Careers Job Description
General Description
The City University of New York (CUNY) is seeking an Executive and Operations Assistant for the Office of Research.
In a single integrated system of 25 institutions, the Office of Research (OR) is responsible for the strategic leadership, development, and implementation of University-wide initiatives aimed at building research capacity for members of the CUNY community, from students to senior faculty. Their research, scholarly, and creative pursuits are supported through three OR divisions: Research Development and Programs; Innovation and Entrepreneurship; and Research Integrity and Compliance. Jointly, these divisions encourage collaborative and transdisciplinary research innovations; foster startups and commercialization both within and beyond the CUNY community; and ensure adherence to the standards that govern research ethics and sponsored program administration.
To promote the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research’s (AVCR) vision of a unified and engaged Office of Research, a skilled, proactive and entrepreneurial professional is needed to serve as the Executive and Operations Assistant. Reporting to the AVCR, the Executive and Operations Assistant performs specialized administrative and analytical responsibilities that support cross-functional operations; policy and program development; team culture-building and cohesion; and the reporting, evaluation, and improvement of OR-wide systems, procedures, and processes. The Executive and Operations Assistant will cooperate with the AVCR’s team and the three divisions of CUNY OR to enhance the value and outcomes of their shared priorities.
In addition to the CUNY Title Overview, other key duties include, but will not be limited to the following:
- Assists with managing the daily operations of the AVCR’s office to enhance organizational effectiveness and ensure confidentiality in all activities.
- Prioritizes issues for the AVCR and contributes to their solutioning/resolution alongside colleagues.
- Manages the AVCR’s daily schedule and calendar, and coordinates dates and all logistical arrangements for meetings, events, and travel.
- Analyzes operational and fiscal activities and prepares executive reports, presentations, and briefs.
- Drafts executive communications, briefing materials, and responses.
- Manages the collection, retention, and distribution of confidential and time-sensitive information and documents.
- Cultivates cross-OR team cohesion and shared purpose through culture-building initiatives.
- Supports the implementation of new digital tools to enhance the hybrid office operations of OR.
- Manages office expenditures, fiscal and procurement transactions, audits and reconciliations.
- Assists with planning and implementing various strategic initiatives, programs, projects, meetings and events.
- Serves as an internal and external resource on administrative policy and procedural matters to various constituents.
- Receives inquiries and resolves them, or refers them to appropriate staff, using discretion and sound judgment.
Other Duties
CUNY Title Overview
- Provides support to a Campus or University Executive, organizing and supervising unit activities.
- Creates appointment and meeting schedules, arranges meetings, and prepares for a variety of special events. Maintains an ongoing calendar of reports, deadlines, and key dates and incorporates these into a schedule.
- Coordinates Executive communications, including those requiring a high degree of sensitivity. May respond to public inquiries as well as requests from within the Campus/University community.
- Organizes, creates, and distributes key, complex management reports with a high degree of accuracy.
- Organizes, manages, and tracks written and email correspondence, maintaining logs and records of follow-up activities.
- Procures required internal and external resources and services and manages their utilization.
- May supervise office staff, performing basic Human Resources functions such as recruiting and interviewing.
- May perform related duties as assigned; may participate in special projects and efforts to improve unit effectiveness.
- Job Title Name: Executive and Operations Assistant
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree and four years of relevant experience performing administrative, operational, and financial management work in support of higher education institutional effectiveness.
Preferred Qualifications
- Fluency with public university procedures, and comfort with navigating and problem-solving higher education central office practices and challenges.
- Experience with short- and long-range administrative and academic planning, as well as event and program management.
- Familiarity with higher education research and sponsored programs customs and norms
- Strong work ethic and character with a high degree of personal integrity to maintain confidentiality and work with professional poise and discretion.
- Exceptional orientation to detail and accuracy, with strong quantitative, analytical, research, evaluation, and writing skills.
- Enthusiastic, flexible, and customer-focused with strong interpersonal communication skills to work effectively with diverse members of the university community and external constituents.
- Proactive drive to experiment with and initiate new approaches for team and culture-building in a post-COVID hybrid office.
- Strong organizational and follow-through skills to develop and execute work plans, prioritize work, manage multiple assignments and meet deadlines.
- Strong grasp of contemporary administrative, financial or academic systems, databases, and software programs.
- Ability and eagerness to learn and integrate new digital tools for organizational effectiveness as post-COVID hybrid operations evolve.
RFCUNY Benefits
RFCUNY Employee Benefits and AccrualsAbout the Research Foundation
The Research Foundation of The City University of New York (RFCUNY) is a nonprofit educational corporation founded in 1963 to provide post-award fiscal and administrative support for CUNY’s research and sponsored programs. RFCUNY’s services allow CUNY researchers, faculty, and staff to focus on their intellectual curiosity and scientific discoveries, on projects and programs that serve our local and global communities, proposing concrete solutions to society’s most pressing challenges.
RFCUNY serves as a fiscal agent and works closely with all the CUNY campus Grants Offices to perform the core functions of post-award financial management for CUNY research projects and sponsored programs. These functions include legal assessment and signing of agreements where RFCUNY is named as a fiscal agent; setting up award accounts; preparing sub-awards and assisting PIs in monitoring the work of the recipients of sub-awards; supporting project directors with hiring and managing research project and sponsored program staff; supporting the purchasing and paying for goods and services with grant and program funds; managing financial aspects of projects including accounts receivable, financial reporting, invoicing, budget monitoring, and cost compliance with uniform guidance; ensuring that sponsor financial requirements are met; monitoring compliance with applicable project and financial management rules and laws; supporting the management of independent and external audits and financial reviews; and providing data, information, management expertise, and other supports to CUNY’s research and sponsored programs.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
Key Features
CUNY Office of Research
Full Time
$70,000.00 - $75,000.00
Apr 11, 2022 (Or Until Filled)