Career Center

The Executive Assistant to the Dean will provide organizational and administrative support of a confidential nature to the Office of the Dean. Reporting to the Dean of the College of Natural, Behavioral, and Health Sciences (CNBHS), the Executive 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. The Executive Assistant is an integral part of a fast-paced and collaborative team of operations-related staff within the Dean?s Office and across CNBHS. This highly visible role is critical to the function and success of the Dean?s Office. The Executive Assistant will serve as the first point of contact for inquiries related to the Dean and will support both academic and individual calendar coordination, event and meeting preparation, data maintenance, 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, equity and inclusion; practice and promote teamwork; perform independently; maintain confidentiality; adhere to high standards of personal conduct; and maintain and enhance professional/job competency.Essential FunctionsCalendar & Meeting Coordination Coordinate both academic and individual calendars for the Dean, using sound judgment to prioritize and commit leadership time for meetings, appointments, and travel based on an in-depth understanding of the Dean?s priorities and needs;Proactively identify and resolve scheduling conflicts;Schedule meetings and arrange conference calls for the Dean as well as College-wide faculty, staff, and student meetings as needed;Coordinate meeting logistics including location reservations, catering, and equipment;Prepare meeting materials and presentations;Draft and distribute meeting agendas;Attend meetings and manage meeting minutes as requested by the Dean and/or Director of Operations.Administrative Operations & Projects Support the Dean?s finance-related needs, including but not limited to purchasing supplies and travel expenses; processing of expense reports and credit card statements; verifying receipts; record and database maintenance requests; and complying with University budget policies;Prepare information and materials as needed for orders, programs, projects, and other College commitments, including faculty, visitor, and speaker, reimbursements, honorarium payments, and trainings;Coordinate the Office of the Dean?s events and related programs in collaboration with other Executive Assistants and Operations team;Provide administrative support for faculty searches including scheduling and booking travel, as needed;Support the annual faculty review processes including tracking of deadlines, forms, signatures, and filing;Support other academic operational activities, including data collection and analysis requests to support the Dean?s priorities and needs;Assist the Operations team with operational support including maintenance of digital and hard-copy personnel files;Work on discrete projects, providing project coordination, documentation, and support.Communications Serve as the primary point of contact for the Dean for internal and external constituencies;Maintain accurate contact lists and listservs in collaboration with Operations staff;Coordinate communications from the Dean to internal and external constituents;Respond to phone, email, and in-person inquiries in a timely, professional and respectful manner, while making autonomous, accurate, and swift judgments to triage all types of inquiries;Responsible for sorting and distributing incoming correspondence, including mail, faxes, and email in collaboration with other Executive Assistants;May assist with drafting and/or proofreading emails, letters, reports, or other documents and correspondence as needed.Additional ResponsibilitiesHelping to hire and manage student workers, as needed;Cross-training and providing coverage for other Executive Assistants within CNBHS;Assist with training of CNBHS Administrative Assistants and Operations staff, as needed;Additional duties as assigned by the Dean and/or Operations Director.EducationBachelor?s Degree or equivalent work experience required.Required Technical SkillsAdvanced proficiency with MS Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint);Intermediate proficiency with Adobe Suites;Advanced proficiency with Google suite, including Google Calendar and Drive.Knowledge, Skills & AbilitiesThree to five years of professional experience; administrative or executive assistant experience preferred;Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including editing and proofreading;Exceptional planning and organizational skills;Ability to take initiative and ownership of projects;Demonstrated ability to handle sensitive issues and maintain confidentiality;Ability to work well with culturally diverse populations within an organization;Proven ability to perform duties with a high level of professionalism, flexibility; discretion, judgment, diplomacy, and tact;Ability to multitask, adapt to changing priorities, and meet deadlines;Experience with purchasing and booking travel is a plus;Prior experience in higher education administration a plus, but not required.Desired CompetenciesCommunicationTime ManagementCollaborationPersonal Effectiveness/CredibilityFlexibility/AdaptabilityWork ScheduleThis is a 40-hour work week non-exempt position with a Monday through Friday schedule. Potential evening or weekend time may be needed several times a year to support special events. This position can be hybrid, with the ability to work both on campus and remotely.Salary GradeH06Instructions 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.

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