Special Assistant to the President

If you are a current Barnard College employee, please use the internal career site to apply for this position.

Job:

Special Assistant to the President

The Special Assistant to the President provides high-level executive, strategic support to the President of Barnard College in order to ensure the President’s vision and energy translate into consistent action, strong relationships, and organizational credibility. This role goes beyond traditional administrative support; instead, it requires a detail-oriented, proactive partner who thrives on follow-through, stakeholder management, and bringing commitments to completion.

Designed for a motivated, ambitious individual, the Special Assistant position offers unparalleled exposure to executive leadership, institutional decision-making, and strategic initiatives. The Special Assistant ensures that the President’s time, communications, and priorities are managed effectively while also contributing to special projects, events, and high-level engagements.

This role is an exceptional career-building opportunity for an early- to mid-career professional who is organized, proactive, eager, assertive, and excited by the chance to work directly with the President in a dynamic, mission-driven environment. The role requires confidentiality, absolute trust, superior problem-solving skills, sound judgment, and flexibility and discretion in managing sensitive information and priorities.

Job Description:

Follow-Through, Accountability, and Relationship Management

• Capture and track all commitments, decisions, and action items from the President’s meetings and communications; translate raw input into organized records and action plans and monitor progress on key initiatives.

• Draft follow-up emails, thank-you notes, reports, and other correspondence to ensure timely and professional relationship care with key stakeholders, including members of the Barnard Board of Trustees.

• Work with the Office of Strategic Communications and Office of Advancement to support communications and track correspondence with faculty, staff, students, trustees, alumnae, donors, and external stakeholders, including by recording and organizing contacts in Salesforce database.

• Greet the President’s guests and sit in on meetings as requested.

• Continuously analyze data about correspondence and contacts to ensure the President remains attentive to key stakeholders

• Schedule and monitor follow-up action items, proactively reminding the President and closing loops with stakeholders.

• Serve as an accountability partner, empowered to be direct and ensure the President’s commitments are met.

Calendar and Time Management

• Oversee the complex scheduling of the President’s time, managing the calendar with institutional priorities and stakeholder engagement in mind.

• Use excellent judgment to prioritize and research requests for the President to attend meetings, appointments, speaking engagements, and events, both internal and external, and build in time for follow-up and relationship-building activities.

• Review briefing materials and information before meetings and events to ensure they meet the President’s needs, request additional materials as needed, and otherwise ensure the President is fully prepared for all meetings and events. 

• Anticipate upcoming milestones and ensure the President is fully prepared.

• Coordinate domestic and international travel and transportation arrangements.

Information Capture and Organization

• Create and maintain a reliable system for the President to offload ideas, contacts, and meeting notes.

• Translate raw input into organized records, action items, and follow-up tasks.

• Maintain a repository of meetings, outcomes, and relationship notes for continuity and institutional memory.  

Event and Project Support

• Develop and maintain annual and long-range calendars of major events. Prepare annual calendar for the President, including meetings and events hosted by the President on campus and at the President’s residence, as well as meetings and events hosted by other administrative and faculty offices.

• Assist with planning and executing special events, receptions, and meetings hosted by the President’s Office.

• Partner with staff to ensure the smooth and efficient functioning of the President’