Executive Coordinator, External Relations

Provides executive administrative support to the office of the VP, External Relations (VPER). This includes direct support for the Vice President, as well as coordination and follow-up of External Relations-wide activities, including stewardship management, event and meeting management, complex calendaring, arranging travel, processing and tracking expenses, preparing reports for high-end donors, gathering materials and information for meetings, and answering/screening the VP's phone calls. Drafts, proofreads, and edits correspondence, briefings and reports for Board of Trustees (BOT), senior faculty and administrators. Interacts with all levels of the organization, including executive administration and senior faculty, trustees, major donors and prospects, and community contacts and organizations. Acts as liaison to the President's office for Development office scheduling and planning issues. Independently manages all aspects of unique assigned events and special projects. In conjunction with Events, partners to coordinate and execute multiple events for prospects and donors. Exercises high level of finesse and discretion when communicating with internal and community contacts and when dealing with confidential, sensitive information. Demonstrates a high degree of tact, diplomacy, confidentiality, judgment and political sensitivity in all communications.

Who We Are

The Salk Institute is an internationally renowned research institution that values all members of our scientific community. We seek bold and interactive leaders passionate about exploring new frontiers in science. Our collaborative community embraces perspectives across discipline, professional acumen, and unique life experiences, fostering innovation, and a sense of belonging. Together, we strive to improve the wellbeing of humanity through groundbreaking research.

Founded by Jonas Salk, developer of the first safe and effective polio vaccine, the Institute is an independent, nonprofit research organization and architectural landmark: small by choice, intimate by nature, and fearless in the face of any challenge. Salk's vibrant community has many talented individuals from varied backgrounds, each playing a crucial role in driving our mission forward. From visionary leaders to dedicated administrators and brilliant faculty members, the Institute is united by a shared passion for scientific exploration and innovation.

What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be

Executive Support

• Provides VPER with full range of executive level support, including providing research and back-up materials, as needed; maintaining appropriate systems to track correspondence, documents, and action items. Manages complex calendar for the VPER.
• Schedules all internal and external meetings on behalf of the Vice President. Attends most meetings with the Vice President and takes meeting notes and disseminates to attendees in a timely manner.
• Assists VPER with preparation of presentations and materials for DEV Committee meetings and BOT business meetings (3-4 times per year).
• Serves as liaison between the office of the VPER, internal departments and offices, offices of senior administrators and faculty, community officials and contacts, donors, volunteers, and organizations.
• Works closely with the Office of the President to schedule donor meetings. Ensures President has necessary briefing materials from DEV team and event organizer. Tracks DEV action items due for President, enters President's contact reports into donor database. Provides VPER with President's availability and travel schedule.
• Answers and screens telephone calls using a high degree of tact, diplomacy, judgment and political sensitivity regarding callers. Ensures that appropriate standards of courtesy and service are maintained at all times.
• Maintains comprehensive system of records and file management and retrieval. Establishes tracking system for all requests, issues, phone calls, gift agreements and correspondence to ensure timely actions.
• Coordinates all domestic/international travel for VPER including air/ground transportation and lodging; prepares itineraries; processes all required paperwork/vouchers/documentation before and after trips; and prepares payment requests and expense reimbursements. Ensures appropriate cell/mobile coverage is arranged in advance.
• Composes correspondence at the request of the VPER, as needed. Utilizes word processing, database management, donor database and other software packages for correspondence, proposals/solicitations, contact reports and office management.
• Provides problem resolution for the office of the VPER operational issues. Implements resolution or provides recommendation to VPER and/or Sr. Director, ER Administration.
• Facilitates any follow-up from VPER donor or other meetings and community outreach activities.
• Provides leadership, guidance and mentorship to ER coordinators, acting as the senior coordinator for ER team. Schedules and leads monthly meetings for coordinator's group.
• Collaborates with Security team to manage parking space reservation requests in an online portal, exhibiting good judgment related to Institute parking policies and prioritizing parking needs based on donor importance.
• Prepares annual Mobile Device Stipend request for VPER.
• Ensures timely mailing/shipment of gift agreements, donor stewardship gifts, etc.
• Ensures VPER has stationery, business cards, donor gifts, and any specially requested office supplies.
• Completes other special projects and events of a highly confidential and sensitive nature, as assigned by the VPER.

Event and Special Project Management

• For specifically assigned events (including but not limited to VIP tours and site visits to Salk, concerts, salon events, VIP dinners and meetings, speaker visits to Salk) independently manages all aspects of logistics. Creates strategy for events, establishes time-line and checklist, acts as primary liaison and decision-maker.
• Partners with VPER to plan, coordinate and execute multiple prospect and donor events each year.
• Ensures that catering, decor, RSVP's, set up, parking, A/V, collaterals, etc. are handled with utmost professionalism. Works with Events team, MMR, Communications, Facilities, Security, President's office and faculty, as needed.
• Reserves air/ground transportation and lodging related to event and prepares itineraries for the Vice President.
• Tracks expenditures throughout life of events and reconciles them upon completion. Prepares all payment requests including reimbursements and advance payments. Prepares event budget projections and final cost of event. Manages event underwriting and/or ticket sales when necessary.
• Works with Communications on collateral creation, production time-line, email, photography, video, approval process, printing and mailing.
• Establishes ongoing stewardship/cultivation process to promote event underwriting gift renewal and upgrade of unassigned donors contributing to events. Creates tracking systems for monitoring, evaluating and reporting activities for these donors.

