Executive Assistant, Strategic Initiatives

Executive Assistant, Strategic Initiatives

San Francisco, CA

Founded in 1993 by Stuart Shiff, DivcoWest, a DivCore Capital company, is a vertically integrated, real estate investment firm headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Cambridge, Los Angeles, Menlo Park, Washington DC, Austin, and New York City. Known for long-standing relationships and experience across the risk-spectrum in innovation markets, DivcoWest combines entrepreneurial spirit with an institutional approach to commercial real estate. DivcoWest aims to create environments that inspire ingenuity, promote growth, and enhance health and well-being. Since inception, DivcoWest and its predecessor have acquired approximately 66.2 million square feet of commercial space - primarily throughout the United States. DivcoWest's real estate portfolio currently includes existing and development properties in the office, R&D, lab, industrial, digital, retail, and multifamily spaces.

Summary

We are seeking an Executive Assistant, Strategic Initiatives, to serve as a highly proactive partner to the Chief People Officer. This role combines sophisticated executive support with project management and operational follow-through across a broad portfolio of priorities. The Executive Assistant will create leverage for the CPO by managing complex logistics, creating visibility across commitments, organizing initiatives, and ensuring that important work moves from discussion to completion.

This is a hands-on role. Core responsibilities include calendar management, end-to-end travel planning, and meeting coordination, as well as ownership of project plans, trackers, executive briefings, and process improvement initiatives. The successful candidate will be equally comfortable handling detailed administrative execution and stepping back to identify what matters most, what is at risk, and what needs to happen next.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage a complex executive calendar, including scheduling, prioritization and conflict
• Understand the purpose and importance of meetings so calendar decisions reflect business priorities.
• Plan and coordinate domestic travel, including flights, hotels, ground transportation, reservations, itineraries, and contingency planning.
• Coordinate internal and external meetings, including scheduling, locations, materials, technology, catering, and follow-up logistics, as needed.
• Prepare and submit accurate, timely expense reports; efficiently resolve reimbursement issues.
• Provide coverage for other Executive Assistant team members during vacations or other absences.
• Provide daily and weekly briefings on upcoming meetings, deadlines, decisions, and any other items needing attention.
• Review the calendar in advance and determine what materials are needed for the executive to be fully prepared.
• Create meeting agendas, talking points, decision summaries, and other materials that allow the executive to quickly understand the purpose, history, participants, and desired outcome of a
• Maintain a reliable system for tracking commitments, decisions, delegated work, follow-ups, and due dates across meetings and workstreams.
• Translate discussions into clear action items, owners, and timelines, and drive follow-through.
• Manage executive-sponsored projects from inception to completion, creating workplans, trackers, and status updates.
• Coordinate and maintain visibility across key priorities, including KPIs, talent assessments, and strategic offsites.
• Partner with project owners and stakeholders to clarify deliverables, set timelines, and keep work moving.
• Support annual and quarterly planning, including organizing inputs, documenting decisions, tracking commitments, and preparing progress updates.
• Take ownership of additional relevant projects, flexing between project leadership, coordination, analysis, and execution.
• Produce executive-ready presentations, reports, memos, dashboards, meeting documents, talking points, and communications with accuracy and polish.
• Gather, organize, and synthesize information from multiple sources into concise, decision-useful summaries, distinguishing facts, open questions, risks, and recommended next steps.
• Maintain project reporting tool, ensure information is current, and follow up with owners when updates are missing or incomplete.
• Develop templates and reports that improve consistency, transparency, and the executive's ability to quickly understand the status of important work.
• Identify opportunities to simplify administrative and operational processes, reduce manual work, improve handoffs, and create clear ownership across recurring workflows.
• Document and maintain processes, checklists, templates, and playbooks that support consistent execution and continuity.
• Evaluate, coordinate, and implement new tools, technology platforms and AI-enabled solutions that improve productivity or organizational effectiveness.
• Manage platform implementation, including requirements gathering, stakeholder coordination, issue resolution, and adoption follow-through.
• Build strong working relationships across the organization and adapt communication, follow-up, and escalation to the situation.
• Handle sensitive business and organizational information with exceptional discretion and care.
• Represent the Chief People Officer with professionalism and good judgment, while understanding when to act independently, when to consult, and when to escalate.

Qualifications

• 7-9 years of experience in executive support, project/program management, operations, or a related role.
• Demonstrated experience supporting a senior executive in a fast-paced, high-accountability environment, with ownership of calendaring, travel planning, meeting preparation, and expense management.
• Exceptional project management and organizational capability, including management of multiple workstreams, deadlines, stakeholders, and details.
• Strong executive-function skills: anticipation, prioritization, sequencing, and follow-through
• Excellent written communication; experience creating polished presentations, reports, briefing materials, and executive summaries.
• Ability to synthesize incomplete or complex information and develop practical recommendations.
• High degree of discretion and professionalism when handling confidential, sensitive, or high-stakes information.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft 365 suite; passion for new technology and productivity tools.
• Ability to work in the San Francisco office 4 days a week and provide occasional support outside standard business hours when travel, time zones, or urgent priorities require it.

The person in this position must be able to:

• Remain in a stationary position 75% of the time working on a computer and attending in-person or virtual meetings.
• Occasionally move about the office to access meeting rooms and other work
• Travel occasionally for company meetings, offsites, or other business

Compensation

• $120,000 - $130,000
• Annual bonus opportunity
• Full benefits
• 401k match
• Flexible vacation policy
• Weekly lunch stipend