Senior Administrative Assistant - Laboratory Medicine

Overview

Reporting to the Supervisor, Academic and Administrative Affairs, this position provides primary day-to-day support for the ongoing activities of the Department of Laboratory Medicine. This position will be expected to coordinate travel, process reimbursements, procure items or service for the research division, coordinate the organization of department workshops and seminars, mail, process facility requests, conference room bookings, order and distribute office supplies, provide administrative backup to other team members, and other duties as assigned.

Required Skills and Abilities

1. Ability and willingness to work on campus five days per week to provide consistent, in-person administrative support.
2. Demonstrated experience organizing academic workshops, seminars, or similar events, including scheduling, logistics, communications, speaker coordination, and day-of execution. Strong interpersonal skills and a team-oriented mindset, with the ability to build effective working relationships across departments.
3. Ability to travel between multiple Laboratory Medicine sites, as needed, to support faculty, research operations, meetings, and event logistics. Ability to work independently, problem-solve, and exercise sound judgment while managing day-to-day operational needs.
4. Strong skills in coordinating travel, processing reimbursements, procuring goods and services, managing mail, handling facility requests, and reserving conference rooms. Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to interact professionally with faculty, researchers, administrative staff, and external partners.
5. Proven ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously, prioritize competing deadlines, and maintain meticulous attention to detail in a fast-paced research environment. Comfortable using Microsoft Office Suite, online scheduling tools, procurement systems, and other administrative platforms required for daily operations.

Preferred Skills and Abilities

1. Familiarity with Workday.
2. Prior experience working in an academic or medical environment, supporting faculty or research staff.
3. Ability to learn new technologies quickly, adapt to changing work environments, and take initiative in a highly dynamic setting.

Principal Responsibilities

1. Oversees and coordinates administrative, program, and office activities. Establishes, selects, implements, and coordinates office procedures and systems. Serves as principal source of information to students, staff, and faculty on policies, procedures, programs, and office activities.
2. Oversees, instructs, and coordinates activities of support staff. Oversees the preparation of materials for grants, contracts and budgets. Monitors expenditures and reconciles financial statements.
3. Provides editorial support for a journal/publication. Proofreads and edits material for grammatical and factual accuracy. Tracks copy through various editing and production stages. Communicates with authors, printers, and others concerned with published work.
4. Determines administrative, facility, and equipment needs for symposia, lectures, seminars, and conferences. Assembles and arranges for necessary items. Determines sources of data. Compiles, synthesizes and manipulates data. Summarizes findings and writes reports or portions of reports.
5. Greets visitors. Answers and screens telephone calls. Assesses nature of business. Responds to requests for information and provides assistance. Screens and responds to mail.
6. Formats, keyboard, proofread, and edits correspondence, reports, manuscripts, grants, and other material. Assembles attachments and corresponding material. Reviews outgoing material for completeness, dates, and signatures. Composes substantive correspondence and written material.
7. Coordinates travel arrangements. Schedules and coordinates meetings and appointments. Orders and maintains inventory of supplies. Takes minutes or dictation. Performs additional functions incidental to office activities.

Required Education and Experience

Six years of related work experience, four of them in the same job family at the next lower level, and high school level education; or four years of related work experience and an Associate's degree; or little or no work experience and a Bachelor's degree in a related field; or an equivalent combination of experience and education.