Staff Assistant II

PCI Government Services LLC Washington DC, District of Columbia, United States Admin/Clerical/Secretarial

About this position

Staff Assistant II

Essential Duties and Responsibilities
  • The incumbent will support senior office leadership in their management of SPEHA staff, policies and procedures.
  • At the direction of the Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff and other senior personnel, the incumbent will manage day-to-day affairs of the office and be prepared to liaise with key US and foreign government hostage affairs personnel and the families of those wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad.
  • This position shall review documents and incoming mail, paper and electronic, for content to assign appropriate action/distribution within the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs and shall track and ensure timely action by staff and/or the Special Presidential Envoy.
  • This position manages activities, meetings, and conferences, oversees domestic and international travel arrangements, and budgeting for conference expenditures and travel.
  • The incumbent assists SPEHA staff in coordinating the production of information and materials (e.g., written policy guidance, strategy, information and action memoranda, texts of speeches and articles, congressional testimony, talking points, and background information related to negotiations or other efforts in resolving problematic interagency or international relationships).
  • This position may also be required to travel. Receive and makes the appropriate disposition of a high volume of incoming requests from officials in and outside the Department for meetings, conferences, speaking engagements, and attendance at major public forums. Coordinates such requests with relevant staff to ensure timely action is taken on all requests.
  • Ensures that appropriate material requiring action is brought to the attention of the Special Presidential Envoy. Likewise ensures that information and guidance emanating from the Special Presidential Envoy is promptly conveyed to the other staff.
  • Prioritizes tasking requests for memoranda and other information in accordance with directives of the Department's Executive Secretariat and under appropriate Government supervision.
  • Tracks and monitors the status of memoranda and correspondence within the office.
  • Review all outgoing documents for proper format, consistency, grammatical accuracy, completeness, and alacrity, makes necessary directions or returns to originator for changes.
  • Tracks and alerts SPEHA personnel of overdue items, upcoming deadlines, the priority of issues and format of materials required for the Office's mission in accordance with Department of State Regulations and under appropriate Government supervision.
  • This position manages specific tasks as part of the mental health reimbursement program, including maintaining correspondence with family members and returnees to help facilitate their mental health reimbursements, processing receipts, and maintaining the spreadsheet of all reimbursement records. Advises on the restructuring of this reimbursement program as SPEHA changes funding streams for this program.
  • Assists with SPEHA's Family Travel Program, including communicating with families regarding their travel plans, liaising with the travel agency POC to ensure necessary travel and logistics arrangements are in place for families, and assisting families in checking out of their hotels (including managing reimbursement, getting the necessary receipts, etc.).
  • This position ensures the appropriate preparatory steps are taken on current wrongful detention cases, including ensuring passports are in the office safe and copies of Real IDs for family members are on file as well as any other preparatory steps and records management, as required.
  • Tracks which returnees the SPEHA Family Engagement Team is due to speak with next in order to maintain appropriate support over the 5 years after each individual is released from captivity.
  • Establishes and maintains SOPs regarding the contract for returnee health insurance to ensure full support for returnees.
  • Tracks and manages data related to co-payments, insurance plans, and other costs and issues related to the program.
Education and Qualifications
Education
  • Minimum Education: Bachelors preferred or Associates in Office Administration accepted with two years of specific experience having performed these duties.
  • Minimum/General Experience: Four years Office Management/Executive Assistant experience
Qualifications
  • Must be a U.S. citizen and possess or be able to obtain/maintain a SECRET clearance.
  • The incumbent must work with minimal supervision and deal directly and effectively with senior officials of the Department and interagency management.
  • A thorough knowledge of the organizational structure of the State Department and the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs as well as the role of each SPEHA staff person combined with comprehensive understanding of the paper flow process to/from the Executive Secretariat, the Secretariat, the Operations Center and the 7th floor Principals is required.
  • Ability to perform the following tasks under the conditions described: Assignments involve simultaneous processing of numerous and different responsibilities and tasking within stringent deadlines. Challenges include meeting deadlines without compromising quality control standards.
  • Document review, distribution, and processing require general substantive understanding of the subject matter and the priority attached to the subject matter by the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs and Department principal officials. Shifting priorities, breakdowns in communication and the inaccessibility of key signatories often obscure courses of action. Decisions must be made concerning the acceptability of bypassing normally essential requirements in situations where streamlining the process is necessary.

Salary Information

$112,027.62 - $112,027.62