The Executive Assistant will be responsible for providing administrative support to the Director, the Deputy Director, General Counsel, and to a limited extent other executive staff in their overall planning, development, and management of PDS’s operations. In addition to handling correspondence and telephone calls; scheduling and managing appointments and visitors; and word processing.

The Executive Assistant will:

• Serve as the primary administrative liaison between the Director and internal division chiefs, external partners, and community stakeholders.
• Manage the Director’s daily calendar, prioritizing appointments and resolving scheduling conflicts independently.
  
• Screen incoming correspondence, telephone calls, and visitors, routing inquiries to appropriate staff or handling them directly.
  
• Organize, track, and manage the workflow of correspondence and any high-profile public communications using a manual process and/or automated document management software.
  
• Assist the Special Counsel to the Director and the Chief Financial Officer with incorporating edits, properly formatting and distributing budget estimates, congressional budget justifications and other strategic documents.
  
• Coordinate travel arrangements, prepare detailed itineraries, and processes travel authorizations and reimbursements using automated federal travel systems (e.g., Concur/E-Gov Travel Service).
  
• Generate and/or track procurement transactions on behalf of the Director using purchase orders or the PDS credit card.
  
• Retrieve and format reporting data from PDS’s computerized case tracking system.
  
• Provide basic litigation support to the General Counsel, formatting documents for filing, electronically filing pleadings, and electronically tracking case events and filing deadlines.
  
• Research, summarize, and analyze information to prepare briefing materials, background notes, and talking points for the Director.
  
• Review incoming documents requiring the Director’s signature to ensure accuracy, compliance with policies, and completeness.
  
• Track action items and deadlines assigned by the Director to division heads, ensuring timely completion and follow-up.
  
• Manage automated time and attendance reporting for the executive office, ensuring timely submission to the Office of Human Resources.
  
• Initiate and track executive-level procurement actions, processing requisitions and supply requests through automated federal purchasing platforms.
  
• Plan and coordinate logistics for executive-level meetings, board of trustees’ meetings, and agency-wide conferences.
  
• Draft, edit, and finalize complex memoranda, policy drafts, agendas, and minutes on behalf of the executive office.
  
• Periodically provide limited support to other PDS divisions as needed.
• Establish, maintain, and update confidential executive files, databases, and historical records.
  
• Control the dissemination of sensitive or privileged information in strict compliance with legal ethics and agency guidelines.
  
• Provide support to the General Counsel in renewals of bar membership for agency attorneys and professional liability insurance.
  
• Employ journeyman-level knowledge of and experience with the Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) to create spreadsheets, presentations, and reports and other documents for executive review.

PDS Grade 11- To qualify at the PDS Grade 11 level, applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level performing progressively responsible administrative, executive support, program support, or office-management work. Specialized experience must demonstrate experience in several of the following areas:

• Providing administrative or executive support to managers, executives, senior officials, attorneys, or other organizational leaders;
• Managing calendars, scheduling meetings, coordinating appointments, and resolving routine scheduling conflicts;
  
• Preparing, reviewing, editing, proofreading, and formatting correspondence, memoranda, reports, presentations, agendas, meeting materials, or other business documents;
  
• Coordinating travel arrangements, itineraries, travel authorizations, reimbursements, or similar administrative transactions;
  
• Tracking assignments, deadlines, correspondence, records, or other workflow items to ensure timely completion;
  
• Using automated administrative systems for functions such as time and attendance, procurement, travel, document management, records management, or other office operations;
  
• Maintaining confidential or sensitive records and exercising appropriate discretion in handling personnel, legal, financial, or organizational information;
  
• Providing customer service and serving as a point of contact or liaison with internal and external stakeholders; and
  Using Microsoft Office applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, to prepare and maintain business documents and information.

At this level, applicants should demonstrate the ability to perform recurring and moderately complex executive or administrative assignments with limited supervision, exercise sound judgment in resolving routine problems, prioritize competing assignments, and communicate effectively with employees and external stakeholders.

