Administrative Fellowship

PURPOSE STATEMENT:

The Administrative Fellowship is a one-year leadership development opportunity designed for an early-to-mid career professional seeking executive exposure within a large, complex human services agency. The Fellow will rotate across key operational functions and lead cross-functional initiatives tied to strategic priorities, including operational excellence, compliance, quality improvement, and administrative systems.


POSITION OVERVIEW:
Reporting to the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), the Fellow will serve as an internal consultant supporting high-impact projects, executive planning, and performance improvement. This role offers visibility into senior decision-making and cross-agency operations, with the potential to transition into a permanent leadership role upon successful completion. Ideal for candidates looking to gain exposure to leading large scale, strategic process improvement initiatives and/or experience operating a large human services agency.
After one year, the Fellow will walk away with the following skills:

Executive exposure and strategic leadership
◦ Direct partnership with senior leadership (Chief Administrative Officer and executive team)
◦ Strong understanding of how executive decisions are made in a large, complex human services agency
◦ Experience translating complex challenges into executive-ready recommendations
Cross-functional project leadership and initiative ownership
Operational excellence and process improvement capabilities
• Lean Six Sigma Training with a Black Belt Operator
◦ Ability to map workflows (current vs. future state) and diagnose operational pain points
◦ Root cause analysis, solution design, and implementation planning
◦ Creation of SOPs, templates, and systems that improve efficiency and consistency
Executive communication and presentation skills
• Ability to write clearly for senior leaders (briefing memos, summaries, stakeholder communications)
• Experience developing decks, executive updates, and board-facing materials
• Strong storytelling and synthesis skills: context → insight → recommendation
• Comfort presenting to diverse internal stakeholders across departments and levels
Enterprise-wide understanding of nonprofit/human services operations
• Deeper knowledge of how large human services agencies operate at scale
• Cross-functional exposure to key administrative domains (fiscal operations, compliance, analytics/technology, client access operations)
• Systems-level understanding of how infrastructure functions support mission delivery

By the end of the Fellowship year, the Fellow will leave with a tangible portfolio of professional work products, which may include:
• Project charters, stakeholder maps, and implementation workplans
• Executive-ready status updates, dashboards, and performance reporting tools
• Process maps (current vs. future state), SOPs, and operational playbooks
• Decision memos and recommendations based on data and stakeholder input
• Executive-level slide decks (10–20 slides) for senior leaders and/or board audiences
• Meeting agendas, facilitation materials, and action trackers that support enterprise-wide execution

KEY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
• Provide project management and coordination support to the CAO across a broad portfolio of enterprise wide strategic and administrative initiatives
• Conduct research and develop presentations and reports for internal and external stakeholders
• Support the execution of executive-level initiatives, including enterprise-wide planning, compliance improvement, and organizational development projects
• Participate in and document executive meetings, identifying action items and supporting timely follow-up
• Draft communications, board materials, and internal policy documents in collaboration with the CAO and other senior leaders
• Engage in special assignments aligned with the fellow’s professional interests and organizational priorities
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with executive leaders and internal departments
• Use Lean Six Sigma and project management tools, methods and concepts to evaluate and improve cross-cutting operations & systems
• Partner with internal departments and programmatic divisions to strategically prioritize multiple complex projects
• Provide executive summaries and report out on status of projects
• Other duties as assigned
CORE COMPETENCIES for this role include:
• Strong project management and prioritization skills
• Exceptional analytical and organizational skills with attention to detail
• Ability to use data to drive decision-making and measure the success of initiatives