Conservation Assistant Jobs in Virginia (NOW HIRING)

Rare inspires change so people and nature thrive. For 50 years, across 60 countries, we have inspired and empowered millions of people and their communities to shift their behaviors and practices to protect our shared planet. We are a global leader in driving social change for people and nature and believe that the cumulative power of individual and community action is a vital pathway to safeguarding and restoring our shared waters, lands, and climate.Rare’s organizational culture is results-oriented, and entrepreneurial, and our global programs cover the thematic areas of climate change, fisheries and marine conservation, sustainable agriculture food security, and Green Recovery.

Project Overview

Rare's Innovative Finance (IF) Team develops and scales financial solutions that mobilize capital for conservation and sustainable development. Working with governments, investors, insurers, philanthropies, and local communities, the team designs innovative financial mechanisms, including impact bonds, blended finance vehicles, parametric insurance products, and outcome-based financing models, that improve livelihoods while protecting nature.

Position Overview

The Executive Assistant, Strategy & Operations provides executive, operational, and strategic coordination support to Rare's Senior Vice President of Innovative Finance while serving as a key member of the Innovative Finance Strategy & Operations Team.

Reporting administratively to the Vice President, Strategy & Operations, this position provides dedicated executive support to the Senior Vice President and operational support across the Innovative Finance leadership team.

The ideal candidate is highly organized, proactive, intellectually curious, and enjoys anticipating needs before they arise. They thrive in dynamic environments, are comfortable managing multiple priorities simultaneously, and enjoy connecting information across projects, partners, and teams to improve decision-making and organizational effectiveness.

Essential Functions

Executive Briefings & Meeting Preparation

• Prepare executive briefing materials in advance of key meetings and events.
• Develop concise stakeholder profiles summarizing previous engagement, strategic context, recent developments, and recommended follow-up actions.
• Coordinate with internal teams to gather presentations, reports, talking points, and background materials.
• Support preparation of presentation materials and meeting agendas.
• Track decisions and action items from leadership meetings as requested and follow up to ensure timely completion.
• Support the Strategy & Operations team's weekly executive briefing process by preparing external stakeholder relationship updates, upcoming engagement summaries, and other leadership intelligence.

Executive Support & Calendar Management

• Monitor the Senior Vice President's calendar across multiple global time zones, balancing competing priorities while anticipating scheduling conflicts.
• Coordinate internal and external meetings with governments, donors, investors, partners, and Rare leadership.
• Prepare comprehensive travel itineraries and briefing materials in advance of trips.
• Coordinate delegated stakeholder communications, scheduling meetings and responding to routine correspondence as requested by the Senior Vice President.

Stakeholder Intelligence & Relationship Management

• Maintain a centralized database of Innovative Finance's key relationships, including governments, donors, investors, implementing partners, consultants, and strategic collaborators.
• Track external meetings conducted across the Innovative Finance leadership team to ensure institutional knowledge is captured and shared.
• Identify connections across countries, projects, and partners that create opportunities for stronger collaboration and coordinated engagement.
• Prepare relationship histories prior to important meetings, including previous discussions, commitments, ongoing initiatives, and recommended next steps.
• Monitor follow-up commitments and help ensure engagement with priority stakeholders.
• Support development of stakeholder engagement plans for major conferences, donor events, and strategic convenings.

Operational Coordination

• Maintain a centralized calendar of grant reporting deadlines, contract deliverables, key milestones, and recurring organizational requirements.
• Coordinate reminders with project leads to ensure timely completion of reporting obligations and contractual commitments.
• Support logistics for annual planning meetings, retreats, leadership meetings, and other Innovative Finance events.
• Coordinate travel logistics for members of the Innovative Finance team as appropriate.
• Assist with procurement requests, consultant onboarding, meeting logistics, and other operational processes.
• Provide administrative support to special initiatives led by the Strategy & Operations Team.

Strategic Projects & Business Development Support

• Conduct preliminary research on potential funding opportunities, conferences, and strategic engagement opportunities identified through public sources.
• Support business development tracking by maintaining proposal calendars, submission deadlines, and key milestones.
• Help coordinate special projects that improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Innovative Finance business unit.
• Identify opportunities to leverage AI and other productivity tools to improve administrative workflows, information management, and team coordination while maintaining appropriate confidentiality.

Experience & Education

The successful candidate will be highly organized, proactive, and comfortable working in a fast-paced international environment with multiple competing priorities. They will possess exceptional judgment, attention to detail, and interpersonal skills, while demonstrating the initiative to solve problems independently and continuously improve how work gets done.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience supporting senior executives, leadership teams, or complex international programs.
• Exceptional organizational and project coordination skills.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously while maintaining outstanding attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively across cultures, countries, and time zones.
• Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to build productive working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Proven ability to handle confidential information with professionalism and discretion.
• Highly proficient with Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Zoom, and virtual collaboration platforms.
• Experience using AI productivity tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Microsoft Copilot, or similar platforms to improve efficiency is highly desirable.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting executives working internationally.
• Experience working with donors, governments, foundations, or international development organizations.
• Experience coordinating international travel and global events.
• Interest in sustainable finance, conservation, climate, international development, or impact investing.

Salary Range

Salary Range: $60,500–$63,000USD gross annually

Actual salary may vary based on experience, skills and location

Applicants must be legally authorized to work on a full-time basis in the country where the position is based. We are unable to provide visa or work authorization sponsorship

Rare is an equal-opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, gender, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic.