Administrative Assistant

Boston College • Newton, MA

20d • $26 - $32

About The Position

The Research Program on Children and Adversity (RPCA) focuses on understanding trajectories of risk and resilience in children facing multiple forms of adversity, including poverty, conflict, and infectious disease. Through quantitative and qualitative research methods, the program investigates key mechanisms shaping child development and mental health. The program develops targeted psychosocial interventions that support positive life outcomes that can be effectively delivered at scale in low-resource settings. Overall, the program team works to develop evidence-based, transdiagnostic interventions that are feasible and cost effective, to support positive life outcomes. These outcomes are key to child health, social services, and the economic development agendas. The current research portfolio is on the BC website: www.bc.edu/rpca.

Reporting to the Associate Director for Research, the Administrative Assistant provides primary support to the Faculty Director of the Research Program on Children and Adversity (RPCA) and will perform administrative and research tasks for both the Faculty Director, Dr. Theresa S. Betancourt, and the general RPCA lab, composed of both international and domestic personnel. The Administrative Assistant is responsible for processing the high volume of requests for the Faculty Director’s duties, responsibilities, external activities, and general tasks, and for managing a calendar that accurately reflects the Director’s priorities, schedule, travel, and all day-to-day operations. The Administrative Assistant is responsible for domestic and global travel planning and execution (including the booking of all necessary components, connecting with event organizers, and liaising with outside travel agencies), meeting support, expense reporting, and day-to-day office support within the lab. The Administrative Assistant will prepare and copy edit documents, retrieve library articles, perform literature searches, and organize peer-reviewed articles for submission, as well as draft slide decks, abstracts, and any other necessary materials for all research presentations the Faculty Director is scheduled to give. Superior aptitude for working in a fast-paced environment, and managing multiple shifting priorities is required. Additional responsibilities include assisting with event coordination and managing materials for committees and other responsibilities of the Director.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Public Health, Psychology or related field is preferred.
• 2+ years of experience in public health, human rights, or international development settings, including responsibility for program administration activities; combination of education and experience will be considered.
• Must have the ability to work in a fast-paced environment and with competing deadlines requiring the Faculty Director’s attention.
• Excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills, including in multicultural environments.
• Experience with project administration and/or management.
• Superior organization and multi-tasking skills along with the ability to prioritize the workload.
• Possess a high degree of discretion, judgment, and diplomacy.
• Attention to detail and analytical skills, specifically with written work.
• Proficient in the Microsoft Office, Google Suite, Asana, and BOX Drive.

Nice To Haves

• Prior experience coordinating office events and special projects as well as higher education experience preferred.
• Previous experience with coordinating all aspects of frequent international travel highly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Oversee Faculty Director’s schedule, including the full management of her calendar, creation of zoom links for calls, and keeping track of all upcoming activities to mitigate scheduling conflicts or any disruptions.
• Help Faculty Director in performing administrative and research tasks related to the RPCA’s mission (including but not limited to document preparation and copyediting, retrieving library articles, performing literature searches, setting up conference calls; photocopying, filing, and mailing).
• Provide domestic and global travel support to the Faculty Director for their external representation of the RPCA. Make all travel arrangements including creation of itineraries; booking of flights, hotel, and ground transportation; the preparation and organization of background and/or meeting material; and completing travel expense reports at the conclusion of each trip.
• Serve as point person for people who need to work with the Faculty Director and manage materials for committees and other constituencies with whom the Faculty Director works.
• Interact professionally with a variety of university personnel as well as external contacts providing excellent customer service.
• Must be able to deal with multiple time-sensitive interests requiring the Faculty Director’s attention, including the tracking and drafting of upcoming presentations for events, whether they be for conference panels or invited keynote events.
• Take notes in weekly leadership meetings as needed by program managers, keep track of bookings for the lab conference room to avoid scheduling conflicts, and assist with meeting scheduling for program teams.
• Work with other RPCA lab employees to plan and advertise events.
• Use tracking systems, such as Asana and G-Suite, to map out deadlines.
• Support internship work plans in conjunction with RPCA staff to support Faculty Director’s needs.
• Order food for lab events.
• Keep office organized and support events in office, and order materials for the office as needed (i.e., water, printer ink, books requested by research staff, etc.)
• Closely work with the RPCA administrative team to support greater research administration, including reporting, invoicing, and other relevant needs.
• Support program managers in the organization, both domestically and internationally, in the planning, and execution of large-scale stakeholder events (virtual and hybrid) and research dissemination events to improve RPCA outreach.
• Support dissemination of research findings through presentations as requested by the Faculty Director and other research team members to international and national conferences.
• Use tracking systems, such as Asana and G-Suite, to map out presentations deadlines.

Benefits

• Tuition remission for Employees
• Tuition remission for Spouses and Children who meet eligibility requirements
• Generous Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
• Low-Cost Life Insurance
• Eligibility for both University-Funded 401k and Employer-Sponsored 403b Retirement Plans
• Paid Holidays Annually
• Generous Sick and Vacation Pay

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees