Department Chair’s Assistant & Team Lead

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Overview

Reporting to the Department Manager of Administrative and Chair Support, the Department Chair’s Assistant & Team Lead provides advanced administrative leadership for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the Chair’s Office. Operating with a high degree of independence, discretion, and professionalism, this role functions as a team lead for the department faculty support team, providing work direction, training, and coordination to 2.5 administrative staff to ensure consistent, high-quality administrative standards across the department.

Duties include but are not limited to:

Administrative Team Leadership

• Provides administrative leadership for the Chair’s Office by developing, implementing, and maintaining office procedures, workflows, and operational standards.
• Coordinates and guides the work of 2.5 faculty support staff, delegating and monitoring tasks to ensure consistency, accuracy, and adherence to departmental protocols. Tasks include, but are not limited to: organization of departmental events and seminars, expense reports, requisitions, supplier setup and travel coordination.
• Serves as the first point of escalation for operational and workflow issues within the support team.
• Acts as the department’s lead resource on administrative processes related to professional service agreements and other contractual needs; provides guidance, training, and workflow direction to team members as needed.
• Oversees daily operations of the Chair’s Office with minimal need for higher-level administrative intervention.

Chair & Department Support

• Coordinates faculty meetings, prepares agendas, records meeting minutes and tracks action items.
• Serves as a primary resource for department and University policies, providing guidance to faculty, staff, students, and visitors.
• Manages department-wide logistical processes, including key requests, room reservations, directories, and departmental communications.
• Plans and organizes annual prospective graduate student recruiting weekend, seminar speaker visits, and other high visibility departmental events, including overseeing departmental commencement planning.
• Provides comprehensive administrative support including purchasing supplies, arranging travel, organizing events, preparing expense reports and reimbursement requests.
• Provides administrative support to the Department Chair and their lab/students, including purchasing supplies, arranging travel, event support, preparing expense reports and reimbursement requests.
• May assist the Manager, Administrative and Chair Support with faculty and academic appointment/reappointment processes, coordination of visiting students, and handling of visa related documentation and requests.

Undergraduate Registrar

• Serves as the undergraduate registrar for ECE, supporting the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
• Coordinates faculty teaching assignments to ensure all core and mandatory courses are offered.

Other Duties

• May perform additional related duties as required or assigned to support the mission of the department.

Required Skills and Abilities

1. Organizational Skills: Ability to support multiple priorities in a fast-paced, high-volume setting. Proven experience providing functional guidance or workflow coordination to administrative staff.
2. Communication Skills: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook).
3. Administrative Proficiency: Proven record of resourcefulness, problem-solving, and ability to work independently, without continuous direction
4. Customer Service: Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to provide exceptional customer service and interact professionally with diverse groups.
5. Confidentiality and Judgment: Ability to handle sensitive information with discretion and exercise sound independent judgment.

Preferred Skills and Abilities

1. Advanced Technology Skills: Familiarity with systems such as Workday, Epic, and other administrative or financial software.
2. Event Planning: Experience in organizing and coordinating events, including logistics, catering, and travel arrangements.
3. Higher Education Experience: Prior experience working in an academic or medical environment, supporting faculty or research staff.
4. Financial Management: Proven ability to manage financial transactions, including expense reimbursements and budgeting.
5. Adaptability and Initiative: Ability to learn new technologies quickly, adapt to changing work environments, and take initiative in a highly dynamic setting.

Principal Responsibilities

1. Provides administrative leadership for a unit or function, including overseeing and coordinating projects or work processes, and distributes the work of a minimum of two full time employees.
2. Oversees and coordinates the daily operations of the office, including projects and work processes. Manages calendars and calls, assesses nature of issues and escalates as appropriate. Serves as principal source of information on policies, procedures, programs, and office activities. Administers, monitors, tracks and maintains office budget and spending.
3. Oversees and coordinates special projects on a variety of topics. Identifies project needs. Researches, gathers and analyzes data and materials. Collects project updates in a timely manner; prepares and maintains documentation, tracking, reports and presentations; follows up as appropriate.
4. Performs on-going review of department processes and systems. Develops, implements, and oversees office procedures designed to streamline operations, eliminates duplication and improves efficiency throughout the department.
5. Monitors and prioritizes communications for action and review; provides background necessary for action/decision-making; flags time sensitive material; initiates follow up.
6. Composes and/or coordinates substantive communications, reviews outgoing material for accuracy and completeness. Develops and/or produces materials for presentations.
7. Prioritizes, assigns and monitors work, according to set standards and expectations among the department administrative support staff. Ensures appropriate levels of coverage so department priorities can be met. Clarifies roles and responsibilities based on management definitions. Establishes and cultivates productive relationships between teams.
8. Attends meetings and drafts minutes. Performs other duties and responsibilities as necessary to support the mission of the office.
9. GREETS visitors, answers and screens telephone calls and assesses nature of business. Responds to requests for information and provides assistance. Screens and responds to mail.
10. May perform other duties as assigned.

Required Education and Experience

Eight years of related work experience, six of them in the same job family at the next lower level and a high school level education; or six years of related work experience and an Associate's Degree; or two years of related work experience and a Bachelor's Degree; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.