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Executive Assistant to Vice President Environment and Science Posted: July 2, 2025 First Review: July 18, 2025
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Administration
Los Altos, CA, USA
USD 89k-117k / year
Posted on Jul 3, 2025
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About The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Founded in 1964 by David and Lucile Packard, the Packard Foundation is a family philanthropy dedicated to supporting leaders and organizations around the world working to invest in children and families, protect and restore the natural world, and create just and inclusive societies.
For more than six decades, the Foundation has advanced scientific innovation, championed reproductive health and rights, conserved and restored our natural world, and invested in the well-being of children and families. To achieve lasting change, we also strive to address root causes of longstanding problems, including building a thriving, resilient U.S. democracy; advancing racial justice in the United States and gender equity globally; and supporting a strong civil society around the globe.
Inclusive collaboration is the heart of our approach. We believe that actively listening to and learning from people with a wide range of views is the best way to create solutions that match the scale and urgency of the challenges we face. We are dedicated to supporting community-based solutions shaped by the knowledge and experience of the people whose lives are most affected and informed by data. We recognize that meaningful solutions require patience, urgency, and supporting the conditions for transformational change. We are committed to addressing complex issues over the long term while making tangible progress today.
OUR VISION: A just and equitable world where both people and nature flourish.
OUR MISSION: We work with people and communities to create enduring solutions for just societies and a healthy, resilient natural world.
OUR VALUES: Equity, Integrity, Belief in Individual Leadership, Thinking Big, Respect, and Effectiveness.
Department Overview
The Environment and Science (E&S) team supports work to achieve the Foundation’s three goals, with a particular focus on the goal of protecting and restoring our natural world. To do this, we champion bold climate solutions, an ocean that sustains us, and scientific innovation and discovery to secure the health and future of people and our planet. Across our globe, the fate of both people and our natural world are inextricably linked, and all solutions must account for both.
Position Summary
A key member of the Environment and Science (E&S) team, the Executive Assistant (EA) provides executive support to the E&S Vice President (VP). The Executive Assistant will manage complex calendars, coordinate cross-initiative workflows, organize and coordinate executive outreach and organize internal and external stakeholder engagements. The Executive Assistant must enjoy working within an environment that is mission-driven, results-driven, and community-oriented. The ideal individual will have the ability to exercise good judgment in a variety of situations, with exceptional written and verbal communication, administrative, and organizational skills, and the ability to maintain a realistic balance among multiple priorities. The Executive Assistant will have the ability to work independently on projects, from conception to completion, and must be able to work under pressure at times to handle a wide variety of activities and confidential matters with discretion.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities
Administrative Support
- Proactively evaluate and prioritize incoming email requests on behalf of the VP; redirect inquiries as needed
- Compose and edit correspondence and other documents
- Research as directed, and assemble in advance, relevant information for meetings, correspondence and reports
- Act as liaison with colleagues of the VP, including other VPs, Directors, consultants, advisors and other colleagues
- Support ongoing teambuilding and cohesion within the program and across the Foundation
- Work closely with the VP to balance long-term priorities and goals with short-term details, while maintaining flexibility as new priorities emerge
- Provide as-needed administrative support to E&S team
- Maintain organized internal filing systems and support knowledge management by documenting key information, including taking notes and keeping records of selected meetings as requested
- Maintain confidentiality and determine appropriate response for sensitive situations
- Support onboarding of new team members by coordinating schedules, curating materials, and serving point of contact for integration into the team as needed
- Ensure relevant and timely updates to intranet content in collaboration with communications staff
Calendar and Meeting Management
- Manage the E&S VP’s calendar, including complex scheduling and maintaining a keen eye for prioritizing the VP’s time
- Manage the VP’s internal and external meeting requests
- Coordinate Environment & Science calendar and team strategy meetings
- Exercise judgement and discretion in prioritizing appointments
Travel and Event Logistics Support