Donor Stewardship and Prospect Management

• Creates business processes for donor reporting and stewardship. Works closely with the Director, Donor Relations, as well as with staff members in the offices of the other VP's and senior administrators and faculty, Development Services, Communications, trustees and high-end donors, community contacts, volunteers, and business executives.
• Maintains a donor database-based prospect management report in Salesforce for the Vice President, including contact reports, status, and gifts received.
• Extracts and maintains accurate data on prospects and donors in database.
• Creates and tracks event registration in database to produce guest list and briefing reports for VPER, President's office and Development officers. Maintains database of information on the outcome of each project/event and status of attendees.
• Working with the Prospect Research Analyst, requests, assembles and prepares prospect research as requested by the Vice President. Evaluates information, and prepares outlines, reports, summaries and correspondence concerning statistical, biographical, and financial information.
• Prepares briefing packets as required for meetings and other events for VPER, President and Board Chair.
• Enters prospect/donor action items, contact reports and proposals into donor database on a weekly basis, in preparation for the Frontline Fundraisers regular meetings. Works with DEV Services Specialist to ensure VPER and President's proposals are entered in a timely manner. Updates past-due proposals and tasks. Alerts VPER of past-due pledge payments.
• Works closely with President's office to collect President's donor contact reports to track and follow up as necessary.
• Performs other development support functions and projects for the office of the VPER.

What we Require

Required:

• Bachelor of Science degree or equivalent combination of education and related experience required.
• Five plus (5+) years of increasingly responsible senior level administrative support to one or more individuals.
• Prior experience in an environment with competing priorities where multitasking was essential to meeting goals.
• Prior experience in writing/editing general correspondence and miscellaneous documents.
• Prior experience managing events from inception to close.

Preferred:

• Prior experience working in a Development/fundraising environment.
• Prior experience managing special projects for high level administrator.

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Required

• Strong computer proficiency with the use of various software applications including, but not limited to, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Adobe Acrobat Pro. Willingness to learn and master new software applications such as Microsoft Access.
• Ability to respect confidential information. Ensure confidentiality of information and sensitive documents by following operational procedures and exercising judgment in responding to requests.
• Excellent organizational skills. Ability to prioritize workload, meet deadlines and work with frequent interruptions under constantly changing priorities in a fast-paced operation while exhibiting extreme attention to detail.
• High degree of integrity, dependability, judgment, diplomacy and resourcefulness, with a strong work ethic.
• Ability to work independently or on a team.
• Ability to prioritize competing demands.
• Ability to interact with high end donors, trustees, members of the community, senior officials and administrators, faculty, fellow staff and volunteers with the utmost maturity and professionalism.
• Ability to independently coordinate an event or special project from inception to end.

Preferred:

• Knowledge of accounting principles and practices for financial analysis of budgets. Ability to produce financial and expense reports. Skills in purchasing and accounting. Ability to monitor financial activities and transactions for report generation.
• Skill in utilizing major online databases in fundraising, university environment and other reference sources, library reference tools and research procedures.
• Basic knowledge of the principles and processes of professional fundraising and donor relations.

What We Can Offer

The expected pay range for this position is $82,000 to $107,250 per annum. Salk Institute provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what the institute reasonably expects to pay for a position. The pay offered to a selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the qualifications of the selected candidate, departmental budget availability, internal equity, geographic location, and external market pay for comparable jobs.

Benefits

Salk Institute offers competitive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, tuition reimbursement, patient advocacy services, and transit/parking program.

Salk Values

The Salk Community, both scientists and administrators, worked together to define values that we believe support Salk's pursuit of excellence. To be truly the best scientific institution requires not only incredible discoveries, but a common understanding of how we should work together to enable those discoveries.

The acronym "I CARE" provides a simple way to remember each of the values and reminds each of us of the importance of what we do each day.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to providing equal access to opportunities for students, employees, applicants for employment and other visitors. Salk has also adopted and maintains a policy to encourage professional and respectful workplace behavior and prevent discriminatory and harassing conduct in our workplace.

Accordingly, the Institute prohibits harassment and discrimination in employment on the basis of, and considers all qualified applicants for employment without regard to, actual or perceived race (race is inclusive of traits associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles. Protective hairstyles include, but not limited to, such hairstyles as braids, and twists), color, religion, religious creed (including religious dress and grooming practices), national origin, ancestry, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), genetic information, marital status, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), reproductive health decision making, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, veteran and/or military status (disabled veteran, veteran of the Vietnam era, other covered veteran status), political affiliation, and any other status protected by state or federal law.

Discrimination is prohibited with any intersectionality of the above-mentioned characteristics, including:

1. Any combination of characteristics.
2. A perception that the person has any of the characteristics or any combination of those characteristics.
3. A perception that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any of those characteristics or any combination of those characteristics.