Board Liaison and Executive Assistant

BOARD LIAISON AND EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

Position Summary

Reporting to the President and CEO Friends is looking for an experiencedBoard Liaison/Executive Assistant to perform a wide range of administrative duties. This includes serving as a key link with the board of directors coordinating all related business including board meetings and committee work board relations and overall coordination of the board calendar and also includes executive support and project management on behalf of the CEO. This role requires an organized detail-oriented multitasker who can handle many diverse projects at once and meet tight deadlines.
This is a full-time 32 hours per week hybrid role in Seattle WA.

About Friends of Waterfront Park

A non-profit organization Friends of Waterfront Park (Friends) wasestablishedin 2012. City officials and civic leaders recognized that like all great parks in cities across the country Waterfront Park needed a nonprofit leader to ensure its lasting success. From our early days of facilitating public engagement around the design of Waterfront Park to our historic fundraising Campaign for Waterfront Park (a $170M effort) and our development of public programs and public safety strategies centered in compassion Friends has been a key partner to the City of Seattle and communities across the city in an unprecedented effort to build an extraordinary urban public space.

In 2025 the Waterfront Park Grand Opening Celebration brought more than 50000 people to celebrate a new era for Seattles central waterfront. Today the $170M Campaign is complete and Waterfront Park is open to the now on welcoming the community to this iconic Seattle gem are now moving into our annualoperations includingfundraising programming public safety
investments park experience and long-term stewardship of Waterfront Park now and for generations to come.

• Our mission affirms whywerehere: To bring people and local communities together to ensure Waterfront Park thrives as a vibrant gathering space fostering connections and honoring Seattles natural beauty and stories.
• Our vision imagines wherewereheaded: Seattle is transformed by Waterfront Park a public space sparking joy connection and belonging with every visit.
• Our valuesCommunity Equity Care Collaboration and Adaptabilityground how we work: from programming and partnerships to public safety and storytelling.

Friends recognizes and acknowledges historic and existing systemic racism embedded in our city. We are committed to becoming an anti-racist organization by prioritizing racial equity within the organization and in the public spaces we operate.

Land Acknowledgement
Waterfront Park is situated on the land of the Coast Salish peoples who have resided here since time immemorial and continue to thrive. With respect and humility we acknowledge the history of the waterfront the dispossession of land from the Coast Salish people and most importantly the strength and resilience of Native people and their culture through this history and to the present.

Responsibilities

Board Relations and Suppor

• Under the direction of the President & CEO serve as the Board Liaison for the Friends Board of Directors and where appropriate bring other team members in to support Board meetings and Board committee meetings including meeting/event planning notetaking reports hospitality and implementation. Specific tasks will be assigned and reviewed periodically among the President & CEO Deputy Director and Director of Development.
• Proactively manage organization-wide Board and committee meeting calendar and coordinate advance planning.
• Draft supporting agendas emails and memos;assistwith briefings presentations and surveys/evaluations; and coordinateand plan events from start to finish according to requirements target audience andobjectives.

• Directly support the Boardof Directors as a wholeas well as theExecutive GovernanceandFinance Committees and select Advisory Committees including taking minutesand other meetinglogistics.
• Oversee planning preparation implementation and follow up for Board Executive Committee and other Board Committees. Partner with other key senior leaders to ensure all committees are advancing their work and reporting regularly.

• Supporttheonboardingprocessof new Board members.
• Facilitate annual Board conflict of interest disclosure process.

Executive Support

• Assistinfacilitatingopen communication and support an efficient agile work environment for the organizations
  President & CEOand Deputy Director.
• Provide high-level administrative support to the President & CEO including but not limited to handling internal/external scheduling requests and meeting arrangements preparing materials as assigned and managing meetings.
• AttendSenior LeadershipTeammeetings. Coordinate meetinglogisticsincluding taking notes.
• Manage travel and conference planning/coordination across the organization including expense reporting needs.
• Triage all incoming meeting requests and liaise with members of the SeniorLeadershipTeam
  to evaluate time management decisions on behalf of the President & CEO.
• Proactively manage organization-wide Board and committee meetings andSeniorLeadershipTeam
  calendar with the utmost attention to accuracy and coordinate advance planning.
• Schedule and coordinate meetings involving the President & CEO and Deputy Director including logistics planning distribution of meeting materials creation of proposed agendas note/minute taking and communicate outcomes decisions and actions to all relevant stakeholders as per instructions.
• Prepare the President & CEO and Deputy Director for internal and external appearances and speaking engagements including managing the timeline of support needed from others organizing or reviewing briefing documents agendas emails memos presentations and reports. Ensure that all corresponding office files are maintained.
• Coordinate complex project and stakeholder meetings related to organizational initiatives including venue arrangements scheduling agenda creation materials coordination action items follow up task assignments and meeting facilitation.

Project Management

• Manage and support projects for the President & CEO;this includes writing reports and tracking
  deliverables.
• Act as the liaison/point of contact for projects and communicate status updates to project participants and stakeholders.

