Iowa West Careers

Office Coordinator

posted 10/30/2023

The Iowa West Foundation seeks a full-time office coordinator to support our work of building communities where people love to live. We count on you to make the first connection with most of our stakeholders and to create an environment where our entire team can thrive.

To be successful in this position, you need to be a detail-oriented self-starter. We strive for a work culture in which all team members understand how our collective skills and effective collaboration benefit the communities we serve.

This position has a salary range of $52,500 – $60,000, depending on experience, and includes excellent benefits.

How to Apply

Please send a cover letter and resume to IWF Controller, Jackie Dix at HR@iowawestfoundation.org

What You’ll Do

Office management. Make sure that office visitors and callers feel welcome. Keep the office running smoothly, whether ordering supplies, monitoring the master calendar, preparing for meetings, or troubleshooting technology and office systems.
Board Activities. You are the administrative liaison to IWF’s 17-member board of directors. You’ll be setting calendars, checking schedules and attendance, preparing for board meetings, writing board and committee minutes, and making sure board members understand their board and committee responsibilities. You will handle confidential information on a regular basis.
Event and meeting planning. Coordinate meetings with external organizations and groups, including our Advisory Committee. Send out calendar invitations, coordinate logistics, order refreshments, and make sure the space is ready for every event/meeting. Plan and manage special events, such as community listening sessions, rural economic development summits, multi-organization seminars, and board retreats.
Administrative and finance. Process expense reports, reconcile credit card statements and occasionally coordinate travel for the board and 3-person leadership team. Finalize outgoing correspondence and sort incoming mail. Assist the Controller as needed.

In a small office everyone pitches in, so you should always be ready to jump in to support the team.

Who You Are & Keys to Success

• You enjoy managing offices and providing administrative support and are comfortable working with confidential information. You know what it takes to keep an office humming and you get satisfaction from anticipating needs for the team and our stakeholders.
• You listen attentively to what is said and can accurately condense lengthy discussions into brief meeting minutes. You produce those summaries quickly and with minimal edits or corrections.
• You love planning and organizing events and meetings, making sure that every detail is taken care of so that everyone has a wonderful experience.

• You have worked with Microsoft Office Suite software and apps and you can help your teammates get back on track when technology goes wrong.
• You are comfortable working with online tools, such as BoardEffect, and are willing to dive in to learn new systems when you aren’t familiar with them.
• You dive into details and get great satisfaction when you check an item off the to-do list.
• You enjoy people. You can talk to just about anyone, including Board members, the public and our non-profit partners.
• You stay organized even when you are multi-tasking and you always meet your deadlines.

Here’s what a typical day might look like.

• Preparing the room for our Grants Advisory Committee meeting. This includes managing lunch logistics, preparing the room technology, and greeting people as they arrived. You would attend the meeting and help capture key discussion points, and then work with other staff to organize the room after the meeting.
• Organizing files for our nominating committee process and ensuring that our CEO and board committee are equipped for their selection of new board members.
• Working with vendors to fix our refrigerator that spontaneously stopped working yesterday.
• Participating in a staff discussion to provide team feedback to our CEO.
• Discussing how we will organize our office holiday party in December.
• Daily being the person who looks at how we can remove obstacles and make this a great place to work!

What Else You Should Know

You will be an exempt, at-will employee of the Iowa West Foundation (IWF) and the Iowa West Racing Association (IWRA), working from our office on the Iowa riverfront. We are an equal opportunity employer, and we value having staff from the communities we serve.

The Iowa West Foundation is a place-based, private foundation in Council Bluffs, Iowa, serving 14 southwest Iowa counties and metro Omaha. We strive for communities where families love to live and businesses thrive by supporting belonging, financial stability, opportunity, and wellbeing.