Executive Assistant

Job Description

Job Description

The Executive Assistant is a confidential administrative staff position that provides office, clerical, scheduling, communications, records, and membership-service support to IAFF Local 1311. The Executive Assistant serves as the President's primary administrative aide and provides support to the entire Executive Board. The Executive Assistant also provides support to standing committees and the general membership by helping Local 1311 maintain organized operations, accurate records, and timely communications.

This is an administrative staff role within a labor organization whose mission is to represent firefighters, paramedics, and emergency medical personnel. The Executive Assistant does not establish union policy, make labor-relations decisions, determine grievance strategy, direct negotiations, or assume fiduciary authority reserved to elected officers unless a specific task is formally delegated under Local 1311 policy.

Mission of the Position

The mission of this position is to strengthen Local 1311’s ability to represent firefighters, paramedics, and emergency medical personnel through dependable administrative support, accurate recordkeeping, responsive membership services, and professional communications. This approach aligns with the IAFF’s mission as a labor union representing firefighters and emergency medical workers and supporting their interests, welfare, and working conditions.

Work Environment

The work environment is primarily an office setting. The position may involve frequent interruptions, competing deadlines, occasional weekend assignments, and interaction with members dealing with stressful workplace issues. The position may also require periodic off-site work for conferences, conventions, charitable functions, meetings, training, outreach events, or other authorized union business.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Essential functions summarize the major recurring responsibilities of the position.

• Serve as Local 1311’s primary administrative support employee and as the President’s primary administrative aide.
• Provide support to the entire Executive Board, standing committees, and general membership.
• Manage daily office operations, including phones, mail, email, calendars, supplies, records, filing systems, and general office workflow.
• Maintain accurate, organized, and confidential membership, meeting, grievance, correspondence, and administrative records in both electronic and paper formats.
• Provide meeting and governance support by preparing notices, packets, agendas, sign-in materials, minutes assistance, and follow-up coordination for Executive Board, membership, and committee meetings.
• Deliver responsive membership services by answering routine inquiries, maintaining databases, assisting with onboarding and offboarding, coordinating routine forms, and routing issues to the appropriate elected officer or representative.
• Support communications, events, and union operations by assisting with newsletters, website or social media updates, retiree communications, training registrations, elections, conferences, conventions, PAC activities, charitable programs, and community outreach.
• Maintain confidentiality at all times regarding grievances, discipline, negotiations, personnel matters, legal issues, financial records, executive session matters, and member data.
• Perform other related duties assigned by authorized elected leadership consistent with the needs of Local 1311.

Minimum Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Demonstrated experience handling confidential or sensitive information.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office or equivalent software, including word processing, spreadsheets, email, and calendaring.
• Ability to prepare professional correspondence, packets, records, and meeting materials with accuracy.
• Strong organizational skills, time management, and attention to detail.
• Strong interpersonal and customer-service skills.
• Ability to work independently while supporting multiple officers, committees, and membership needs.
• Ability to learn membership databases, office procedures, and internal systems quickly.

Preferred Qualifications

• Two years of progressively responsible administrative support experience.
• Experience working in a labor union, nonprofit, public-sector, legal, or membership-based environment.
• Familiarity with IAFF Local Union operations or firefighter/EMS labor organizations.
• Experience supporting grievance administration, bargaining logistics, committee work, or governance meetings.
• Associate or bachelor’s degree in business administration, public administration, human resources, communications, labor studies, or a related field.
• Experience with newsletters, websites, email platforms, social media, or database management.
• Experience coordinating travel, conferences, conventions, or large member events.

 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge of office administration, scheduling, records management, and professional correspondence.
• Knowledge of member-service expectations and the importance of confidentiality in a labor organization.
• Skill in organizing high volumes of information and maintaining accurate records.
• Skill in drafting, proofreading, and formatting documents clearly and professionally.
• Skill in communicating effectively with members, officers, retirees, vendors, and the public.
• Skill in managing multiple priorities, interruptions, and deadlines.
• Ability to remain professional, discreet, and neutral in sensitive situations.
• Ability to distinguish between staff administrative support functions and elected officers’ authority over policy, strategy, bargaining, discipline, and fiduciary matters.
• Ability to follow direction, established procedures, and chain-of-authority expectations.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to perform sedentary to light office work for extended periods.
• Ability to sit, stand, walk, bend, reach, and use hands for standard office tasks.
• Ability to operate computers, telephones, printers, copiers, scanners, and related office equipment.
• Ability to lift and carry office materials, files, or supplies weighing up to 25 pounds occasionally.
• Ability to travel locally to meetings, events, training sites, or the post office as required.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position.

 

Recordkeeping and Confidentiality Requirements

The Executive Assistant occupies a position of trust requiring sound judgment, professionalism, and strict confidentiality. The position may have access to sensitive information including grievances, disciplinary matters, negotiations materials, legal correspondence, personnel issues, financial records, member contact data, executive session discussions, and other confidential union records.

The Executive Assistant is expected to:

• Maintain complete, accurate, and organized records.
• Follow all Local and International policies concerning confidentiality, records retention, privacy, cybersecurity, and access control.
• Limit disclosure of confidential information to authorized individuals with a legitimate business need to know.
• Secure paper files, passwords, devices, databases, and archived records against unauthorized access.
• Refrain from discussing confidential matters outside authorized settings.
• Report suspected data breaches, records loss, or unauthorized disclosures immediately.

Disclaimer

This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by an employee in this position. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications. Additional detailed duty statements, frequency-based tasks, and optional policy provisions may be maintained in attached appendices or separate personnel policies and are incorporated by reference when adopted by the Executive Board. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may be changed, added, deleted, or reassigned at any time by the President consistent with the needs of Local 1311.

Nothing in this job description authorizes the Executive Assistant to determine grievance outcomes, establish bargaining proposals, direct legal strategy, make official policy decisions, or assume fiduciary responsibilities assigned to elected officers.