Journalist Assistant Jobs in Silver Spring, MD (NOW HIRING)

Reports to: Executive Director, with close collaboration with the Deputy Director and Director of Growth

Location: Washington, D.C., with a hybrid remote and in-office arrangement. Ability to commute to AAJA’s Washington, D.C. headquarters at least twice a week strongly preferred.

Travel: Occasional travel may be required.

Pay Type: Salary, Non-Exempt

Expected Pay Range: $57,000-70,000

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a membership nonprofit advancing diversity in newsrooms and ensuring fair and accurate coverage of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

AAJA seeks a highly organized and dependable Executive and Administrative Assistant to support the Executive Director, Deputy Director, and the organization’s day-to-day administrative and office operations.

As a key member of a small, collaborative team, this position will help keep AAJA’s leadership, financial processes, office systems, and internal workflows organized and moving forward. The Executive and Administrative Assistant will work closely with the Deputy Director and AAJA’s accountant on invoicing, expense documentation, credit card reconciliation, vendor accounts, and other administrative and operational needs such as CRM maintenance.

This is an ideal opportunity for an early-career professional with one to two years of relevant experience who is eager to strengthen their administrative, nonprofit operations, and executive-support skills.

THE CANDIDATE

We seek a mission-oriented, collaborative, and resourceful individual who takes pride in being organized, responsive, and thorough.

The successful candidate will have an all-hands-on-deck attitude and be comfortable supporting multiple leaders and priorities. They can anticipate needs, ask thoughtful questions, manage recurring tasks, maintain confidential information, and follow assignments through to completion.

This person does not need to know every system on day one, but they must be willing to learn, document processes, and take increasing ownership of their responsibilities. Strong attention to detail, sound judgment, and clear communication are essential.

The candidate should possess a commitment to AAJA’s mission and to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in journalism and the broader media industry.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

You believe in the role of journalism and storytelling in advancing our communities and understand the importance of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community and movement building.

You thrive in a collaborative work environment but are also comfortable working independently and managing recurring responsibilities without constant supervision.

You are communicative, dependable, and willing to take initiative. You understand that administrative work is essential to a well-functioning organization and approach both routine and unexpected tasks with professionalism and care.

You are comfortable working with a range of stakeholders, including staff, board members, vendors, members, volunteers, and organizational partners.

EXPECTATIONS

• Excellent judgment, professionalism, discretion, and interpersonal skills
• Strong organizational and time-management skills
• Ability to manage multiple assignments, deadlines, and recurring workflows
• Strong attention to detail and consistent follow-through
• Clear and professional written and verbal communication
• Ability to handle confidential financial, personnel, and organizational information
• Comfort working with invoices, receipts, expense records, and basic financial documentation
• Ability to identify missing information, discrepancies, or incomplete documentation
• Experience working remotely and collaborating across teams
• Ability to navigate ambiguity, adapt quickly, and ask for clarification when needed
• Process-oriented mindset and willingness to document and improve administrative systems
• Ability to receive and implement feedback constructively
• Commitment to responsive and service-oriented support

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• One to two years of administrative, executive-support, office-management, nonprofit, finance, or related experience
• Experience supporting senior leadership or multiple team members
• Experience processing invoices, reviewing expenses, reconciling credit card activity, or maintaining financial records
• Experience with CRM preferred (AAJA uses MemberSuite)
• Familiarity with nonprofit organizations, membership associations, or small-team environments
• Experience with Google Workspace, including Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, and Sheets
• Familiarity with accounting, expense-management, banking, or vendor-payment systems
• Experience with project-management tools such as Asana
• Familiarity with Zoom and virtual meeting administration
• Experience maintaining digital filing systems, shared drives, and internal documentation
• A passion for journalism, media, nonprofit operations, or Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Executive Support

• Provide administrative support to the Executive Director and AAJA staff leadership
• Assist with scheduling, calendar coordination, email communications, meeting preparation, and follow-up.
• Coordinate internal and external meetings, including invitations, agendas, materials, technology, and logistics.
• Help leadership track deadlines, outstanding requests, and action items
• Draft, format, proofread, and organize correspondence, documents, presentations, and internal materials.
• Maintain discretion when handling confidential or sensitive information.
• Support board, committee, and leadership meetings as assigned.

Financial and Administrative Operations

• Work closely with the Deputy Director and accountant to support accurate and timely financial administration.
• Receive, review, organize, and route invoices for approval and payment.
• Confirm that invoices contain the necessary documentation, coding, approvals, and payment information.
• Review and reconcile organizational credit card activity during each billing cycle.
• Collect receipts, identify missing documentation, flag discrepancies, and help prepare credit card activity for reconciliation.
• Maintain organized electronic records of invoices, receipts, reimbursements, contracts, and payment documentation.
• Assist with staff, board, member, and vendor reimbursement requests.
• Track the status of invoices, payments, reimbursements, and outstanding documentation.
• Support vendor onboarding and maintenance of vendor records.
• Maintain access to vendor portals and organizational accounts, including coordinating logins and securely documenting account information.
• Assist with basic financial reports, spreadsheets, data entry, and recordkeeping.
• Communicate professionally with vendors and internal stakeholders regarding invoices, payments, documentation, and administrative questions.

Office and Organizational Support

• Support the day-to-day operation of AAJA’s Washington, D.C. office.
• Coordinate mail, deliveries, supplies, equipment, and other office needs.
• Maintain organized shared drives, files, templates, contact lists, and administrative records.
• Help document recurring processes and create checklists and standard operating procedures.
• Assist with staff onboarding and offboarding logistics, including accounts, equipment, files, and administrative materials.
• Help maintain organizational subscriptions, renewals, accounts, and service-provider information.
• Support travel arrangements, meeting logistics, event preparation, and occasional onsite activities.
• Respond to general administrative inquiries and route requests to the appropriate team member.
• Provide additional administrative and operational support during AAJA’s annual convention, programs, awards, scholarships, elections, and other major initiatives.
• Perform other duties as assigned in support of AAJA’s mission and organizational needs.