The Pew Charitable Trusts uses data to make a difference. For more than 70 years, we have focused on serving the public, invigorating civic life, conducting nonpartisan research, advancing effective public policies and practices, and achieving tangible results. Through rigorous inquiry and knowledge sharing, we inform and engage public-spirited citizens and organizations, linking diverse interests to pursue common cause. We are a dedicated team of researchers, communicators, advocates, subject matter experts, and professionals working on some of today’s big challenges – and we know we are more effective and creative collectively than we are individually. With Philadelphia as our hometown and the majority of our staff located in Washington, DC, our U.S. and international staff find working at Pew personally and professionally rewarding. 

Wise stewardship of resources allows Pew employees to pursue work that strategically furthers our mission in significant and measurable ways. We collaborate with a diverse range of philanthropic partners, public and private organizations, and concerned citizens who share our interest in fact-based solutions and goal-driven initiatives to improve society. Pew attracts top talent, people of integrity who are service-oriented and willing to take on challenging assignments. We provide competitive pay and benefits, a healthy work-life balance, and a respectful and inclusive workplace. Pew employees are proud of their colleagues, proud of where they work, and proud of the institution’s reputation. 

The Environmental Portfolio at the Pew Charitable Trusts

For the past twenty-five years, Pew has been a major force in educating the public and policy makers about the causes, consequences, and solutions to some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Our environment work spans all seven continents with close to 250 professionals working full-time at the local, national, and international levels to reduce the scope and severity of global environmental problems, such as the erosion of large wilderness ecosystems that contain a great part of the world’s remaining biodiversity and the destruction of the marine environment. 

Pew has worked in the United States and Canada since 1990 to protect vast stretches of unspoiled wilderness and more recently expanded our land conservation efforts to Australia’s Outback and Chilean Patagonia. Preserving these places offers an opportunity to conserve wildlife habitat, shorelines and pristine landscapes for future generations. Our work relies on the sciences of conservation, biology, and ecology to advocate for sound solutions to the loss of biodiversity. 

In the sea, reforms to how our oceans are managed are essential to address overfishing, pollution, and loss of habitat. Pew began its oceans program in the United States, focusing on ending overfishing and protecting fragile marine habitat. Since 2005, Pew’s ocean conservation program has expanded around the world and has played a significant role in reforming marine fisheries management in the European Union and on the high seas. Our work is grounded in the best available science and our goal is to reverse the decline of ocean life ranging from sharks and tunas to penguins and whales, and the habitat on which they depend. 

Chilean Patagonia

Chile’s Patagonia is one of the last remaining intact wilderness areas of the world, yet today it is both under-recognized and under-protected. Pew and its partners are working to change that by promoting this region’s unique value in the world and developing and implementing policies to secure the long-term protection of this remarkable landscape. 

Chilean Patagonia is on the west coast of the southern cone of South America, where the continent tapers toward the Antarctic Ocean. While many of Chile’s natural lands all have important ecological values, Patagonia is special because of its high degree of intactness, endemism and exceptional land and sea interconnectedness. 

Approximately 80 percent of this area remains unspoiled, therefore making it similar in ecological condition to Australia’s Outback and Canada’s Boreal, other places where Pew works. Although it is approximately one-fifth the size of the continental-scale Boreal in Canada and Outback, Chile’s Patagonia stretches over several hundred miles of important wilderness that features unique geography, oceanography and ecological productivity, including a lush temperate rainforest, glacier-carved valleys, windy grasslands, inland shorelines, and countless fjords and islands. 

In partnership with a robust network of non-governmental organizations in Chile, local governments and local stakeholders, Pew will work to improve and enhance the protection of this landscape through the country’s park and reserve system, while also promoting public-private partnerships for new conservation efforts. 

Position Overview

The administrative assistant, environment provides administrative support to staff in Pew’s Santiago, Chile office, including managing expense reimbursements, payment requests, and travel bookings; proofreading documents; and maintaining databases. The administrative assistant demonstrates superior language skills in both English and Spanish, as well as the ability to convey a range of cultural nuances and institutional and project needs between Santiago-based staff and partners and Washington, D.C.-based program and operations staff. Provide administrative support for meetings, events, and seminars both online and in-person; research and book meeting venues and related travel, prepare agendas, and manage technical components. 

In partnership with and at the direction of the officer, Chilean Patagonia project, perform office management duties such as supporting staff by answering phones and greeting incoming guests in the Santiago office; preparing mailings; paying bulls and purchasing office supplies; interacting with landlord and onsite technicians. Manage conference space and use by partners and stakeholders, including high-level individuals. 

The administrative assistant may participate in regular project meetings and is encouraged to develop a general understanding Pew’s environment work. The successful candidate is experienced in such a role and able to demonstrate a high degree of independence and initiative in delivering organizational elements of the role. Assignments may change as needed as projects constantly evolve.