Executive Assistant

Department
 

EPIC - Adminstration and Operations

About the Department
 

The University of Chicago Institute for Climate and Energy (CEI) is a groundbreaking effort uniting faculty from across the university to advance society’s understanding of our energy and climate future. The Institute combines faculty insights in energy markets and policy, climate systems engineering, and energy technology to produce world-changing ideas while also investing in the next generation of energy and climate thinkers, leaders, and innovators through novel educational programs.

Job Summary
 

The Executive Assistant will independently manage multiple administrative and management tasks, providing high-level support to organizational leadership to the Faculty and Executive Director of the Institute. Must be able to provide a wide variety of exceptional strategic support and project assistance including scheduling and coordinating high-priority meetings, organizing meetings and workshops, running special events, and maintaining calendars, while upholding confidentiality and exercising discretion in handling sensitive matters. Responsible for planning, directing, coordinating and managing daily operations individual organization units, and centers or academic departments. Responsibilities are diverse and general in nature and may reflect more than one functional area.

This position provides confidential and high-level office and location support activities by acting as a lead and coordinating the work of others. Identifies, enhances, and applies specific processes and procedures to maximize the efficiencies of the University to which the support is being provided. May ensure the correct functioning of facilities, office and/or business support services.

Responsibilities

• Provides high-level, complete, strategic oversight of schedule and engagements including triaging and confirming internal and external invitations; develops and communicates agenda and meeting expectations; and leads follow-up with meeting participants for resulting deliverables.
• May manage a portion of the leader's budget, monitoring and reconciling accounts. Prepares financial and/or administrative reports at the direction of the Director of Administrative Support.  
• Organizes on- and off-campus meetings including dinners, workshops and other special events. Coordinates speakers, handling all travel arrangements and reimbursements using E Payment; handles speaker’s itinerary; makes room reservations in ASTRA, arranges for ground transportation.
• Manages day-to-day expenses and reconciliations of expense reports and work in collaboration with the finance administrator with soliciting and processing travel reimbursements, and other internal and external receivables, to ensure timely dispersal of obligated payments using GEMS.
• 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.
• Maintains the leader's calendar, exercising considerable discretion and judgment as to priorities and effective use of the leader's time.
• Assists Executive Director’s team with scheduling meetings both internally and externally.
• Prepares special reports and summaries.
• Coordinates onsite lunches which consist of ordering, setup and breakdown.
• Stays informed of activities relating to University programs and initiatives, apprising the faculty of issues when deemed necessary.
• May coordinate research support, including recommending various personnel actions related to research staff including, but not limited to, hiring, performance appraisals, and promotions, determining work priorities and scheduling workflow to meet deadlines and ensuring accuracy and timeliness of work.
• Prepares faculty annual report using Interfolio. Prepares and coordinates letters of recommendation for graduate students and postdocs.
• Creates lecture materials and schedules Zoom calls for graduate classes taught by the faculty member.  Prepares PowerPoint presentation materials and exams.
• Assists with processing faculty recruitment cases as needed.
• Monitors faculty member’s internal and external communications to maximize research impact and exposure. Handles sensitive written and telephone communications effectively in a professional manner at all times; answers, screens, and directs communications with utmost courtesy, professionalism, and confidentiality.  Composes and edits emails, letters, memos, reports and meeting agendas. Monitors faculty member’s website, course sites and special websites for specific events or research.
• Guides projects from onset to completion, with a particular focus on the leaders’