Special Assistant

Starling Institute; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 55,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Retirement plan

Job summary

The Starling Institute seeks a hands-on Special Assistant to support the CEO and Deputy Director, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks and projects stay on schedule. You’ll handle calendar coordination, travel planning, and communications, while learning how leadership shapes engagement with governments, NGOs, and funders.

This NYC-based role requires 3 days in person and some travel. You’ll manage events, retreats, and logistical details end-to-end, from venue research to AV checks and

Qualifications

• 1–3 years of relevant experience in executive support, events, or operations.
• Highly organized, proactive, and attentive to detail.
• Comfort with numbers and basic finance tools (QuickBooks Online, expense platforms).

Responsibilities

• Provide executive support to CEO and Deputy Director.
• Coordinate events, retreats, and travel logistics end-to-end.
• Manage day-to-day operations and assist with basic accounting tasks.

Skills

Executive support

Events logistics

Operations management

Tools

QuickBooks Online

Expense platforms

Job description

The Starling Institute builds networks of champion states, think tanks, and NGOs and works with them to more effectively navigate and change the multilateral system together. We aim to make change through practice, by modeling the kind of culture and processes that we’d like to see in effective systems. We believe that means fostering cultures of connection, belonging, generosity—and especially, excellence—within the team and among our many partners.

We are hiring a Special Assistant to support our CEO and Deputy Director and make our work possible. Commitments made to governments, partners and funders are only kept when someone follows through after every conversation. Retreats in Oxford and Bogotá do not happen without someone tracking RSVPs, confirming AV setups, and catching the missing detail three weeks out. Neither does the steady administrative spine of a growing institute. We need someone organized, curious, quick, flexible and ready to grow.

Join us if you’re ready to be part of a dynamic team that focuses equally on ideas and action, and has unparalleled networks, a startup spirit, and a deep commitment to solving problems.

What you’ll do

Executive support

Work directly with our CEO, alongside her scheduler, to keep her week on track and follow through on the commitments that come out of each conversation. You'll learn how she thinks and what she needs before she asks, and you'll be the person who makes sure nothing falls through the cracks. It's a front-row seat to how the Institute works with governments, the UN, and funders.

Events logistics.

Support events, retreats and convenings logistics end-to-end — venue research, contract negotiation and tracking, travel bookings / work with travel agencies, menu coordination, AV checks, on-site logistics. Manage invitation processes for groups of 20 to 80 people, track RSVPs, follow-up cadence, dietary needs, and schedule changes. Do the anticipatory thinking that catches a missing visa application three weeks out.

Operations.

Run day-to-day administrative work in support of the Deputy Director: team scheduling, expense reports, vendors and contracts follow-up, and office/ systems upkeeping. You own our transactional finance operations: processing payments and bills, uploading and coding receipts withbill.com and QuickBooks Online, monitoring accounts and flagging anything unusual, and preparing clean handoffs to our external accountant.

Who you are

You have one to three years of relevant experience — executive support, events, operations/administration, or a hands-on role at a small organization where you wore many hats. You are organized to a fault, you write clean emails, and you ask the second and third question before assuming, and you follow-up promptly and meticulously.

You are comfortable with numbers and systems. You have used or can quickly master tools like QuickBooks Online, and expense platforms; you reconcile to the penny and never let a payment slip. You don't need to be an accountant (we have one), but you'll be the reliable hands on our day-to-day finances.

You bring a global perspective. You have worked internationally, studied abroad, lived across cultures, or built a career adjacent to global affairs. You do not need to be a policy expert, but you need to read a room that contains a former minister, a UN official, and a foundation program officer. Names and titles matter. Small details signal respect.

You are discreet. Much of what we work on is sensitive, and you treat that as the default rather than something you toggle on.

You want to grow. This role is structured with a clear path to grow within the organization as you build the track record. You like learning, you take feedback well, and you want to be part of building something.

NYC-based or NYC-commutable. At least 3 days in person required. Some travel — domestic and international — for retreats and convenings.

Compensation and structure

This is a full-time employee position. Compensation is $55,000–65,000 depending on experience. Eligibility for benefits (health, retirement). The role combines executive support, operations and events, with the balance shifting across programming cycles.

Applications must be authorized to work in the United States. We are unable to sponsor visas for this position.