Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Senior Administrative Coordinator

Business Services
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • High school diploma/GED and 8 years of admin experience -OR- AA degree with 6 years of admin experience.
  • Experience in planning meetings and coordinating travel.
  • Strong project coordination skills, managing deadlines and follow-ups.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Ability to handle confidential information professionally.

Responsibilities

  • Manage complex administrative tasks with discretion and attention to detail.
  • Coordinate competing priorities across teams to ensure work stays organized.
  • Develop and improve administrative systems and workflows for efficiency.
  • Serve as the main point for organizational activities, identifying deadlines and risks.
  • Manage complex calendars and executive schedules, resolving conflicts as they arise.
  • Draft and prepare professional correspondence and materials for various engagements.
  • Identify inefficiencies and recommend improvements to strengthen operations.

Benefits

  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance with telehealth options.
  • Mental health benefits and wellness coaching.
  • Tuition assistance and relocation support.
  • Back-up childcare and legal benefits available.
  • Pension plan and 401(k) savings plan with company match.
Full Job Description
Overview

We are seeking a Senior Administrative Coordinator who thrives on bringing order to complexity. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys building systems, creating structure, and keeping fast-moving organizations operating efficiently. You'll partner closely with Communications leadership to coordinate priorities, manage competing demands, improve administrative processes, and ensure critical work moves forward with precision.

If you're energized by organization, love solving logistical puzzles, and take pride in making teams more effective, we'd love to hear from you.

Responsibilities

Responsibilities

The Communications Division operates in a dynamic, rapidly evolving environment supporting Laboratory leadership, major initiatives, and high-profile communications activities. As a Senior Administrative Coordinator, you will serve as a trusted operational partner who anticipates needs, manages competing priorities, and develops efficient systems that enable leaders and teams to focus on strategic work.

The successful candidate enjoys creating order from complexity. They naturally build systems to organize work, anticipate needs before they arise, and ensure that commitments don't fall through the cracks. They are energized by helping leaders and teams operate more efficiently and take pride in delivering consistently accurate, high-quality work.

Key Responsibilities

The responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to:
  • Independently manage complex administrative responsibilities while exercising sound judgment, discretion, and exceptional attention to detail.
  • Coordinate multiple competing priorities across leaders and teams, ensuring critical work stays organized, visible, and on schedule.
  • Develop, implement, and continuously improve administrative systems, workflows, and tracking tools that increase efficiency, consistency, and accountability.
  • Serve as a central coordination point for organizational activities, proactively identifying dependencies, risks, deadlines, and follow-up actions.
  • Manage complex calendars by anticipating priorities, resolving conflicts, and balancing changing business needs.
  • Assemble, research, and prepare background materials for meetings, presentations, travel, and executive engagements.
  • Monitor action items and commitments, following through to ensure deliverables are completed accurately and on time.
  • Draft, proofread, and edit correspondence, presentations, reports, and other communications with a high degree of professionalism.
  • Coordinate meetings, workshops, interviews, visitor logistics, and organizational events, both virtual and in person.
  • Arrange domestic and international travel, manage travel documentation and expense reporting, and resolve travel issues as they arise.
  • Perform purchasing and other administrative business processes in accordance with Laboratory policies.
  • Identify administrative inefficiencies and recommend practical improvements that strengthen organizational operations and customer service.
  • Partner effectively with administrative colleagues across the Laboratory to ensure seamless support and coverage.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:
  • High school diploma/GED and 8 years of relevant experience in an administrative environment -OR-
  • AA degree or higher and 6 years of relevant experience in an administrative environment.
  • Experience in planning meetings and coordinating travel

Preferred Qualifications:
  • Demonstrated success supporting senior leaders in a fast-paced, highly dynamic organization.
  • Exceptional organizational and task management skills, with the ability to manage numerous concurrent priorities while maintaining accuracy.
  • Demonstrated ability to develop systems, workflows, trackers, or other organizational tools that improve efficiency and execution.
  • Strong project coordination skills, including monitoring deadlines, dependencies, follow-up actions, and deliverables.
  • Excellent judgment in prioritizing competing requests and adjusting quickly as priorities evolve.
  • Outstanding attention to detail and commitment to producing high-quality work.
  • Extensive working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, Teams, Outlook, and video conferencing applications.
  • Experience managing complex calendars and coordinating executive schedules.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build productive relationships across all levels of the organization.
  • Demonstrated initiative, resourcefulness, and a continuous improvement mindset.
  • Ability to handle confidential information with discretion and professionalism.

Additional Information

Not Applicable.

Testing Designated Position

This is not a Testing Designated Position (TDP).

Rockstar Rewards

Employees and their families are offered medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, robust telehealth care options, several mental health benefits, free wellness coaching, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, basic life insurance, disability insurance*, employee assistance program, business travel insurance, tuition assistance, relocation, backup childcare, legal benefits, supplemental parental bonding leave, surrogacy and adoption assistance, and fertility support. Employees are automatically enrolled in our company-funded pension plan* and may enroll in our 401 (k) savings plan with company match*. Employees may accrue up to 120 vacation hours per year and may receive ten paid holidays per year.

* Research Associates excluded.

**All benefits are dependent upon eligibility.

Click Here For Rockstar Rewards

Notice to Applicants

PNNL lists the full pay range for the position in the job posting. Starting pay is calculated from the minimum of the pay range and actual placement in the range is determined based on an individual's relevant job-related skills, qualifications, and experience. This approach is applicable to all positions, with the exception of positions governed by collective bargaining agreements and certain limited-term positions which have specific pay rules.

As part of our commitment to fair compensation practices, we do not ask for or consider current or past salaries in making compensation offers at hire. Instead, our compensation offers are determined by the specific requirements of the position, prevailing market trends, applicable collective bargaining agreements, pay equity for the position type, and individual qualifications and skills relevant to the performance of the position.

Minimum Salary

USD $31.63/Hr.
Maximum Salary

USD $45.91/Hr.

About Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory that conducts research and development in areas including energy, environment, and national security. PNNL is operated by Battelle Memorial Institute and is located in Richland, Washington. The laboratory was established in 1965 as the Battelle Northwest Laboratory and was renamed to its current name in 1997. PNNL has a staff of over 4,000 scientists, engineers, and support staff, and has an annual budget of over $1 billion. The laboratory has been involved in a number of high-profile projects, including the development of the first artificial heart and the cleanup of the Hanford Site, a decommissioned nuclear production complex.
Learn more about Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Size
5,000 employees
Industry
Founded
1965

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