Executive Assistant & Office HR Manager

About Letterform Archive

Letterform Archive is a nonprofit center for design inspiration, education, and community. We offer hands-on access to a curated collection of more than 100,000 items related to lettering, typography, calligraphy, and graphic design. Every year, we welcome thousands of visitors from across the world, including students, practitioners, and design admirers from every creative background. Learn more.

In addition to hosting visits and public events, the Archive serves a global community through social media, web content featuring state-of-the-art photography, and a book program that draws from the collection as well as publishes new work from its contributors. We offer courses and workshops in type design, calligraphy, and typography. We also curate exhibitions for our gallery in San Francisco and organize lectures by visiting artists and designers.

About Letterform Archive Books

Distributed in the international book trade by D.A.P., Letterform Archive Books publishes exquisite books and gift products on graphic design, typography, and lettering, drawing from the collection and its talented community to tell rich stories with exceptional reproduction and unique design. Sample titles include Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.: Citizen Printer, Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession 1902–1911, The Complete Commercial Artist: Making Modern Design in Japan, 1928–1930, Bauhaus Typography at 100, and Emigre Fonts: Type Specimens, 1986–2024. 

About the Letterform Archive Website

Edited by the editorial director and associate curator, letterformarchive.org hosts in-depth and accessible content that elucidates the unique collection at Letterform Archive and aims to inspire creative people of all backgrounds. Blog posts and topic pages guide an international audience through artifacts of graphic design, describing how it was made, how it changed over time, and why it matters today. Besides the collection and curatorial content, the site also provides information about the organization as a whole and its other programs, including education, exhibitions, fundraising, and programming.

Principal Responsibilities

Executive Support (≈70–75%)

• Manage the Executive Director’s calendar, including scheduling internal meetings, donor visits, public speaking engagements, and travel.
• Draft, proof, and manage correspondence, presentations, and reports for the ED.
• Organize and maintain the Executive Director’s office catalogs to ensure they are accessible and categorized intuitively.
• Support the ED by pulling relevant items in advance of meetings, tours, or project development.
• Assist with preparation for high-level archive tours, donor walkthroughs, and research visits 
• Coordinate scheduling, confirmations, and visitor materials (packets, pulled works, books, etc.) 
• Ensure the Executive Director is equipped with context about each visitor or group and maintain visit records, including follow-up actions and outcomes. 
• Support the Executive Director in maintaining meaningful relationships with donors, partners, collaborators, and other stakeholders
• Identify key dates (birthdays, anniversaries, milestones) and draft thoughtful outreach such as emails, cards, or personal updates that keep the ED’s presence active and connected 
• Maintain discretion and confidentiality in handling sensitive information.
• Coordinate logistics for Board meetings, including scheduling, materials preparation, and minutes.
• Support communication between the ED and Board members, and track Board action items.
• Manage and prepare Leadership Team meeting minutes, organize for distribution.
• Prepare donor briefings, thank-you letters, and follow-up correspondence on behalf of the ED.
• Manage financial operations for the ED including the ED's Expensify monthly reporting and managing bills sent to the ED.
• Provide project tracking support for cross-departmental initiatives led by the ED.

Office & HR Operations Management (≈25–30%)

• Oversee daily office operations, supplies, equipment, event support, and vendor relationships.
• Serves as the first point of contact for a broad portfolio of general office operational needs and troubleshooting, including emergency response training and protocol upkeep. 
• Coordinates multiple types of varied stakeholder projects including board meeting logistics, hiring committees, inter-office culture committees, staff committees, etc.
• Serves as the hub of inter-office communication needs including managing weekly huddles and taking minutes at weekly leadership team meetings.
• Coordinate facilities and IT needs in collaboration with consultants and staff.
• Lead onsite HR needs including organizational onboarding for new staff.
• Lead org-wide staff recruitment process in partnership with hiring manager and part-time .25 FTE HR Coordinator.
• Support onboarding of new hires with workspace setup, orientation logistics, and administrative resources.
• Maintain a welcoming, organized environment for staff, visitors, and researchers as on of the first faces that guests and staff interact with.
• Assist with scheduling, logistics, culture, and design for all-staff meetings, retreats, events, and internal communications.
• Lead all hands event management, including supporting staff-facing speaker logistics and onsite logistics.

Minimum Qualifications

• 6-8+ years of experience in executive assistance, office management, stakeholder management, HR coordination, and/or nonprofit administration.
• Strong organizational and operational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities with a high attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Proficiency with productivity and collaboration tools (Google Workspace, MS Office, project management software, AI tools, Hubspot CRM, Gusto HRIS).
• Experience working with Boards, donors, or senior executives preferred.
• Discretion, professionalism, and interpersonal ease across a wide range of stakeholders.
• Ability to hold strong boundaries with kindness and understanding across multiple stakeholders with sometimes competing objectives.
• Commitment to the mission of Letterform Archive and to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility
• Work Arrangement: Full-time onsite position in San Francisco.

Physical Demands

The Executive Assistant & Office HR Manager will regularly be required to perform desk-based computer tasks, including using a computer screen for long periods of time, typing, and making phone calls.

They may also frequently be required to move items weighing up to 25 pounds or push and maneuver a fully loaded book truck weighing up to 60 pounds.

The Archive will provide reasonable accommodations to an employee with a disability who requires accommodations to perform the essential functions of their job.

COVID-19 Vaccination Policy

To ensure the health and safety of the Archive’s community, all newly hired employees of Letterform Archive are required to be fully-vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment, absent qualifying exemptions for medical, religious, or other reasons in accordance with all applicable laws.

You Are Welcome Here

Fair Chance

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination

Letterform Archive is an equal opportunity workplace, community, and place of learning. The Archive does not discriminate in employment or in offering educational services and programs.Learn more. 

Position Type and Work Schedule

This is a full-time, non-exempt position working 40 hours per week during the Archive’s normal office hours, with occasional opportunities to work weekend and evening events.

Location

This is an on-site position based in San Francisco. Due to the hands-on nature of the work and access to the collection, this is not a remote role.

Compensation and Benefits

Salary range: $70,000–85,000, commensurate with experience.

Letterform Archive offers full-time employees a comprehensive benefits package including:

- Medical, dental, and vision coverage with subsidized dependent coverage

- Three weeks of Paid Time Off each year

- 10 paid holidays per year

- Sick leave

- Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

- 401(k) retirement plan

- Pre-tax commuter benefit

- Annual professional development budget

- Waived tuition to Archive workshops

- Complimentary Archive membership

Eligibility

This position is open to all candidates who are currently authorized to work in the United States. Letterform Archive is unable to sponsor work visas at this time.

How to Apply

Please apply by submitting a résumé, a short cover letter explaining your interest in this position and what you might hope to bring to the role, and a link to your LinkedIn or website at letterformarchive.org/careers by Friday, September 20th.

You may address your cover letter to the “hiring committee” and it should be no more than one page. The most effective cover letters explain your interest in the Archive and this position, and make clear how your qualifications match this role’s responsibilities.

Letterform Archive is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are an individual with a disability and need assistance applying or have questions about accommodation during the hiring process, please email[email protected].