Vacancy Announcement
American Public Transportation Association

Position: Executive Assistant to the President
Executive Office
Exempt Position
Announcement No.: 005-11-11
Date posted in house and outside sources including website: 11/4/2011

Basic Function

The individual in this position reports to the president and performs confidential, executive secretarial and administrative duties as assigned throughout the executive department.

Duties and Responsibilities

Specific duties and responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Manages the day-to-day administrative affairs of the president’s office, scheduling all appointments, conferences and speaking engagements and other commitments; handles changes or cancellations as deemed necessary and/or appropriate. Provides the president with background information, meeting summaries and/or supporting documents in preparation for scheduled appointments, meeting, and speaking engagements; coordinates with other departments as necessary for speeches and communications for preparation of specific engagements and maintains and tracks detailed priority list of projects and engagements;
2. Maintains an efficient flow of information between all levels of the association including internal and external contacts on a wide spectrum of plans and priorities;
3. Screens incoming calls to the president, determining nature of call and whether or not it requires the attention of the president, takes messages and maintains contact lists, and whenever possible responds to caller directly based on knowledge of president’s preferences, office functions, policy, priorities and availability or makes sure the caller receives appropriate transfer to another department;
4. Processes all incoming correspondence received in the office of the president, prioritizing and determining its disposition. Directs mail to appropriate internal staff with instructions and/or suggestions for preparation of a reply. Determines which correspondence can be handled by self and takes initiative in drafting responses for the president’s signature based on knowledge of his activities, interests, priorities, and issues. Follows same procedures for electronic mail;
5. Reviews, proofreads, and formats all correspondence prepared for the president’s signature to ensure accuracy and completeness, as well as consistency with the association’s policy standards and exercises good judgment in following up with staff to ensure deadlines are met on documents requiring the president’s signature;
6. Handles confidential and sensitive information with poise, tact, and diplomacy;
7. Schedules and organizes all activities such as meetings, travel, car services, and association activities for the president;
8. Greets and manages all visiting members and guests and handles all of their needs for the duration of their stay;
9. Produces meeting summaries and maintains and tracks president’s priority lists of projects and other board memberships and responsibilities;
10. Serves as a liaison with other departments, affiliate organizations, government offices and other agencies and senior level staff;
11. Handles all business finances, reconciles credit card statements and manages all expense reports in a timely manner;
12. Works independently and within a team on special and ongoing projects when necessary;
13. Photocopies, scans and faxes information as needed or requested;
14. Processes certain recurring invoices relating to association business;
15. Maintains files used by the president and association on an ongoing basis, modifying when necessary; applying association rules pertaining to retention and disposition;
16. Arranges, in conjunction with other departments, special events sponsored by the president to include invitations, site selection and related details;
17. Prepares annual business plan document and quarterly business plan reports. Assists with development of departmental budget;
18. Chair meetings of association executive assistants. Mentor new executive assistants and other new staff. Liaison with other departmental executive assistants for communication, fostering of good working relationships, problem solving, information sharing. Work with executive assistants to develop and maintain APTA’s correspondence guidelines and advise all support staff on proper correspondence processes and procedures;
19. Performs other duties as may be required.

Measures of Accountability

1. Extent to which the president’s instructions are executed;
2. Degree to which correspondence and meeting notes are accurately and timely taken and transcribed.
3. Extent to which the correspondence and other written material produced for the president’s signature are accurate and conform to APTA standards;
4. Ensuring the accuracy and completion of all correspondence and materials for meetings;
5. Extent to which travel arrangements are scheduled and planned in a timely manner and accurate itineraries pro­duced;
6. Extent to which the telephones are consistently and appropriately handled and callers are professionally served;
7. Extent to which mail is accurately screened and tracked for follow-up actions;
8. Extent to which other functions and duties are completed as assigned;
9. Extent to which the telephones are consistently and appropriately handled and callers are professionally served­;
10. Extent to which mail is accurately screened and tracked for follow-up actions;

Qualifications

Individual must have a minimum of two years college training and a minimum of five years of combined administrative and executive secretarial experience. Must possess effective communication and analytical skills, both oral and written.

This position requires a high level of discretion, tact, judgment, and poise. Duties are highly confidential and require compre­hensive knowledge of the policies and operations of the organization. The individual works indepen­dently under general instructions on a wide variety of special projects. At the same time the individual will exhibit to a high degree an ability to work well with other staff, Association members and other individuals and organizations.

High degree of skill in grammar, spelling and punctuation are essential. Requires excellent computer skills. Familiarity and experience with spreadsheet software also desirable.

How to Apply

To apply for this position, please send resume to:

American Public Transportation Association
ATTN:  Human Resources Department
1666 K Street, NW
Suite 1100
Washington, DC  20006

or email to aptajobs@apta.com or fax to 202-496-4326.