Special Assistant to the Public Advocate

Special Assistant to the Public Advocate

The Public Advocate, an independently elected public official, serves as a direct link between city government and residents, acting as a "watchdog" for New Yorkers. The Public Advocate is a non-voting member of the New York City Council, an ex officio member of all Council committees and introduces and co-sponsors legislation. The Public Advocate serves on various City committees and appoints members to several boards and commissions. The Office of the New York City Public Advocate reviews and investigates residents' complaints about City services and administrative actions, assists people having difficulty receiving City services, assesses whether City agencies are responsive to the public, and recommends legislative or policy proposals to address identified service deficiencies. The Special Assistant serves as direct, on-the-ground support to the Public Advocate, ensuring seamless execution of daily activities, meetings, and public events. Operating as an logistic representative of the Public Advocate, this role requires constant situational awareness, precision, discretion, and the ability to anticipate needs in real time. This role requires a high level of discretion, adaptability, and the ability to handle a wide range of tasks efficiently and professionally. This position is highly visible, fast-paced, and requires the highest level of professionalism, responsiveness, and logistical execution. Responsibilities include accompanying the Public Advocate to meetings, public events, and out-of-city travel; providing on-the-ground "body person" support; managing real-time schedule execution; ensuring the Public Advocate arrives on time and is fully prepared for all meetings and events; delivering concise briefings and ensuring all materials are readily available on-site; coordinating and confirming event logistics; serving as the on-site point of contact for organizers, stakeholders, and internal staff; liaising with security, event staff, and internal teams to support smooth operations; troubleshooting and resolving logistical issues in real time; supporting the Public Advocate's immediate administrative needs throughout the day; tracking and communicating real-time updates, delays, and schedule changes to the Scheduling Team; capturing key takeaways, action items, and follow-ups from all meetings and events; proactively communicating post-event updates and required follow-ups to Scheduling and relevant internal teams; driving follow-up coordination based on the Public Advocate's external interactions; assisting with preparation of briefing materials and ensuring accuracy of event information; representing the Office of the Public Advocate at external meetings and events as needed; greeting and escorting scheduled visitors and stakeholders; serving as backup Advance Associate and providing staffing coverage when needed; providing evening and weekend support, including on-call schedule and administrative tasks for the Public Advocate; and performing additional duties as assigned by the Director of Scheduling and Executive Operation.

Minimum qualifications include a minimum of 2 years experience as personal aide for a C-level executive; a valid New York State driver's license; evening and weekends required, flexibility to travel as needed; exceptional communication skills, high emotional intelligence, and ability to anticipate the needs; ability to work long, irregular hours, including nights and weekends, and travel frequently; expert knowledge of New York City/State venues; GPS systems; ability to process large amounts of information and multitask; thorough knowledge of Google Workspace and Microsoft Office products, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; adaptability, which is required to succeed in a complex and fast-paced Executive Office; strong communication skills to liaise between the Public Advocate and Stakeholders; minimum of an Associate's degree with 2 years of experience working on an administrative team; and familiarity and or experience working with NYC government is preferred.