowering immigrants and refugees and elevating their voices and experiences through the Fund’s work.
• Bring a “can-do” attitude and have a willingness to stretch up and down in their role as the Fund’s needs evolve.
• Build informal working relationships, quickly establish credibility in new areas of work, and mobilize people at all levels towards collaborative goals.
• Have a deep-rooted intellectual curiosity and an openness to diverse ideas and perspectives.
• Be excited about WES’ mission, the Fund’s impact goals, and advancing equity, inclusion, and diversity.
• Thrive an environment that values transparency, collaboration, and a learning orientation.
• Bring both an entrepreneurial mindset to generate new approaches, spot opportunities, and initiate action.
• Have a high degree of comfort with rapidly changing, ambiguous contexts and an ability to help craft a clear path forward in these environments.

Requirements:

• Commitment to confidentiality and discretion in appropriately handling sensitive information is required.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented in planning and executing tasks.
• Bachelor’s degree or an acceptable equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Poise, confidence, and maturity in interacting with key stakeholders.
• Highly efficient in managing multiple concurrent diverse tasks and projects.
• 3+ years of related professional experience coordinating administrative activities and/or events; preference for experience in workforce development, immigration, refugee resettlement or economic development.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills.
• Comfort with working in ambiguous and entrepreneurial environments.
• Commitment to the WES mission, our impact goals, and advancing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• Ability to use independent judgment and work under pressure on competing responsibilities with resilience, and a high level of ownership.
• Ambitious career goals.
• Collaborative and a team player.
• Strong strategic thinking, planning and analytical skills.
• Ability to build strong relationships and work with individuals at all levels of the organization.

Location & Work Environment  

The Fund team is a distributed, hybrid team with several colleagues working out of WES’ NYC and Toronto offices and others working virtually from other cities in the U.S. and Canada. Fund team members based near local offices typically work out of the office 1-2 days a week and spend the remainder of the week working remotely. However, schedules are flexible and local colleagues can also choose to work wholly from home. WES’ office spaces in NYC and Toronto are shared, open office environments with break-out and meeting rooms and light to moderate noise.  

We are also open to remote-first or remote-only candidates located so long as they are willing to attend in-person meetings in NYC, Toronto, or other cities at least once a quarter.  

AODA Statement:

WES values diversity in all its forms and recruits qualified individuals at all occupational levels that reflect the diversity of our clients and our community. We strive to foster a workplace in which all individuals maximize their potential, regardless of their differences. We are committed to providing accommodations for person with disabilities. If you require an accommodation to complete this application, we will work with you to meet your needs.  Please contact Human Resources. Accommodation may be provided at all stages of the hiring process.