Bilingual Administrative Assistant - Washington DC

MALDEF is the nation’s leading non-profit Latino civil rights law firm. Founded in 1968, MALDEF works to safeguard the civil rights of Latinos and to increase the community’s ability to participate fully in American society. We currently seek an Administrative Assistant to support our legal and policy staff in the Washington DC Office.

Job Responsibilities: Under the supervision of the Regional Counsel, the Administrative Assistant provides the secretarial, clerical, and office administrative functions required in a small office, using initiative and judgment as necessary in the absence of the attorneys. The Administrative Assistant answers telephones taking and relaying messages and information; schedules appointments and meetings; prepares and processes incoming and outgoing mail and correspondence; maintains an office calendar and tickler system for important dates, deadlines, and other appointments; maintains the office filing system; drafts simple correspondence and memoranda; types testimony, fact sheets and talking points; proofreads documents for accuracy; performs clerical collation; puts together reports and exhibits; fills in forms precisely and without error; prepares expense forms and check requests; processes and maintains petty cash and cash disbursements; and serves as receptionist. The administrative assistant performs other related duties as required.

Qualifications and Experience: The successful candidate will have one (1) year experience performing secretarial or clerical tasks in professional office environment. Law and/or legislative office experience highly preferred. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: The successful candidate will have basic knowledge of legal terminology and basic understanding of legal/legislative systems and documents; knowledge of general organization of pleading/brief dockets and legal correspondence files; excellent computer skills, especially word processing, spreadsheets, and Internet. Candidate will also have knowledge of WordPerfect, MS Word, Adobe Acrobat and the Internet; knowledge of proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling sufficient to proofread legal work and to compose simple correspondence; ability to read and understand rules and procedures sufficient to prepare and format documents; skill in typing and word processing at a minimum of 50 wpm; knowledge of both legal and general office procedures and routines. Candidates must be able to communicate fluently in both English and Spanish, including the ability to speak, read, write, understand, and translate from one language to the other.