PDS Grade 12 - To qualify at the PDS Grade 12 level, applicants must have at least one year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level performing complex executive support, senior administrative, program coordination, or office-management work with substantial independence. Specialized experience must demonstrate experience in several of the following areas:

• Providing direct executive-level support to senior executives, agency heads, senior attorneys, directors, or comparable senior officials;
• Independently managing complex executive calendars, determining priorities, resolving competing requests, and coordinating high-level meetings or engagements;
  
• Serving as a principal administrative liaison between senior leadership and internal executives, external organizations, government officials, professional partners, or other high-level stakeholders;
  
• Drafting, editing, reviewing, and finalizing complex or sensitive memoranda, briefing materials, policy documents, correspondence, reports, talking points, agendas, minutes, or executive communications;
  
• Conducting research and synthesizing information to develop briefing materials, background papers, summaries, or recommendations for senior leadership;
  
• Independently tracking executive-level action items, deadlines, correspondence, and assignments involving multiple organizational components;
  
• Coordinating complex travel, procurement, budget-support, time-and-attendance, records-management, or other administrative processes using automated systems;
  
• Reviewing documents or administrative actions for completeness, accuracy, procedural compliance, and readiness for executive signature or approval;
  
• Planning and coordinating executive-level meetings, board meetings, conferences, or similar high-visibility events;
  
• Maintaining and controlling highly sensitive, confidential, privileged, legal, personnel, or executive information;
  
• Anticipating administrative or operational problems, identifying appropriate solutions, and taking action to maintain continuity of executive-office operations; and
  
• Exercising significant independent judgment in determining how to organize, prioritize, and carry out executive-office assignments.

At this level, applicants must demonstrate the ability to independently manage complex and sensitive executive-office functions, anticipate the needs of senior leadership, resolve administrative issues with minimal supervision, and exercise a high degree of judgment, discretion, diplomacy, and confidentiality.

PDS Grade 11 - Preference may be given to applicants who possess one or more of the following:

• Experience providing administrative or executive support in a legal, government, public-interest, nonprofit, judicial, or professional-services environment;
• Experience supporting attorneys, executives, senior managers, or other high-level officials;
  
• Experience managing executive calendars and coordinating meetings involving multiple internal and external participants;
  
• Experience with automated travel, procurement, time-and-attendance, records-management, or document-management systems;
  
• Experience preparing or formatting executive correspondence, reports, presentations, briefing materials, or meeting documents;
  
• Experience maintaining confidential personnel, legal, financial, or executive records;
  
• Experience coordinating meetings, conferences, training events, or other organizational activities;
  
• Experience providing basic litigation or legal administrative support, including document formatting, electronic filing, or deadline tracking;
  
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams; and
  
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment requiring frequent interaction with senior officials and multiple competing deadlines.
  

PDS Grade 12 — Preference may be given to applicants who possess one or more of the following:

• Significant experience providing direct executive support to an agency director, executive officer, senior attorney, judge, general counsel, division head, or comparable senior leader;
  
• Experience independently managing a senior executive’s calendar, correspondence, travel, priorities, and workflow;
  
• Experience serving as a gatekeeper or primary liaison for senior leadership with high-ranking officials, judges, attorneys, board members, community stakeholders, or external organizations;
  
• Experience researching, drafting, editing, or coordinating executive-level briefing materials, policy documents, congressional or budget materials, talking points, memoranda, or strategic communications;
  
• Experience supporting executive-level procurement, budget, travel, time-and-attendance, or administrative operations using federal or comparable automated systems;
  
• Experience coordinating board meetings, executive meetings, agency-wide conferences, or other high-visibility events;
  
• Experience reviewing sensitive documents or administrative actions for accuracy, completeness, and compliance before executive approval or signature;
  
• Experience managing confidential, privileged, legal, personnel, or other highly sensitive information;
  
• Experience providing litigation or legal administrative support in a law office, court, public defender, prosecutor, government legal office, or comparable legal environment;
  
• Demonstrated ability to anticipate executive needs, independently resolve administrative problems, and manage competing priorities under tight deadlines; and
  
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office and experience using automated document, records, procurement, travel, or workflow-management systems.

Your application package will be reviewed to determine whether you meet the minimum qualifications and the degree to which your experience, education, training, and accomplishments demonstrate the competencies required for the position. Please provide detailed information supporting your qualifications. Failure to provide sufficient evidence may result in your application not receiving further consideration.

Rating: Your application package will be rated and ranked among other applicants based on your experience, education, training, and other information relevant to the duties of this position. Your rating may be lowered if the information in your application is not supported by the requested documents.

Referral: If you are among the top-qualified candidates, your application package will be referred to the hiring manager for consideration. You may be invited to participate in one or more selection interviews or assessments.

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You must provide a complete application package (1 PDF file) which includes: 
(1) a cover letter; 
(2) a resume, including email address; and
(3) a list of three references that include name, address, telephone number, and a statement of how each reference is able to evaluate your skills.  

Please ensure your application package contains detailed information supporting your qualifications. Failure to provide sufficient evidence may result in rejection of your application package. To ensure proper consideration, the subject line of your application email must include the announcement number and position title, for example: PDS-2026-36 Executive Assistant. Applications must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on 09/15/2026 to [email protected].