People & Culture Assistant

People & Culture Assistant

Posted:
Open to internal and external applicants

Reports to:

Senior People & Culture Business Partner
Status:
Full-time, hourly, benefitted position
Hours of work:
Standard Monday–Friday workweek, 8am–5pm. Occasional need for weekend or after-hours work as related to events and other projects. This role includes an onsite desktop workstation. If the person has a reliable home computer and internet for video calls, a hybrid schedule of three days onsite and two days remote is possible.
Date needed:
March 2026
Posting expires:
Open until filled; priority given to applications received by end of day January 21.

The Seattle Aquarium, a leading marine conservation organization, is looking for an administrative assistant to join the People and Culture team. The People and Culture (P&C) department is spearheading the work of creating a diverse, equitable, accessible and inclusive work environment. Designing and stewarding a culture that would allow everyone to thrive and grow. With the Aquarium’s recent expansion, we see this new chapter as an opportunity to incorporate fresh perspectives and new voices into our highly committed, wonderful staff.

The People and Culture Assistant supports the day-to-day operations of the People and Culture department through maintenance of organization systems, assisting equity initiatives and by supporting implementation of P&C services, programs, tasks and projects which shift throughout the year in collaboration with the team. Reporting to the Senior People and Culture Business Partner, the People and Culture Assistant is expected to help streamline and improve existing organization systems and be an ambassador within the Aquarium.

This position influences how we organize and communicate People and Culture related business, bringing efficiencies and solutions forward that can help to improve our employee experience.

Our aquarium actively seeks to broaden participation in marine and environmental conservation professions, making them more inclusive of the full diversity of our communities and responsive to their needs and perspectives. Candidates passionate about marine conservation and education, as well as fair and inclusive workplace culture, will be an asset in this role.

• Department administration:
  • Assist with the overall efficient functioning of the P&C department by providing high level, confidential administrative support to the team. This includes monitoring the P&C email inbox and collecting, scanning and distributing physical team mail.
  • Schedule team/department meetings, orientations and other staff related meetings and events.
  • Collaborate with business partners to organize quarterly Mission, Vision, Values Orientations for new staff, including coordinating invitations, RSVP’s, space needs, catering and day‑of schedule.
  • Help with staff recognition including staff anniversary jackets; connect with staff to help them select their jacket, maintain inventory, manage annual order.
  • Assist in planning and execution of staff gatherings and events.
  • Support employee communications, employee engagement surveys and respond to routine questions from staff.
  • Actively participate in team, departmental, and organizational meetings.
• Record Keeping:
  • Keep employee records up-to-date and maintain personnel and benefit files in compliance with applicable legal requirements. This includes historic/paper files as well as digital personnel files within the HRIS.
  • Adhere to the aquarium’s document retention schedule on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis including elimination of unnecessary or expired documents.
  • Lead effort to scan physical/historic personnel files with a goal to digitize all employee documents.
  • Support HRIS Coordinator with various reporting projects as needed. This could include weekly Aqua Net update, monthly all staff list and more.
• Support the Aquarium’s equity program:
  • Act as a point of contact with the equity team and other staff groups who work on equity-related issues.
  • Coordinate compensation and stipends where applicable, in coordination with the Sr. Director of People and Culture and the finance team.
  • Schedule,…