Executive Administrative Assistant

Full-time - Entry Level

Chicago, IL

Educational Services

About the position

The Executive Administrative Assistant works within the Biological Sciences Division providing administrative support to the designated executive leaders to include daily calendar management and assisting with organization and project oversight for strategic initiatives. This key position supports leaders by prioritizing competing requests, proactively securing resources, and using independent judgment to escalate matters appropriately and to ensure the smooth and effective operations of the office suite. They will be a creative and positive self-starter with the right set of skills to take on a range of projects and work from concept to completion. This fast-paced role demands a high level of discretion, confidentiality, attention to detail, and flexibility.

Responsibilities

• Assists in managing the daily operation of the office by proactively providing and managing administrative, expense, and logistic support for the office suite, including but not limited to, calendar management, room reservations, expense management, procurement, mail, travel logistics, and recruitment efforts, all with a sense of urgency and utmost confidentiality.
• Triages emails and telephone calls for action; refers inquiries to the appropriate person and follows up to ensure complete and timely responses.
• Responsible for planning and execution of deliverables for standing meetings and projects within the department.
• Prep, set up, execute, and follow up on meetings, interviews, functions, and projects ensuring oversight is well-coordinated, timely, and effective.
• Organize and manage meetings, off-sites, and team-based events for training, development, recognition, and other organizational initiatives.
• Track and help drive completion of key deliverables and follow up on outstanding items.
• Manage procurement, organization, and storage of supplies in space that BSD Finance shares with other BSD offices and UCM.
• Provides confidential and high-level administrative support for a leader. Stays informed of activities relating to University programs and initiatives, apprising the leader of issues when deemed necessary. Coordinates information flow from the leader's office to the University. Relieves leaders of administrative responsibilities.
• Prepare special reports and summaries, assist in managing the daily operation of the office, and may assist in developing administrative goals and policies. Maintains the leader's calendar, exercising considerable discretion and judgment as to priorities and effective use of the leader's time.
• Coordinates special projects as directed by the leader. Prepares write-ups for recommendations for operational and administrative problems. May manage a portion of the leader's budget, monitoring and reconciling accounts. Prepares financial and/or administrative reports.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Requirements

• Minimum requirements include vocational training, apprenticeships or the equivalent experience in related field (not typically required to have a four-year degree).
• Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 7+ years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Nice-to-haves

• Bachelor's degree.
• At least seven years prior experience in a senior level administrative support position for executive level leaders.
• Prior experience as an administrative assistant in an academic environment.
• Experience with scheduling for multiple leaders, preparing leaders for meetings, events, interviews, and ongoing commitments to support a hybrid workforce.
• Creating, editing, proofing, and sending executive communication on behalf of supported offices.
• Extensive experience in preparing presentation decks for executive leadership.
• Experience with reconciling project budgets, tracking expenses, and providing timely updates on office expense management including monthly and quarterly tracking reports.
• Familiarity with Project Management methodologies.
• Advanced experience in Microsoft Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Adobe Acrobat.

Benefits

• The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off.