Executive Assistant and Events Coordinator

Job Summary

This is an exciting opportunity to be an executive assistant to the Director of the Coalition for Urban Transitions combined with playing a key role in organizing major events for the Coalition, including its Annual Members meeting (involving over 50 organisations), bi-annual Steering Group and Urban Leadership Council meetings of key thought leaders, and team meetings, such as annual retreats. In this role you will be an effective gatekeeper for the Director, helping to determine and support the management of their priorities, directing traffic and generating order in a dynamic and fast paced work environment.

You will be a confident voice for the Coalition Program and play a key role in ensuring the smooth functioning of our London office. You will actively contribute to creating a culture of openness, respect and collaboration in a relatively young and fast-growing office hosted by C40 Cities at the Bloomberg London Headquarters.

This is 4 days a week role (24 – 32 hours / week: 4 days a week, 6-8 hours a day, subject to negotiation). Days and time subject to availability.

This position is remote due to pandemic but will be based in WRI London office once restrictions are lifted

Job Responsibilities

Professional Administrative Support to the Programme Director (~40-50%)

• Effective prioritisation and management of the Director’s diary, including arranging internal and external engagements and travel
• Prepare and organize meetings including requesting agenda’s, guest registration, meeting room bookings and following up when more information is required
• Efficiently support the success of the Director’s engagements abroad by planning and arranging travel arrangements, travel packs, and expenses
• Prepare and monitor monthly expense reports and timesheets taking action to ensure financial objectives are met
• Play a role in managing a fast-flowing email inbox for the Director, bringing urgent issues and those requiring action to his attention
• Draft key emails and keep meeting notes
• Coordinate briefing packs, review PowerPoint presentations, and provide or suggest background materials
• Prepare effective weekly briefings for the Director to go through his weekly agenda and main priorities providing a clear list of items of discussion and a clear overview of the week and major priorities of the coming weeks
• Act as internal point of contact for the Director, including ensuring team members provide agenda’s and background information in advance of meetings and that deadlines are well understood and adhered to
• Ensure timely planning and organizing of management meetings, including exercising judgement to assist in suggesting agenda items
• Develop a clear schedule of meetings, including keeping track of agenda items to discuss and tracking key actions, for internal calls and other engagements
• Have a clear understanding of the Director and wider Executive / Senior Management Team’s priorities to inform effective execution of the role
• Maintain an effective electronic filing system, including recording of official correspondence and maintaining a business contacts database (Salesforce)

Management of Major Events for the Coalition (~30-40%)
You will play a key role in organising some of the Coalition’s most important partnership-related events in its calendar. You will have:

• Responsibility for project managing the organisation of the Coalition’s Annual Members meeting of ~ 50 organisations to discuss the priorities and forge new networks across the Coalition, leveraging experience and expertise from across the wider Coalition team (this will be held in October this year with support provided to the successful candidate, and mid-2022 the year after)
• Responsibility for organising bi-annual meetings of the Coalition’s Steering Group and Urban Leadership Council, including helping to structure agenda’s and organize relevant materials for members
• Responsibility for project managing organization of major internal meetings of the Coalition leadership and core team including annual team retreats and other key meetings

Office Management and General Support (~20%)
You will play a central role in the life of the Coalition’s London team and helping to build a team spirit. Among other things, you will:

• Helping to create and maintain a physical office space that is pleasant, professional, and conducive to productive behavior including ensuring adequate office supplies; liaising with the building managers to ensure effective maintenance of the office space; and making arrangements for access to hotdesking facilities for visiting staff
• Take a lead in terms of continual internal process improvement such as ensuring the Coalition team are using consistent Sharepoint systems and regularly reviewing internal meeting structures to ensure they are fit for purpose
• On occasion, manage longer term special projects such as putting in place new administrative arrangements or organising major meetings on the Directors behalf with a flexible mindset and positive attitude
• Work closely with the Programme Director to help support visits to London by members of the Coalition or WRI senior leadership

Job Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required
• Minimum of 2 years of relevant, full-time work experience
• Previous experience working as an Executive Assistant and / or events management
• Experience working in a similar field / organisation with a similar core mission (preferred, but not required)
• Strong organization skills and attention to detail
• Ability to be flexible and work independently or in a team environment
• Excellent computer skills in MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), web-based communications (e.g., Skype, GoToMeeting, etc.), and the Internet
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience of event organization is a plus
• UK work authorization is required for all WRI UK opportunities. WRI cannot offer visa sponsorship for this opportunity

How to Apply

Please send us your CV and a cover letter based on the job qualifications and responsibilities required outlining how your skills, experience and approach makes you a great candidate. Applicants must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered. Applicants deadline Monday 12th July 2021.

