Administrative Specialist-Biological Sciences Jobs

The Administrative Specialist is part of the administrative staff in the Department of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University. The Administrative Specialist handles faculty and postdoc appointments and re-appointments, faculty recruitment, expense reports, facilities support, and provides administrative support to the Department Chair. This person will work report directly to the Administrative Manager and indirectly to the Department Chair.
The Department of Biological Sciences has an excellent staff to facilitate issue resolution involving personnel, financial management, supply and equipment orders proposal submission, and infrastructure. The faculty in the department carry out diverse research projects and often collaborate with other members within the department and in nearby departments. This department covers a broad spectrum of biology, from molecules and cells to tissues and organisms to populations and ecosystems. Award-winning faculty and graduate students teach and carry out research in Biochemistry, Structural Biology and Biophysics, Cell Biology, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Computational Biology, Evolutionary Biology, Ecology, Developmental Biology, and Neurobiology.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Responsible for department administration of communication, documentation and submission of faculty appointments, re-appointments, and promotions (research assistant professors, visiting scholars, lecturers, secondary, adjunct, non-tenure track, tenure-track and tenured)
- Responsible for implementing new faculty recruitment: advertisements, arranging travel, and setting up itineraries
- Responsible for department administration of communication, documentation and submission of postdoctoral appointments and re-appointments (postdoctoral scholar, research and postdoctoral scholar, trainees)
- Coordinates departmental seminar series: - Serves as first point of contact for visiting speakers
- Arranges hotel accommodations, creates speaker itineraries, coordinates lunches and dinners with Biological Sciences faculty & students/postdocs
- Designs and distributes seminar announcements
- Processes speaker reimbursement and honorarium payments
- Serves as departmental Communication and Digital Media Coordinator - Implements updates and improvements to departmental website
- Posts departmental and research news stories to social media, website, and digital lobby board
- Departmental point of contact for communications from Department Chair to faculty, staff, graduate students/postdocs
- Designs and disseminates seminar announcements and flyers
- Maintains departmental bulletin boards
- Provides support to the Department Chair - Provides support for faculty promotions and reappointments - Attends faculty meetings; takes and summarizes meeting minutes
- Assists with drafting Department Chair’s letter of support
- Primary point of contact for external letter writers
- Analyzes and summarizes faculty teaching evaluation statistics
- Maintains record of laboratory and office space allocation within department space
- Manages/maintains Department Chair’s calendar
- Assists Department Chair with processing One Card expense reports and expense reimbursements
- Serves as departmental point of contact for the submission of Work Orders and facilities issues; works with Administrative Manager to resolve facilities issues
- Assists Administrative Manager with annual space survey
- Other duties as assigned

Qualifications
- Excellent oral and written communication skills are necessary.
- Excellent data organizational skills and proficiency with Excel spreadsheets is necessary.
- Proven ability to execute multiple tasks and work in a fast-paced environment under the pressure of hard deadlines and competing priorities is necessary.
- Ability to handle highly confidential materials and strong organizational and prioritization skills is necessary.
- Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively is necessary.
- Experience with social media applications and Wordpress website maintenance is preferred.
- Previous experience working in a higher education/academic setting highly preferred.
- Previous experience using Vanderbilt systems including, but not limited to Oracle and RedCap is preferred.
Supervisory Relationships
This position does not have supervisory responsibility. This position reports administratively and functionally to the Administrative Manager. This position also reports indirectly to the department chair.
Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
At Vanderbilt University, we are intentional about and assume accountability for fostering advancement and respect for equity, diversity, and inclusion for all students, faculty, and staff. Our commitment to diversity makes us who we are. We have created a community that celebrates differences and lets individuality thrive. As part of this commitment, we actively value diversity in our workplace and learning environments as we seek to take advantage of the rich backgrounds and abilities of everyone. The diverse voices of Vanderbilt represent an invaluable resource for the University in its efforts to fulfill its mission and strive to be an example of excellence in higher education.
Vanderbilt University is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law. Please note, all candidates selected for an offer of employment are subject to pre-employment background checks, which may include but are not limited to, based on the role for which they have been selected: criminal history, education verification, social media review, motor vehicle records, credit history, and professional license verification.