Collaboration Values and Culture

• Collaboration
  • Collaborate as a member of theFriends team providing thought partnership and support as needed.
  • Work collaboratively with and learn from the entire organization and with external partners stakeholders and community.
• Diversity Equity Accessibility and Inclusion (DEIA)
  • Contribute to an inclusive workplace culture and adhere to Friends Community Agreements.
  • Engage in regular conversations about race and equity through all-staffmeetingstrainings.
  • Incorporate values of DEAI in allfacetsof this job and when collaborating across teams.
• Community:Incorporate the org-wide value/ethos of centering community throughout work (e.g. attend community events seekoutand listen to diverse communities and perspectives).
• Culture:Contribute to organizational culture byparticipatingin team building activities to help build a fun welcoming and productive workplace.

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum of twoyears of experienceproviding support to a Board of Directors managing committees or board of directors related work.
• Minimum of five years of progressively complex administrative experience advanced project managementscheduling or equivalent experiencerequired.
• Bachelorsdegree oranadditional4 years of relevant experience
  
• A commitment to incorporating the practices and ethos of Diversity EquityAccessibility andInclusion (DEAI) in allfacetsof your work.
• Proficiencyand ease usingMicrosoft Office Suite (Word Excel Outlook and PowerPoint)and online meeting tools such as Zoom andTeams.
• Exceptional writing skills and comfortability with writingreports.
• Strong communicationskills.
• Ability to support the needs of leadership to carry out the initiatives of the organization.
• Ability to beflexible and responsive to operational and administrative support needs.
• Ability to handle sensitive information in a confidential manner.
• Must have the ability to work independently be resourceful and take initiative in an agile environment.
• Must exhibit excellent dependability judgement and flexibility in dealing with changing priorities.
• An understanding ofBoardgovernance.

Desired Qualifications

• Lived experience and cultural competency with underrepresented communities including Black Indigenous
  Latine disabled and/or LGBTQ communities and the ability to bring this lens to conversations about anti-racism anti-oppression and embedding equity in all aspects of work.
• Bachelors Degree
• Experience with Beanworks or other expense report software.
• Salesforce experience
• Nonprofit experience
• Experience with project management tools (e.g. Asana)

Compensation and Benefits
This position is for a 32-hour per week full-time exempt employee with a salary range of $64800 to $73600.
Friends has created a compensation philosophy and salary framework to set compensation organization-wide. The final salary offer is dependent on how the candidates skills abilities and experience align with Friends salary framework: Level: Manager II Tiers 1-4.

Benefits include(but are not limited to):employer paid medical dental life and vision insurance paid time off WA PFML andadditionalsupplementORCAregional transit pass (does not include Washington State Ferries) and a 3% retirement account match.

Working Conditions

• This position is a hybrid role with at least 60% of the work being in-person at our office on the waterfront.
  The hybrid nature of this position and the required days in person are subject to change based on the needs of the
  organization.
• While typical office hours are Monday-Friday 9-5Friends is an event-based seasonal organization. During event season (roughly May-September) many employees work a higher percentage of their timein person. Friends has a dedicated onsite team and during the event season office employees are invited toassistonsite employees for events at the Waterfront.
• Exempt employees are asked to work a flexible schedule as determined by volume of work; however the organization works hard to ensure proper work-life balance and to prevent burnout.
• FriendsfollowsKing County Public Health guidelinesregardingCOVID-19.

About the office space:

• Our office is on the second floor. There is elevator access at the front entrance.
• Most separate rooms and offices have braille labels.
• The office buildingcontainsa parents room a wellness room a kitchen as well as several quiet meeting rooms.

The physical requirements of this role listed below are representative of those that may need to be met by an employee in this role:

• Operating a computer and other office equipment.
• Ability to work in an open office format with a fluctuating noise level Friends office islocatedon Pier 56 on the waterfront. Music and ferry horns can often be heard from the office. However noise cancelling headphones and other accommodations are provided. Noise levels are low to moderate in the office.
• Occasionally lifting up to 20 pounds; howeverassistancewith lifting or moving items can be provided.

How ToApply

Click the Apply link tosubmityour application. You will be asked to upload a resume and to answer the following questions in lieu of a cover letter:

1. How many cumulative years of experience do you have withboardrelations
2. How many cumulative years of experience do you have withexecutivesupportcomplex administrative experience schedulingandproject management
3. In about 3-5 sentencessharewith usthestrategies you use to manage complex workloadsandwithvaryingdeadlines.
4. In about 3-5 sentences describe how you approach organizing projects across teams
5. In about 3-5 sentences describe your journey to understand anti-racism and anti-oppression. And what does it currently mean for you to embed equity into your work
6. Please also attach 1-3 writing samplesincluding a memo-typesample.

Note:Friends has an Artificial Intelligence Acceptable Use do not use artificial intelligence (AI) to review applications or evaluate turn we ask that applicants do not rely on AI when creating their application packets and especially when answering the questions above.

Friends is committed to improving hiring practices to be more inclusive and anti-ableist. We have reviewed the job requirements and only include physical abilities when completely necessary. During the interview process we email the panel questions ahead of time. We are also able to provide captioning and/or interpretation (e.g. ASL) if requested. If you need specific assistance and/or accommodation during the application or recruiting process please let us know by emailing our People & Culture team at.

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled but priority will be given to applications received by Friday March 6 2026.

Required Experience:

Manager