Potential Annual Salary:  £31,020- £ 38,775. Salary is commensurate with experience and other compensable factors.

Program Overview

Worldwide, bold national government action to transform cities is mission-critical to avoiding the worst effects of climate and environmental breakdown and to delivering shared prosperity for everyone. That will require a significant stepping up of leadership by heads of state, government ministers, their advisors and civil servants over the next 5 years. The Coalition for Urban Transitions is a major global initiative dedicated to helping national governments to take that transformative action. Our vision is zero carbon, resilient and inclusive cities by 2050 empowered and enabled by national governments. Our 2019 flagship global report Climate Emergency: Urban Opportunity, launched at the UN General Secretary’s Climate Summit with the backing of over 50 key institutions and a range of senior ambassadors, for the first time established a rigorous clear economic and social case for national government action on zero-carbon, resilient, and inclusive cities with key recommendations for decision makers. This was recently complemented by a new flagship global report released in March 2021, Seizing the Urban Opportunity, produced to support the UK COP26 Presidency. This report looked in further detail how six major emerging markets, accounting for over 40% of the world’s urban population (China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, and South Africa) could seize the urban opportunity to support economic, social, and climate outcomes in the run up to COP26 and beyond, including as part of their economic recovery efforts. We also have in-depth, multi-year country programmes supporting the national governments of Mexico, China, Ghana, and Tanzania to develop and deliver ambitious national urban strategies, supplemented by a range of other in-country partnerships which are under active development with government counterparts including in South Africa, Indonesia, Brazil, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Country efforts are complemented by major global thought leadership and research efforts to plug critical knowledge gaps on how national governments can transform cities for better economic and climate outcomes. We have brought together a broad coalition of 35+ leading non-governmental institutions to co-develop our analysis and provide support to decision makers. The Coalition is a special initiative of the New Climate Economy and is jointly hosted and managed by the World Resources Institute Ross Center for Sustainable Cities (one of the world’s largest urban-focused NGOs with over 300 experts) and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (a network of the 100 largest cities taking action on climate). Core staff are located in London, UK at C40 and DC, USA at WRI. In the next 5 years, the Coalition is set to grow significantly with deeper and broader non-governmental partnerships to support a much larger program of national government engagement. This is reflected in our new 5 year business plan available on our website at www.urbantransitions.global The Coalition for Urban Transitions London team is part of WRI Europe and is hosted by C40 Cities at the Bloomberg London Headquarters, an award winning and one of the world’s most sustainable and innovative office buildings. The WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities is the World Resources Institute’s program dedicated to shaping a future where cities work better for everyone, combining global research and on-the-ground experience in Brazil, China, Ethiopia, India, Mexico, Turkey and the United States combine to spur action that improves life for millions of people.

WRI Overview

World Resources Institute  (WRI) is an independent, nonprofit global research organization that turns big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity and human well-being. We are working to address seven critical challenges that the world must overcome this decade in order to secure a sustainable future for people and the planet: climate change, energy, food, forests, water, sustainable cities, and the ocean.

We are passionate. We value our diversity of interests, skills and backgrounds. We have a flexible work environment. And we share a common goal to catalyze change that will improve the lives of people. Our shared ideals are at the core of our approach. They include: integrity, innovation, urgency, independence and respect.

The foundation of our work is delivering high-quality research, data, maps and analysis to solve the world’s greatest environment and international development challenges , and improve people’s lives. We work with leaders in government, business and civil society to drive ambitious action and create change on the ground. Equally important, we bring together partners to develop breakthrough ideas and scale-up solutions for far-reaching, enduring impact.
 
We have been growing rapidly: our staff has doubled in size over the past 5 years and our operating budget is now $150 million. Founded in 1982, WRI has a global staff of 1,000+ people with work spanning 60 countries. We have offices in Africa ,  Brazil , China  ,  Europe  ,  India  ,  Indonesia  ,  Mexico and the  United States as well as a growing presence in other countries and regions.  

WRI is committed to advancing gender and social equity for human well-being in our mission and applies this principle to our organizational and programmatic practices.