Executive Assistant to the President & CEO, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank
Location: PIttsburgh, PA
Type: Full Time
Min. Experience: Experienced
The Organization
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank leverages the power of community to achieve lasting solutions to hunger and its root causes
In June 1980, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank (the Food Bank) opened its doors in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. The organization came at a time of great change in southwestern Pennsylvania. The once-thriving steel industry, which had been in a slow, steady decline for nearly 30 years, began to rapidly deteriorate during the early 1980s. In January 1983, the region’s unemployment rate hit 18.2 percent leaving 212,000 people unemployed. The collapse of our region’s economy built on mills and mines devastated people who suddenly had no income, no way to pay their bills and no way to feed themselves or their families. The Food Bank was there to not only provide food assistance, but to help people get back on their feet.
Today, the Food Bank works with a network of 1,000+ partners across 11 counties. In Allegheny County alone, over 155,000 individuals were served in 2024 by the Food Bank. With a variety of programs such as an onsite pantry, drive-in and walk-up distribution events, senior boxes, and school programs for kids and teens, the Food Bank is actively engaged in stabilizing lives and confronting issues of chronic hunger, poor nutrition and health. And, through its advocacy efforts, the Food Bank has become a primary driver in comprehensive anti-hunger endeavors regionally, statewide and at the national level.
In order to be a more innovative and flexible organization that listens to and understands its community and adapts its services to meet the need, the Food Bank abides by the following values:
- Respect & Dignity: We provide an inclusive and welcoming Food Bank environment that shows compassion and empathy, enables choice and promotes equity.
- Integrity: We promote a transparent and trustworthy atmosphere that follows strong ethical and moral principles.
- Collaboration: We achieve our vision and mission through teamwork, community engagement and co-creation.
- Excellence: We deliver innovative and efficient service at the highest quality, ensuring impact in our community.
For more information, please visit: https://pittsburghfoodbank.org/
The Opportunity
The Food Bank seeks an independent and proactive Executive Assistant to the President & CEO (CEO) to provide essential support to the CEO in a fast-paced, high-impact environment. Serving as the primary liaison to the Board of Directors, Executive Team, and key stakeholders, the Executive Assistant manages executive scheduling, correspondence, project coordination, and governance support. This role demands a high level of discretion, detail, and alignment with the Food Bank’s mission and values.
The Executive Assistant is primarily responsible for the following:
President & CEO Support
- Serve as principal administrative contact and liaison with all Food Bank constituents and external contacts, facilitating strong relationships between the CEO and key stakeholders.
- Ensure smooth day-to-day operations by providing superior calendar management, prioritizing inquiries and requests, troubleshooting conflicts, and making appropriate judgments and recommendations.
- Serve as a representative of the CEO and the Food Bank by welcoming visitors, queuing up communications, and positioning the CEO for success by optimizing the impact of their time.
- Assist CEO with meeting scheduling and set-up, contact management, meeting preparation and follow-up, and miscellaneous special projects. Spearhead preparation and setup including meal/food requests, room reservations, overnight accommodations, AV equipment, etc.
- Proactively develop and collect information to support the CEO’s initiatives, meetings and response to key issues.
- Exercise judgement in triaging issues, decisions and actions to determine which items need CEO attention and which are more appropriately managed by the Executive Team.
- Ensure appropriate follow-up to all meetings involving the CEO.
External Relations
- Coordinate and manage logistics of all Board of Directors, Board Committee, Donor and Advocacy meetings as needed including attendance, materials preparation, and minutes.
- Manage usage of Board portal to store Board documents, share information and resources, and facilitate communication with Board members.
- Coordinate Board member onboarding, orientations, training, and presentations, including scheduling, confirming, and appropriate follow-up.
- Execute event planning for Board functions, including management of vendors, and execution of event timeline in coordination with staff.
Office Administration
- Manage confidential information with discretion and care, ensuring the privacy and respect of employees, volunteers, partners, donors and other.
- Function as the primary point of contact for various staff meetings, including assisting with and sending agendas, planning for future agendas, scheduling speakers, and ensuring appropriate communication in advance of and follow-up from meetings.
- Draft various presentations and key correspondence as needed.
- Work with External Affairs to coordinate prepared comments and arrange for staffing support for meetings or events.
- Close organizational communication gaps and provide follow-up support and guidance in partnership with the Executive Team.
The Candidate
The Executive Assistant to the President & CEO at the Food Bank is a front-facing and critical role that requires a candidate with exceptional organizational, communication, and strategic skills to facilitate high-level administrative functions, manage executive priorities, and coordinate critical initiatives across departments. The successful candidate will be trustworthy and collaborative, capable of meeting the administrative and logistical needs of the CEO’s office while coordinating with the organization at large.
All candidates should possess a combination of the following skills and attributes:
- Demonstrated passion for and commitment to the Food Banks’s mission and vision.
- Educational background that supports the required skills and competencies.
- Ability to be proactive to ensure smooth functioning of and communications with the Board of Directors, Donors, employees and other internal and external constituents.
- High attention to detail and organizational skills.
- Ability to multitask and prioritize between competing needs, can manage multiple projects and meet critical deadlines.
- Excellent follow-up and responsiveness to requests.
- Ability to professionally represent the Food Bank to the public and other external stakeholders.
- Skilled at working cooperatively and effectively with others; participates as a member of the team and works towards common goals to reach desired results.
- Excellent written and high level of intrapersonal and verbal communication skills.
- Discretion in handling confidential information and a strong commitment to ethical practice.
- Comfortable using and learning a variety of technologies.
Compensation and Workplace Environment
This position offers a competitive salary range of $75,000 - $90,000 and a progressive benefits package that includes healthcare, retirement and time-off. The Executive Assistant is a full-time, in-office position.
How to Apply
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank has retained Nonprofit Talent to assist with this important organizational change process. Specific questions related to the position may be emailed to Michelle Pagano Heck, President, at [email protected]. Please direct all inquiries related to this position to Nonprofit Talent, and do not contact Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
Resume, position-specific cover letter, and salary expectations can be uploaded via this web portal.
Applications are due on April 4, 2025
About Nonprofit Talent
Nonprofit Talent is a boutique executive search firm with a deep understanding of the nuanced cultural and financial landscape of the nonprofit and philanthropic community. We know the organizations and the people that commit to the sector. Our candidates, through regional and targeted national recruitment, frequently come from the same communities as our clients. We firmly believe in uplifting the extraordinary talent of our region in addition to seeking out new and vibrant talent through national networks.
