ABOUT SIMMONS Located in Boston's historic Fenway area, Simmons has a strong tradition of empowering women and challenging traditional gender roles. Simmons University was one of the first higher education institutions to prepare women to become leaders and has evolved to become a university offering a women's undergraduate program and graduate programs open to all. You're joining our community at an especially exciting time as one of our strategic goals is to become the most inclusive campus in New England. You'll find that people who work here are truly committed to our mission of preparing students to become champions of social justice and leaders in their professions and their communities. This commitment and pride make for a dynamic workplace. Simmons University is committed to inclusive excellence in all aspects of an individual's community experience. As a university committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups. Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices-at all levels, for all positions-ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience. Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum.
JOB SUMMARY The Administrative Assistant to the Dean will provide organizational and administrative support of a confidential nature to the Office of the Dean of the Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities and Social Sciences. The Administrative Assistant will have primary responsibility to the Dean of the Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities and Social Sciences and report to the Associate Director of Operations. The Administrative Assistant will act as liaison with internal colleagues and external partners while promoting a culture of inclusion and responsiveness through customer-centric support. This position requires keen interpersonal skills, exceptional judgment to facilitate collaboration and communication among diverse groups, and the ability to proactively solve problems and/or independently handle issues. This highly visible role is critical to the function and success of the Gwen Ifill School of Media, Humanities and Social Sciences. The Administrative Assistant will serve as the first point of contact for the Dean's Office and will support academic and individual calendar coordination, event and meeting preparation, data maintenance, faculty support, academic operations and routine day-to-day operations. The ideal candidate will: maintain a strong customer focus, foster mutual respect, support Simmons University's commitment to diversity, practice and promote teamwork, perform independently, maintain confidentiality, adhere to high standards of personal conduct and maintain and enhance professional/job competency.
ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.
- Coordinate both academic and individual calendars for the Dean and Associate Director of Operations, using judgment to prioritize and commit leadership time for meetings, appointments and travel based on an in-depth understanding of the Office's priorities and needs;
- Schedule meetings and arrange conference calls for the Office as well as School faculty meetings; including meeting logistics including location reservations, catering and equipment; prepare meeting materials and presentations; draft and distribute meeting agendas; and attend meetings and take minutes as directed by the Dean;
- Organize and maintain the inner workings of the Office of the Dean, including but not limited to processing of invoices, expense reports and credit card statements; ordering supplies, record and database maintenance requests, and basic bookkeeping;
- Prepare purchase orders as needed for orders, programs, projects and other School commitments, including faculty, visitor, and speaker reimbursements and honorarium payments and trainings;
- Coordinate the Dean's Office events and related programs;
- Provide administrative support for faculty searches and for the annual faculty review processes;
- Coordinate faculty lifecycle processes: tenure, mid-point review, promotion and sabbatical proposals, and maintaining faculty life cycle timelines;
- Serve as the primary point of contact for the Dean for internal and external constituencies, via email, telephone, and in-person, and coordinate communications from the Dean to internal and external constituents;
- Open, sort, and distribute incoming correspondence, including mail, faxes, and email; and respond to phone, email, and in-person inquiries in a timely and professional manner. Make autonomous, accurate, and swift judgements, including forwarding questions and requests to other senior staff.
OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES - Serve as administrative point of contact for vendors and external partner organizations;
- Prepare materials for newsletters, publications, and grants;
- Draft and/or proofread emails, letters, reports, or other documents;
- Support other academic operational activities, which may include support of analysis and/or reporting of faculty and student data; assisting in reporting to external entities, including accreditation, licensure, and certification; and others;
- Assist the Associate Director with faculty workload coordination and School operations;
- Assist the with the course evaluation process each term;
- Assist with the hiring and onboarding process for Dean's fellows and student workers;
- Assist with coordinating program and department review processes;
- Enter data for various systems, including Workday;
- Work on discrete projects, providing project coordination, documentation, and support and other duties as assigned.
- Identify issues in operational processes and ensure they are resolved;
- Other duties as assigned.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS - One to three years of experience in an administrative support position with a focus on customer service required;
- Proficiency in the Microsoft suite (e.g. Lookup formulas, pivot tables) required;
- Proficiency in the Google suite required;
- Proficiency in the Adobe suite required;
- Proficiency with virtual meeting platforms required;
- Clear and effective written and oral communication skills required;
- Exceptional planning and organizational skills;
- Ability to take initiative and ownership of projects;
- Proven ability to perform duties with a high level of professionalism, flexibility; discretion, judgment, diplomacy and tact.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS - One to three years of experience working in a higher education setting preferred;
- Calendar management experience preferred;
- Advanced proficiency in the Microsoft suite (e.g. Lookup formulas, pivot tables) preferred;
- Advanced proficiency in the Google suite preferred;
- Advanced proficiency in the Adobe suite preferred;
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills preferred;
- Workday experience preferred;
- Learning Management System experience preferred.
COMPETENCIES - Excellent verbal and written communication skills (Written, Verbal, Presentation), including editing and proofreading;
- Strong planning and organizational skills;
- Self-starter, Ability to take initiative and ownership of projects;
- Proven ability to perform duties with a high level of professionalism, flexibility; discretion, judgment, diplomacy and tact;
- Customer Service Oriented
- Commitment to Inclusive Excellence and Social Justice
WORK ENVIRONMENT & CONDITIONS/PHYSICAL DEMANDS - This is a full-time, 40-hour/week non-exempt position;
- In-person on-campus, with hybrid work arrangement eligibility;
- Typical office or home office environment, with moderate noise;
- Sedentary work with walking or standing required occasionally;
- Essential physical requirements include sitting, standing, and typing;
- Physical effort/lifting is sedentary to light - up to 20 pounds;
- The standard work schedule is Monday through Friday, 8:30am - 5:00pm. On very rare occasions, this position (e.g. Commencement week) is required to work in the evening as a part of the job.
Salary Grade H05
Instructions to Applicants: Please upload
all applicable application materials (e.g. resume/cv, cover letter, writing sample, teaching philosophy, etc.) in the Application Materials box on page 2 ( My Experience ) of this application. Documents can be uploaded individually or as a combined document (e.g. PDF). Simmons University is committed to inclusive excellence in all aspects of an individual's community experience. As a university committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups. Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices-at all levels, for all positions-ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience. Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum.