Stanford University is seeking a senior Executive Assistant to provide advanced, diversified administrative support of a substantial and confidential nature to an executive who is a member of the University Cabinet. The Executive Assistant will need to anticipate the executive's needs and proactively solve problems and/or independently handle issues. Work is performed autonomously, without specific instructions or prescribed procedures, and with delegated authority to exercise discretion and judgment regarding matters of significance on behalf of the executive.

Duties include:

• Coordinate the executive's activities, including management of a complex calendar, travel arrangements and associated logistics. Independently commit the executive's time to those requesting access to him/her based on an in-depth understanding of the executive's priorities and needs and his role within the university framework.
• Independently prioritize, plan, coordinate and/or oversee logistics for meetings and conferences with individuals and entities internal and external to the university, including executive and senior level staff, donors, and government officials.
• Serve as the executive's liaison to various internal and external constituencies, including screening correspondence and telephone calls; keep the executive informed of all matters requiring his attention.
• Oversee and/or manage multiple projects; anticipate and track critical dates, events and organizational issues for the executive; follow up with appropriate parties to ensure deadlines are met.
• Organize and maintain the workings of the executive's office. Take responsibility for filing systems and ensuring all pertinent information and supporting materials are retained. Direct staff to perform various tasks and assignments.

Executive Assistant to Dean Lloyd Minor, Dean's Office

A key position in the Dean's Office, the Executive Assistant has primary responsibility for managing the Dean's schedule. Discretion and confidentiality are critical to the position. The duties of this position require extensive knowledge of the University, medical school and hospital/clinical environments as well as knowledge of the Dean's position and priorities with regard to a wide range of issues. This is a busy role where each day brings a new set of objectives, priorities and demands. It requires someone who can exercise absolute discretion and good judgment and can take significant initiative. The successful candidate will work at the highest levels of the organization, interfacing regularly with School and University leaders, faculty, staff and external constituencies on a broad variety of confidential and complex issues. The successful candidate will be self-motivated, quick thinking, flexible and be able to juggle multiple and diverse responsibilities with a strong emphasis on organizational skills and an unwavering attention to detail at all times. In addition, because this position is frequently the initial contact with the Dean, it is critical that the successful candidate have a welcoming and highly professional manner.

The nature of the responsibilities of this position may require the ability to work evenings and weekends.

Responsibilities:

• Manage the Dean's calendar of meetings, appointments and special events; organize high-level meetings with constituencies as required; anticipate schedule conflicts and take initiative to resolve them in a timely manner.
• Ensure the preparedness of the Dean for daily meetings, events and trips, and work with others to ensure briefing materials are prepared appropriately and on time.
• Coordinate travel plans and itineraries for the Dean in a manner that promotes the best use of time and efficiency and minimizes potential travel issues.
• Prepare and edit letters, memos and other correspondence for the Dean.
• Screen and respond to the Dean's phone calls as needed; handle highly confidential information with an appropriate level of discretion; maintain effective and proactive communication with faculty, staff, alumni, administrators and students as required.
• Maintain a broad overview of the Dean's commitments, both personal and professional, to optimize the use of his time.
• Organize and maintain the workings of the executive's office. Take responsibility for filing systems and ensuring all pertinent information and supporting materials are retained.
• Represent the Dean and the School of Medicine and serve as the Dean's liaison to other offices, agencies and individuals, both internal and external to the University.
• Share duties with an Operations Manager including travel preparation, filing, copying of correspondence.

Qualifications:

• The Executive Assistant must be capable of exercising independent judgment in making decisions regarding usage of the Dean's time, in making decisions as to how to approach issues involving the Dean and in determining which issues should be directed to others. To do this the Executive Assistant must become thoroughly familiar with the Dean's activities, commitments, policies, projects and priorities, professional and otherwise, and must have or develop a commitment to the Dean's vision for the School of Medicine.
• The Executive Assistant must be, or quickly become, knowledgeable about University policies and procedures, including the relationship of the School to the major affiliated hospitals. An understanding of and how the medical center and clinical programs operate will also be important. It is critical for the Executive Assistant to see the big picture and keep the Dean's goals firmly in mind.
• The Executive Assistant must be discrete and confidential in handling sensitive issues.
• The Executive Assistant must be able judge the relative importance of issues and act independently to address them; work with the appropriate sense of urgency and have a drive for results. He or she must be highly self-motivated, persistent, dependable and independent, requiring minimal supervision.
• The Executive Assistant must exercise independent, excellent judgment and represent the Dean in a highly professional manner as a representative to both internal and external constituencies.
• Demonstrated ability to accept changes to deadlines and schedules with tact and diplomacy.

Competencies required:

• Organizational skills: independently prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously, often under pressure in a fast-paced environment; demonstrated ability to juggle multiple competing projects, and demands to meet these commitments with accuracy and the desired outcome.
• Interpersonal skills: tact, poise, professionalism, diplomacy, teamwork and the ability to get on well with a variety of diverse personalities and people at various organizational levels including office personnel.
• Communication skills: excellent oral and written abilities. Produce complete, correct, professional documents and materials with careful attention to detail. Raise questions and ask for clarification when new or unusual circumstances or situations arise.
• Problem solving: understand the importance of resolving complex issues quickly; know when to act independently and when to seek advice.

* - Other duties may also be assigned