Travel Specialist & Administrative Assistant

Travel Specialist & Administrative Assistant

OPERATIONS

ABOUT NIA TERO

Nia Tero is a global bridging organization that brings Indigenous Peoples and allies together to advance what we call Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship. Our partnerships with Indigenous Peoples’ are explicitly structured to honor self-determination, respect time-honed knowledge and ways of being and build trust while upholding the sacred value of reciprocity. To achieve this, we work in solidarity with Indigenous peoples to safeguard their ancestral thriving territories and ways of being, collaborating on essential global efforts towards a vibrant and habitable future Earth.

• Our vision is that Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship is enabled everywhere possible on Earth as part of a just and vibrant future.
• Our mission is to directly support Indigenous Peoples’ guardianship and elevate the role and influence of Indigenous Peoples as essential to ensuring planetary health and habitability.

Our team is international and based across South America, the Pacific Islands, Asia, and North America, with a large contingent at our Seattle headquarters. We speak many languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and a wide range of Indigenous Peoples’ languages.

Nia Tero is in year two of our five-year strategy and is seeking candidates who thrive in a fast-paced environment, adapts quickly to change, and seeks to strengthen the impact of a mission-driven organization.

POSITION SUMMARY

Reporting to the Senior Director, Operations the Travel Specialist & Administrative Assistant provides organization-wide travel coordination and administrative support to ensure Nia Tero’s Executive Leadership, Board members, Advisory Council members, partners, donors, and guests are supported with care, precision, and cultural sensitivity. This role coordinates complex domestic and international travel and logistics across multiple time zones and geographies, including travel to remote locations.

The Travel Specialist & Administrative Assistant serves as a central coordination point for travel-related systems, processes, and communications, helping staff and external travelers navigate logistics smoothly and in alignment with Nia Tero’s values, policies, and mission. This role requires a proactive, service-oriented, and highly organized person who can balance detailed execution with relationship-centered support. The successful candidate will be comfortable managing confidential information, responding to changing needs, communicating clearly across cultures, and collaborating closely with Executive Assistants, Operations, Finance, Development, Programs, and other teams. In all areas of work the role will be rooted in our organizational values and strategy.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Travel Coordination and Logistics

• Coordinate complex domestic and international travel for Executive Leadership, Board members, Advisory Council members, donors, partners, consultants, and invited guests, ensuring seamless and thoughtful logistics from planning through completion.
• Support meeting and event logistics connected to travel including arranging flights, lodging, ground transportation, itineraries, agendas, meeting locations, accessibility needs, and other travel details with accuracy, care, and attention to traveler preferences and organizational policy.
• Support international travel readiness, including tracking entry requirements, letters of invitation, vaccination or health documentation when applicable, and coordination of timelines for approvals and submissions.
• Prepare and share traveler-facing materials such as itineraries, travel packets, destination information, lodging details, ground transportation instructions, emergency contact information, and meeting logistics, and cultural protocol guide.
• Attend to and anticipate travel contingencies, including schedule changes, delays, cancellations, safety considerations, and remote or rural destination logistics; proactively recommend solutions and communicate updates to travelers and relevant stakeholders.
• Serve as a central resource for travel-related questions, processes, vendor coordination, and organizational travel practices, helping improve clarity and consistency across teams.
• Maintain accurate travel records, itineraries, approvals, emergency contacts, vendor information, and documentation in appropriate systems such as SharePoint, Outlook, Excel, Salesforce/CRM, or other platforms.
• Identify opportunities to improve traveler experience, reduce administrative burden, strengthen risk awareness and duty of care practices, and create clearer processes for staff and external travelers.

Administrative Support

• Assist with internal and external scheduling across teams, regions, and time zones to support travel planning, meeting readiness, and coordination of key engagements.
• Complete or support expense reports, travel reconciliations, invoice tracking, reimbursement documentation, and budget coding in partnership with Finance and travelers.
• Maintain and improve travel workflows, forms, templates, tracking tools, and shared calendars to support timely planning, approvals, communication, and follow-through.

PEOPLE AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

This position will not directly supervise anyone or have direct financial oversight. The position requires discretion, cultural sensitivity and sound judgement. The role will coordinate and build relationships with travel vendors, hotels, transportation providers, consultants, and internal staff to support timely and accurate execution of travel-related work.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education and Experience Requirements*

• Three or more years of experience in travel coordination, executive support, operations, event logistics, administrative coordination, nonprofit administration, or a related field.
• Two or more years of experience supporting C-level executives, preferably in a global non-profit organization.
• Lived experience working directly with Indigenous Peoples and communities and demonstrated understanding about issues and challenges facing Indigenous Peoples and communities.
• Demonstrated success working with nonprofit organizations, non-governmental or other mission driven entities, preferable within global, environmental, Indigenous rights sectors.
• Demonstrated experience arranging complex domestic and international travel, including flights, lodging, ground transportation, itineraries, visa documentation, and contingency planning.
• Experience working across multiple time zones, cultures, and geographies with diverse internal and external partners.
• Experience supporting travel for Executives, Board members, donors, partners, community leaders, or other senior stakeholders is strongly preferred.
• Experience with expense reporting, invoice tracking, travel documentation, calendar coordination, and process improvement.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, and Teams; familiarity with Adobe Acrobat, CRM systems, travel platforms, and project management tools such as Asana is preferred.

*A combination of education, training, and experience which has provided theoretical and practical knowledge will be evaluated for equivalency.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Strong organizational skills that reflect the ability to perform and prioritize multiple tasks seamlessly, with excellent attention to detail.
• Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to respond tactfully and diplomatically with a wide range of global leaders, executives, and community members.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills in English
• Demonstrated proactive approaches to independent problem-solving and the ability to execute workplans.
• Proven ability to handle confidential information with discretion, adapt to various competing demands, and demonstrate the highest level of service.
• Experience working in global settings, multiple time zones, and diverse internal and external partners from a wide range of cultures and backgrounds.
• Expert proficiency with Microsoft Office; ability to design and edit graphic presentations and materials.

Ideal:

• Proficiency in multiple languages
• Working knowledge of a CRM system

WORKING CONDITIONS AND TRAVEL

This full-time position is based in Seattle, WA or Honolulu, Hawai’i with the flexibility to work evenings and weekend hours as needed. Occasional day and night domestic travel and some international travel is a potential (up to 25%).

Physical Requirements:

• Visually or otherwise identify, observe, and assess distance, color and depth; Required to regularly communicate with others and exchange accurate information.
• Able to operate a computer and other office productivity equipment; able to remain stationary at a computer for extended periods of time and move around his/her assigned workspace.

The salary for this position is USD $85,336-$100,000 based on experience. Our compensation program is U.S. based and pay ranges are representative of compensation in the U.S. market. For positions outside of the U.S., pay rates are determined based on the applicable local regional market. This is a full-time 12-month term position and qualifies for healthcare benefits (medical, dental and vision), 401K and paid time off (including vacation leave, sick leave, and personal days).

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