- Arrange and coordinate domestic and international program-related travel by managing trip itineraries, agendas, developing relevant documents, and organizing travel logistics
- Manage the VP’s schedule at select conferences and events, oversee meeting requests, and help to ensure a valuable experience for foundation leadership
- Work with stakeholders to finalize contracts, meeting and event request forms (MERFs)
- Occasionally provide travel logistical support for E&S team members and advisors
- Process expense reports via Concur for the VP
- Arrange logistics for convenings and events for VP as needed
Docket Coordinator
- Develop and refine format and calendar for docket preparation and assignments (i.e., a generic schedule that we can fill in for each round of docket preparation)
- Set up and facilitate a coordinating meeting for each docket to align on what needs to be produced, by when, and from whom
- Send reminders at reasonable intervals to those responsible for various products, such as docket memos and slides
- Prepare and post draft versions of products with comments addressed and final, clean versions of products after all comments have been dealt with by program staff
- Ensure working versions of documents are stored and filed in the appropriate folder
- Schedule Board of Trustee preparation activities, coordinating with the President’s Office
- Serve as the E&S resource for information about the progress of documents, slides, and other preparation
- Set up and facilitate feedback mechanisms after each docket
Qualifications
Education
- A bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience is required
Experience
- A minimum of four years of experience working in positions directly applicable to the requirements of this position is desired
- Previous Executive Office support experience desired
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- A commitment to the vision, mission, and values of the Packard Foundation
- Strong organizational and planning skills that reflect ability to perform and prioritize multiple tasks seamlessly
- Expert-level written and verbal communication skills; demonstrated skill in proofing materials
- Prepare meeting briefers for the VP ahead of meetings including relevant background information as needed
- Arrange, compile and organize documents and agendas for meetings
- Technology-savvy with project management skills
- Professional, gracious, flexible, dependable, and responsive attitude
- Highly resourceful team player, with a commitment to collaboration
- Adaptable to various competing demands and demonstrate the highest level of service and response
- Demonstrated ability to achieve high-performance goals and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment
- Ability to manage projects, including but not limited to developing and maintaining a project timeline, proactively recommending steps to achieve goals within the timeframe and budget, issuing reminders to relevant team members, maintaining project files, and developing resource materials
- Contribute to and participate in collaborative activities and special projects
- Forward-looking thinker, who actively seeks opportunities and proposes solutions
- Proven ability to handle confidential information with discretion and tact
- Impeccable integrity and trustworthiness
- Exercise judgment within established practices to resolve problems and make recommendations
- Work independently under pressure and meet ongoing deadlines
- Maintain a high level of detail and accuracy in all tasks
- Proficient in Microsoft Office Outlook, Word, Excel, Power Point, Teams, OneNote, and SharePoint
Compensation and Benefits
The position is full-time and non-exempt. The salary range for this position is $89,000 – $117,000 annually. This salary range is an estimate, and the actual salary may vary based on various factors, including without limitation individual education, experience, tenure, certification, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data. Offers are based on the candidate’s years of experience and our practice of upholding salary equity within the foundation.
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation offers excellent benefits for eligible employees. Current benefits include medical (HMO and HDHPs), dental and vision coverage; 15% employer contribution to employee retirement plan; life insurance, disability insurance, vacation, and sick leave; an adoption benefit; fertility benefit; a financial wellness program; health advocacy services, paid time off to volunteer for nonprofit organizations; matching grants for employee contributions to tax exempt organizations; commute assistance; and tuition assistance.
To Apply
To apply, please prepare a cover letter and resume and submit your application here.
Hybrid Work Policy
The Packard Foundation’s current Hybrid Work Policy is that staff are expected to be in the office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays each week.
Equal Employment Opportunity
The Foundation is an equal employment opportunity employer, which means we recruit, hire, assign, train, promote, compensate, provide benefits, discipline, and discharge (and all the other terms and conditions of employment) based on merit, qualifications, job requirements, and other legitimate business factors.