Administrative Sr. Officer, Common Ground USA

Common Ground USA (CG-USA) fosters collaboration across differences to address America’s biggest challenges and build a society where everyone can belong and thrive. As part of Search for Common Ground, with 40 years of global conflict resolution experience, CG-USA transforms conflict into cooperation. We believe that most Americans want to overcome the divisions we face in our society. We see disagreement as an opportunity to transform conflict into cooperation on our daily and most pernicious problems. All of our work is rooted in an evidence base where we strengthen the five vital signs of peace: safety, social cohesion, institutional legitimacy, personal agency, and resourcing peace. Our work helps citizens and institutions find pathways to collaborate across competing views to meet the challenges of today and build a stronger future for us all. 
We are a dynamic, motivated, and diverse team committed to working across divides to generate locally-rooted, responsive, and sustainable solutions to some of the nation's most seemingly intractable issues.  Our team is based across the US and represents our “Dignity for All” approach from the inside out. The Administrative Officer would engage with all CG-USA team members, working most closely with CG-USA’s Executive Director, who drives our strategy, leads our team, and engages media, partners, funders and other external stakeholders. 
Position Summary:The Administrative Officer provides high-level administrative and strategic support to the Executive Director, working daily to strengthen operational efficiency and advance organizational goals. This is an ideal role for a professional with prior experience supporting senior executives in a fast-paced environment who is passionate about creating change and supporting programming to lower the heat and empower citizens at the intersection of democracy, advocacy, and collaboration.

Responsibilities:

Administrative Support
• Manage the Executive Director’s inbox, prioritizing communications, directing emails, and drafting responses.
• Organize and manage calendars, schedules, and appointments, providing advanced notice and necessary details.
• Coordinate travel arrangements and logistics for in-person and virtual meetings.
• Prepare and reconcile expense reports with accuracy and timeliness.
• Maintain and update contact lists and records.
• Organize and support meetings, including scheduling, preparing materials, note-taking, and follow-ups.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, ensuring professional and effective communication.
• Draft and edit correspondence for key stakeholders, including Funders and Board of Directors communications.
• Coordinate team meeting agendas and logistics for events such as off-sites and strategic planning sessions.

Operations and Systems Support

• Manage office tasks, including maintaining records and liaising with vendors.
• Support the adoption and integration of operational systems to improve team productivity.
• Monitor and optimize day-to-day processes to increase efficiency.
• Prepare presentations, briefing materials, and summaries for the Executive Director.

Other Contributions

• Tracks news events, media, and social media relevant to the team’s priorities.
• Attends events and briefings and synthesizes information for sharing.
• Provides logistical and administrative support for CG-USA programming and events.
• Supports briefings, written products, and strategy development through activities such as desk research, copy editing, coordinating sign-ons, scheduling working group meetings, and sharing materials.
• Gathers monitoring and evaluation data, as assigned.
• Ensures information and knowledge are captured in trackers and systems.
• Provides record-keeping support for budget tracking, including completing required timesheets and adhering to organizational policies.
• Responds to questions and policy and outreach-relevant requests in a timely and customer-service-oriented fashion.
• Supports the development and execution of organizational initiatives and strategies, including participating in voluntary committees and discussions.
• Other duties that are broadly in line with the above key contributions as assigned.

Competency Behavior Indicators (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)

• Initiates brainstorming or problem-solving meetings. With time in the job, develops skills for analyzing and communicating program successes and failures; reports lessons learned to the team and other members
• Demonstrates appreciation for diversity of thought. Builds cross-functional relationships with other functiona