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Ascension is seeking an experienced, highly organized, and mission-focused Executive Assistant – OCS Executive & Federal Grants Program Support to provide executive-level administrative and program coordination support to senior leadership within the Administration for Children and Families’ Office of Community Services.

This is not a traditional administrative assistant position focused solely on calendar management or clerical support. The successful candidate will operate within a complex Federal discretionary and demonstration grants environment where executive priorities, grant program activities, stakeholder engagements, leadership correspondence, meetings, events, records, and cross-functional initiatives must be coordinated accurately and efficiently.

The ideal candidate understands how to operate in a Federal program office and can anticipate what senior leaders need before an issue becomes urgent. This person will be comfortable coordinating across executives, Federal program staff, grant specialists, contractors, technical advisors, grant recipients, and external stakeholders while handling sensitive or time-critical information with discretion.

Ascension is particularly interested in candidates who have supported Federal executives or senior program officials within a grants, community development, human services, economic development, public health, or comparable mission-support environment.

Success in this role requires exceptional attention to detail, professional judgment, responsiveness, organization, writing ability, and the ability to manage multiple competing priorities with minimal day-to-day supervision.

Role Summary

The Executive Assistant provides administrative and programmatic support to OCS leadership in support of DCDDP’s portfolio of discretionary and demonstration grant programs.

The position supports leadership activities, meeting and event coordination, preparation and review of executive-level documents, correspondence, briefings, records, action items, and cross-team initiatives. The Executive Assistant will help create the organizational structure and administrative discipline necessary for OCS leadership to manage a diverse portfolio of Federal programs efficiently.

The individual will work closely with Ascension’s Program Manager and other contractor personnel while collaborating daily with Government leadership and program staff. The Executive Assistant must be capable of working in a dynamic environment where schedules, program priorities, leadership requests, funding activities, grant competitions, and stakeholder needs may change rapidly.

The successful candidate will be a detail-oriented and organized planner who is able to anticipate requirements, identify potential scheduling or coordination conflicts, establish workable solutions, and maintain visibility into multiple activities simultaneously.

The Executive Assistant will also help ensure that leadership meetings, decisions, correspondence, and program records are documented accurately and routed appropriately, allowing senior officials to focus their attention on mission, policy, grants administration, recipient performance, and program outcomes.

Position Responsibilities and Day-to-Day Activities

The Executive Assistant is expected to:

• MANAGE complex calendars, appointments, leadership meetings, deadlines, engagements, and competing priorities for designated OCS executives and senior program officials.
• COORDINATE internal and external meetings involving OCS leadership, DCDDP program personnel, Federal partners, contractors, grant recipients, community organizations, and other stakeholders.
• PREPARE agendas, briefing packages, presentations, background materials, talking points, correspondence, participant lists, and related materials in advance of executive meetings and events.
• ORGANIZE executive briefing materials so leadership has accurate, current, and appropriately formatted information before meetings, decisions, presentations, and stakeholder engagements.
• REVIEW high-level documents, correspondence, reports, presentations, memoranda, and other materials for completeness, consistency, grammar, formatting, and readiness for leadership review.
• DRAFT routine executive correspondence, meeting summaries, memoranda, emails, administrative communications, and other documents as assigned.
• PLAN meeting, conference, webinar, workshop, roundtable, and special-event logistics, including scheduling, invitations, participant coordination, facilities or virtual meeting support, materials, and follow-up activities.
• CAPTURE accurate meeting notes, decisions, action items, owners, due dates, issues, and follow-up requirements.
• TRACK executive commitments, suspense items, action items, assignments, correspondence, deadlines, and other leadership requirements through completion.
• FOLLOW UP with responsible staff and stakeholders to obtain information, resolve outstanding administrative actions, and maintain visibility into commitments and deadlines.
• COORDINATE cross-team initiatives requiring participation from multiple DCDDP programs, OCS leadership, Federal offices, contractor personnel, and external partners.
• SUPPORT administrative activities associated with Federal discretionary and demonstration grant programs, including coordination of leadership reviews, grant-related meetings, stakeholder communications, and program documentation.
• MAINTAIN organized electronic records, correspondence files, contact lists, meeting documentation, briefing materials, and other official program information in accordance with established records-management procedures.
• PROTECT sensitive Government, program, recipient, personally identifiable, and other controlled information in accordance with applicable HHS/ACF information-security and privacy requirements.
• COORDINATE document routing, review, approval, and clearance processes to help ensure leadership products move through required workflows efficiently.
• ASSIST with development and maintenance of standard operating procedures, administrative guides, templates, trackers, and internal process documentation supporting program-office operations.
• MONITOR upcoming deadlines, leadership engagements, program milestones, and high-priority actions and proactively alert the appropriate personnel when intervention or follow-up is required.
• LIAISE professionally with Federal staff, contractor personnel, grant recipients, external stakeholders, and partner organizations on administrative and coordination matters.
• SUPPORT leadership and program staff during periods of increased workload, including annual grant competitions, award announcements, program events, leadership briefings, and other time-sensitive initiatives.
• USE Government-approved collaboration, communications, records-management, and productivity tools to organize information, coordinate activities, and support efficient program operations.
• ENSURE assigned documents and electronic products follow applicable accessibility, records-management, privacy, information-security, and organizational formatting requirements.
• IDENTIFY administrative bottlenecks, recurring coordination issues, scheduling conflicts, and inefficient workflows and recommend practical improvements to Ascension management.