Administrative Coordinator for the Office of Research, Innovation & Economic Development

Market Range 4, DOE&Q, Non-exempt, full-time

Description: This position is part of the Shared Administrative Services (SAS) team in the Office of Research, Innovation, & Economic Development (ORIED), at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT), which is organized under Research Finance & Administration (RFA). The work of administrative coordinators is performed within established guidelines under the general supervision of the SAS team lead. SAS provides executive-level administrative support to members of the ORIED leadership team. This support includes general administrative services as well as event planning and execution. Each administrative coordinator is assigned to provide this support to multiple individuals in ORIED leadership positions, using a workflow model based around core services and overflow assignments. Because SAS takes a shared approach to managing administrative and event work, the team has the flexibility to refocus support to respond to current and emerging work needs and priorities across the ORIED leadership team. SAS administrative coordinators operate in a dynamic environment and are committed to supporting the workload of the entire team in a positive, equitable, and flexible manner. This position is primarily in person, with some hybrid (work from home) flexibility.

Duties/Responsibilities:

General administrative support: Each SAS administrative coordinator provides support to multiple individuals in ORIED leadership positions for the following:

• Scheduling support: Includes calendar/time management, scheduling meetings with multiple executive attendees, communicating with attendees about the purpose and goal of meetings, updating and monitoring schedules, prioritizing between meeting requests, following up to ensure timely responses, and similar functions.

• Meeting support: Work with ORIED leadership team members to plan, coordinate, and manage logistics of meetings, including internal meetings for staff within another ORIED division or team, meetings with a focus on UT faculty, staff, and students, and meetings for external audiences, such as interviews and advisory, community, or industry groups. meetings may be small (2-5 people) to large (50+), and in person or virtual. Meeting management may include recurring, division-wide meetings. Meetings may take place virtually, in person at various locations across campus, or offsite. For in-person meetings, manage administrative details including catering orders, room reservations, parking arrangements, technology set-up and troubleshooting, set-up and take-down, and similar functions.

• Travel support: Includes planning and scheduling, completing registrations and reservations, processing travel reports for reimbursement, ensuring travelers have received all essential details, and similar functions.

• Communication support: Includes initiating and drafting correspondence on behalf of the supervisor, obtaining information from multiple sources needed to provide context and guidance to meeting attendees, delivering promised or scheduled information on time, serving as a point of contact for attendee questions and responding in a timely manner, providing guidance and direction to visitors, preparing agendas and itineraries, drafting memos and letters, submitting requests for interviews, and other correspondence for distribution.

• Team support: Coordinate routine tasks and shared administrative work that supports the entire office, including database entry, report updates, shared resource management, and similar functions.

• General office support: Liaise with other members of the RFA team to complete basic office functions, such as preparing budgets for AVC impact areas, tracking integrated accounts at the AVC level, managing contracts for functional areas on a macro-level, ordering supplies and promotional items, managing human resource issues, reviewing budget charges, and similar functions.

Event Planning and Execution: Each SAS administrative coordinator provides support to multiple individuals in ORIED leadership positions for the following. Many assignments in this space may include providing overflow support for events coordinated by other administrative support personnel serving the leadership team.

• Work with ORIED leadership team members to plan, coordinate, and manage logistics of events, including internal events for staff within another ORIED division or team, events with a focus on UT faculty, staff, and students, and events for external audiences, such as advisory, community, or industry groups. Events may be small (10-15 people) to large (50+), and in person or virtual.

• Includes identifying and reserving event venues and meeting spaces; coordinating catering or restaurant reservations; organizing campus tours; securing transportation and/or parking; providing directions to meeting locations; proactively identifying and coordinating audiovisual needs and technical support; and keeping event expenses within budget.

• Provide on-site, day of event/meeting management and assistance.

Team improvement: Each member of SAS is expected to be an active participant in meeting team objectives and goals, and improving work outcomes. Under the general supervision of the SAS team lead, administrative coordinators analyze information and interpret situations to determine how to solve a problem or complete an assignment effectively, and share these solutions and best practices with other members of the team. They also make recommendations to the team lead to create and change office-level procedures.

Other duties as assigned. Includes (but is not limited to) temporarily assuming additional administrative duties (especially scheduling and time management needs) in the event of a job vacancy on the team, until the position can be filled.

Qualifications:

Education and Experience:

Required: All of the following: High school diploma or equivalent; five years of experience as an administrative assistant in an office environment; any level of event planning experience.

Preferred: Any of the following: Associate's degree; Bachelor's degree; experience supporting executives or senior administrators; experience working in an academic environment; Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) credential.

Required Skills and Abilities:

• Exceptional customer service approach to all interactions with UT faculty, staff, and executives, as well as external guests;

• Commitment to supporting the workload of the entire team in a positive, equitable, and flexible manner;

• Strong personal initiative to proactively manage assigned tasks and meet deadlines under minimal supervision;

• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail;

• Ability to multi-task and prioritize assignments;

• Professional writing and proofreading skills;

• Proficiency with the Microsoft Office software suite, especially Outlook;

• Professional integrity, including a thorough understanding of confidentiality.

Minimum Required Skills and Abilities:

• Experience with software programs and tools used at UT or in other academic institutions, such as IRIS/Oracle, Cayuse/Huron, Concur Travel, 25Live, Taleo, etc.

Additional Information

Please attach the following electronic documents to the application: Cover letter, resume, and the names, addresses (postal and electronic), and telephone numbers of at least three references.

Websites

https://research.utk.edu/oried/