Administrative and Communications Coordinator

University Overview

The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school consistently ranks among the top 10 universities in the annual U.S. News & World Report survey. Penn has 12 highly-regarded schools that provide opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and continuing education, all influenced by Penn’s distinctive interdisciplinary approach to scholarship and learning. As an employer Penn has been ranked nationally on many occasions with the most recent award from Forbes who named Penn one of America’s Best Large Employers in 2023.

Penn offers a unique working environment within the city of Philadelphia. The University is situated on a beautiful urban campus, with easy access to a range of educational, cultural, and recreational activities. With its historical significance and landmarks, lively cultural offerings, and wide variety of atmospheres, Philadelphia is the perfect place to call home for work and play.

The University offers a competitive benefits package that includes excellent healthcare and tuition benefits for employees and their families, generous retirement benefits, a wide variety of professional development opportunities, supportive work and family benefits, a wealth of health and wellness programs and resources, and much more.

Posted Job Title

Administrative and Communications Coordinator

Job Profile Title

Administrative Coordinator

Job Description Summary

The Administrative and Communications Coordinator is responsible for completing the day-to-day operations of the office, working closely with the Assistant Director of Administration. Their primary duties are administrative and financial; as such they are responsible for purchasing supplies, aiding in Concur reimbursements, payment to guest lecturers, processing weekly purchasing card journals, and keeping the budget in check. They organize all travel for all members of the department; including student studio trips, grant and faculty research, as well as guest lecturers. They are responsible for communicating and enforcing financial policies across these payment platforms. They assist in planning and day-of logistics for events such as Summer Institute, Open House, lectures, reviews, and symposia. They will schedule faculty/student appointments. In addition, they maintain internal department physical and digital archives/files and manage departmental alumni and professional databases/lists. The employee acts as the public face of the department, fielding cold calls and is the first person you see when you walk into the office. They must maintain a welcoming, efficient reception area, respond to inquiries about the program by answering the phone/email, greet visitors and prospective students, and perform general fax, copying, scanning, mail and filing tasks.

Working closely with the Chair, the Administrative and Communications Coordinator plans, strategizes and executes all public facing department messaging, maximizes content across all channels: they write emails, original feature articles, take pictures, design our bi-annual printed department publication, “Prospectus” and manage the Instagram/LinkedIn accounts. They supervise the communications student worker(s). Content ranges from short blog posts to original long form reporting on department news, faculty research, student spotlights, alumni updates, event promotion, and more. The employee is responsible for keeping the website up to date, collecting new information to post, and sharing content with the communications office. They also gather internal department updates monthly to be reported to the Chair and Dean.

Job Description

Job Responsibilities

• Provides varied and complex administrative coordination to support daily operations
• Facilitate meeting scheduling: coordinate scheduling of large groups, cross departmental/divisional meetings for multiple initiatives
• Assists with making travel arrangements and producing expense reports
• Assists with the coordination and planning of various department events
• May assist with weekly payroll preparation and processing, equipment contracts/repairs, facilities requests, of