The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is seeking an Executive Assistant. IDSA is a community of over 13,000 physicians, scientists and public health experts who specialize in infectious diseases. Our mission is to improve the health of individuals, communities, and society by promoting excellence in patient care, education, research, public health, and prevention relating to infectious diseases.
We are an innovative and dynamic professional association committed to the principles of inclusion, diversity, access, and equity. Our team embodies the following core values:
Member-Centric, Excellence, Respect, Innovation, Teamwork and Trust
The Society is a great place to work! IDSA has a highly competitive total compensation package, offers flexible work, telework arrangements, and our organizational culture is highly rated by staff. Our office is located two blocks from the metro and has a free gym onsite.
The Executive Assistant provides high-level administrative and operational support to the CEO, serving as a trusted partner in managing executive priorities, communications, scheduling, stakeholder engagement, and special projects. This role operates in a fast-paced, highly visible environment and requires professionalism, discretion, sound judgment, and the ability to manage both routine and complex responsibilities with minimal direction. The Executive Assistant coordinates day-to-day executive operations, facilitates activities involving internal and external stakeholders, and contributes to the successful execution of organizational priorities and strategic initiatives.
The ideal candidate is a highly professional and proactive executive support professional with exceptional judgment, emotional intelligence, and organizational skills, capable of independently managing complex priorities while serving as a trusted partner to senior leadership in a fast-paced, high-visibility environment. This individual thrives in dynamic settings involving healthcare, public affairs, advocacy, or government relations and is skilled at building strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders while maintaining the highest level of discretion and professionalism.
Characteristic Essential Responsibilities
Executive Support
- Manages and maintains a complex and rapidly changing executive calendar across internal meetings, external stakeholder engagement, media requests, speaking engagements, travel, and board activities.
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Serves as a strategic partner to the CEO by anticipating scheduling conflicts, operational needs, preparation requirements, and shifting priorities before issues arise.
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Coordinates high-level communications with board members, government officials, healthcare leaders, academic institutions, industry partners, media contacts, and external stakeholders.
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Supports logistics and coordination for national and international travel, including any last-minute changes and high-profile engagements.
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Acts as a gatekeeper and facilitator for the CEO’s time, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities and strategic objectives.
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Provides real-time support during conferences, board meetings, media appearances, public speaking engagements, and stakeholder events as needed.
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Assists with travel support, including securing travel reservations and processing receipts for reimbursement
Operations & Administration
- Prepares and manages briefing materials, meeting agendas, background documents, travel itineraries, talking points, and follow-up actions for executive meetings and appearances.
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Drafts, reviews, and coordinates executive-level correspondence and communications on behalf of the CEO.
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Tracks and monitors key follow-up items, deadlines, and commitments to ensure timely execution and accountability.
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Provides project support and contributes to near-term project success and ongoing organizational initiatives.
Communications, Confidentiality & Stakeholder Relations
- Manages sensitive and confidential information with exceptional judgment, discretion, and professionalism.
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Maintains strong situational awareness of organizational priorities, leadership dynamics, and emerging issues impacting the CEO’s schedule and focus areas.
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Partners closely with senior leadership to coordinate executive meetings, leadership team priorities, board activities, and cross-functional initiatives.
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Exercises sound judgment in prioritizing competing requests and escalating issues appropriately.
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Builds and maintains strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders while representing the CEO and organization with professionalism and diplomacy.
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Performs standardized ongoing duties while also adapting to evolving executive and organizational needs; uses existing policies, procedures, and sound judgment to solve administrative and operational challenges.
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Performs other work-related duties as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications and Experience:
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Bachelor’s degree in relevant area or related field; equivalent professional experience may be considered.
- At least 3 years of executive administrative support experience, preferably in a nonprofit environment
- Detail- and deadline-oriented with the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and priorities.
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Comfortable operating in environments involving public health, healthcare, science, advocacy, media, or government relations.
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Ability to work outside normal business hours when necessary to support travel, media activity, or urgent executive priorities.
Competencies: Knowledge, skills, and abilities
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Executive presence and professionalism with the ability to interact confidently with C-suite executives, physicians, board members, government leaders, media representatives, and external partners.
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Highly proactive with strong anticipation skills and the ability to operate independently with minimal direction.
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Exceptional organizational skills with the ability to independently manage multiple competing priorities and deadlines in a dynamic environment.
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Strong written and verbal communication skills with attention to detail and sound judgment.
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Ability to remain calm, flexible, and solutions-oriented in rapidly changing situations.
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High emotional intelligence, discretion, and political awareness.
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Strong relationship management skills and ability to build trust across internal and external stakeholders.
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Self- motivated, with excellent problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
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Intellectual curiosity and a strong willingness to learn new skills.
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Intermediate proficiency in Microsoft Office suite (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Word and SharePoint); functional knowledge of Adobe Acrobat.
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Proficient with or the ability to quickly learn systems or computer applications.
Travel Requirements
- Must be able to travel up to 5% of the time
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IDWeek
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Annual All Staff Retreat - Summer
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End of year Celebration – December
EEO Statement:
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is an equal opportunity employer and considers all applications without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, disability, socioeconomic status, marital or veteran status. We also welcome those of all abilities and make reasonable accommodations to support successful outcomes for our team members.
