Group Administrative Assistant

The Tactical Autonomy Group develops and delivers AI-enabled autonomy and robotic systems where it counts - at the tactical edge. As an FFRDC, we combine academic depth in algorithms, controls, and machine learning, the execution speed of industry, and direct mission pull from operational end-users to solve problems others can’t. We don’t stop at papers: we design, build, integrate, field-test, and transition autonomy stacks - spanning perception, decision-making, learning, and control - into real operations across the DoD and Intelligence Community.

Position Description

The Administrative Assistant will support the daily operations of a fast-paced technical group, office serving as a central coordination point for group leadership, staff, visitors, and the Laboratory more broadly. Responsibilities include:

• Manage complex calendars for group leadership and shared resources, including scheduling meetings, resolving conflicts, coordinating conference rooms, and supporting Teams/Zoom meeting logistics.
• Coordinate group communications, including phone and email coverage, group distribution lists, seminar and event announcements, visitor coordination, and maintenance of key group information resources.
• Arrange domestic and international travel, respond to itinerary changes, submit travel-related documentation, and process expense vouchers.
• Prepare, submit, and track administrative transactions, including procurement requests, P-card purchases and verifications, facilities and IT work orders, shipping requests, catering requests, locksmith requests, timekeeping, vacation/sick leave, and other web-based forms.
• Support hiring, onboarding, and staff transitions by entering hiring requisitions, coordinating interviews, preparing onboarding materials, provisioning office space, supporting office moves, and helping new staff access group resources.
• Coordinate group meetings, workshops, seminars, conferences, technical courses, and staff events, including logistics, schedules, materials, catering, visitor access, and follow-up actions.
• Prepare, edit, organize, and archive office documents, correspondence, agendas, spreadsheets, trackers, release-review submissions, and other administrative materials.
• Maintain office supplies, shared resources, office equipment, group records, and administrative trackers to support efficient day-to-day operations.
• Support group security, training, safety, emergency-preparedness, and audit activities, including handling sensitive or classified material as required by the role.
• Work closely with the Group Business Manager, group leadership, other administrative staff, and Laboratory service departments such as HR, Travel, Security, Facilities, IT, Contracting, and Finance to keep group operations running smoothly.

Minimum Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• At least 5 years of directly related administrative experience; post-high-school education may count toward experience.
• Ability to obtain and maintain a government security clearance.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• Strong Outlook calendar-management skills, including meeting coordination, shared calendars, scheduling across multiple participants, and managing competing priorities.
• Ability to work on site and provide hands-on support for meetings, visitors, classified-material handling, and daily office operations.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to interact professionally with group leadership, staff, sponsors, visitors, and Laboratory service departments.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent tasks, prioritize work, meet deadlines, and follow through reliably in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to handle confidential or sensitive information with discretion and sound judgment.
• Ability to work both independently under minimal supervision and collaboratively as part of a group office team.

Exceptional candidates may have one or more of the following:

• Post-high-school education or training in an administrative, business, or office-management role.
• Experience supporting a technical, research, engineering, government, defense, or security-focused organization.
• Familiarity with collaboration and knowledge-management tools such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Jira, Wiki/Confluence, SharePoint, or similar platforms.
• Demonstrated ability to improve administrative workflows, maintain organized trackers, anticipate needs, and proactively identify ways to make office operations more efficient.
• Familiarity with Laboratory admin