If you have any questions about the position or our application process, reach out to us at recruiting-u@smith.edu.

Job Description

Job Summary

Ensure quality administrative support for faculty, staff, and students in all team departments, responsibility for the efficient day-to-day operation of the team's administrative offices, supervise administrative support positions across assigned academic units. Expert on institutional systems and processes. May provide administrative, operational and/or logistical support as needed for curricular unit or center. A cover letter is required for your application to be considered complete; any applications missing a cover letter will not be reviewed.

Take appropriate actions to support a diverse workforce and participate in the College's efforts to create a respectful, inclusive, and welcoming work environment.

Essential Functions

Supervision & Training: (40%) Provide leadership and mentoring for academic administrative assistants. Perform goal-setting and performance evaluations. Approve time sheets, time off, and manage office coverage. Participate in planning and organizing the hiring of new departmental assistants. Coordinate with the Office of the Provost/Dean of Faculty for prioritizing, facilitating, and improving upon the work of the team administrative support staff. Participate on the Academic Administrative Assistant Leadership Team on advancement of strategic priorities. Train members of the administrative team where needed with special attention to compliance with Smith policies and best practices. Build and maintain positive working relationships within the administrative assistant team who report to the supervisor, and with internal customers (faculty, staff, students), other administrative staff, and external visitors. Analyze workload and review assignments to ensure equity and appropriately deploy expertise. Plan and execute coverage plans in the event of vacancies within the team.

Academic Assistant Leadership Team: Collaborate with Human Resources and the Office of the Provost/Dean of Faculty to develop a leadership structure and effective processes and professional development programming for the AAA cohort. Develop flexible, professional competencies to continue to cultivate a collaborative and effective team - positioning team members to adapt to changing academic administrative processes across the institution. Attend monthly leadership team meetings and working meetings as necessary; set agenda and lead monthly cohort meetings. Facilitate enhanced hiring processes and comprehensive onboarding and training processes for the assistants group, including the creation and maintenance of reference materials for AAAs, incorporating technologically enabled standards. Build ongoing strategic initiatives in conjunction with provost's office and other allied offices.

Student Administrative Support: Hire, train, schedule and supervise student workers who provide administrative support to the team. Maintain hiring budget and ensure adequate deployment of resources across the team.

Procurement and Budget Administration: (15%) Manage team budgets covering office supplies, shared printers/copiers and student payroll. Administer all departmental budget sources for assigned academic units, including assisting with purchasing, order and expense tracking. Process requisitions, purchase order requests, invoices, reimbursement requests, and journal entries. Provide budget status reports on a regular basis. Reconcile budget expenses in the College's financial system. Maintain financial files and paper audit trail for Smith financial policy compliance. Liaise with budget and finance offices for process improvement, testing and deployment.

Administrative Support: (35%) Provide direct support for Department Chairs and faculty within curricular unit, center office. Maintain departmental records and databases. Manage departmental correspondence. Support departmental midterm and decennial reviews. Maintain and update departmental web page content and other online presence, as appropriate. Assist in orienting new faculty and staff.

Event and Program Coordination: For assigned academic units, coordinate and organize events, including room reservations, publicity, refreshments and meals, and processing requests for honoraria and reimbursements for field trips, invited speakers, colloquia, lunch bags, presentations of the major, conferences, etc.

Curricular support: For assigned academic units, assemble and update course offerings and schedules. Assist in the preparation of annual course catalog revisions. Order supplies and help prepare course materials. Secure copyright permissions, following college policy.

Departmental and Student Hiring Support: For assigned academic units, track faculty search applicants and application materials including related correspondence, search forms, and summaries. Coordinate candidate interviews including travel and accommodations. Assist faculty in hiring work-study students.

Facilities Management: (10%) Oversee operations and management of academic buildings as assigned. Coordinate work orders; manage central office equipment, including MFDs across buildings; update building directories. Coordinate arrangements for office moves for faculty and staff.

Other Functions

All employees are expected to participate in the College's efforts to create a respectful, inclusive, and welcoming work environment.

Minimum Qualifications (knowledge, skills, education, experience, certifications, licenses)

Associate's degree, and three to five years of relevant experience or the equivalent combination of education and/or experience. Supervisory experience needed.

Experience working with individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Skills

Ability to organize and prioritize work, take initiative, resolve problems, and manage multiple tasks simultaneously. Excellent communication skills - verbal, written and interpersonal with demonstrated ability to be discreet and maintain confidentiality; ability to communicate with all levels of the department and organization. Proven ability to track expenses and manage financial data accurately in spreadsheets and accounting systems. Proficient in the use of office technology, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Ability to update and maintain web pages.

Please attach/upload a current resume and cover letter in order for your application to be considered for this position.

Position Type:

About Smith College

Located in Northampton, MA, Smith College is one of the largest women's colleges in the country and is dedicated to excellence in teaching and research across the liberal arts. A faculty of outstanding scholars interact with students in small classes, as advisors, and through student-faculty research projects. The College is a member of the Five College Consortium with Amherst, Hampshire and Mt. Holyoke Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Students cross-enroll and faculty cross-teach across the Five Colleges.

As set forth in our mission and values, Smith College is committed to promoting a culture of equity and inclusion among students, staff and faculty. The College will not discriminate in employment on the basis of age, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, genetic information, age, veteran status, physical or mental disability, or any other classification protected by law. Smith College is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all state and federal laws that prohibit discrimination.