Assistant Director, Program and Events

University of Chicago•Chicago, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The University of Chicago Booth School of Business is a prestigious institution, the second-oldest business school in the U.S., known for its rigorous, discipline-based approach to business education and its global presence with campuses in Chicago, London, and Hong Kong. It boasts an unmatched faculty, degree and open enrollment programs across three continents, nearly 56,000 accomplished alumni, and strong corporate relationships. The school shares the University's core values, emphasizing questioning, testing ideas, and seeking proof, which has led to seven Nobel Prizes among its faculty. The Assistant Director, Program and Events plays a crucial role in strategic management and execution for the Roman Family Center for Decision Research. This position serves as the primary contact for all operational matters related to the Center’s functions, events, and accounting/budget. The role involves ownership of the entire process for the Center’s events and programs, encompassing communications, contract and vendor selection and management, accounting and budget oversight, and logistics. The Assistant Director will manage and oversee the Center’s expenses, calendar management, and other needs, and will be responsible for the communication and execution of all event logistics and management within the scope of this role. This position is not eligible for employer-sponsored employment authorization.

Requirements

A college or university degree in related field.
Knowledge and skills developed through < 2 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree.
A minimum three years of professional program and event execution experience.
Understanding of budgeting, financial accounting, and database management.
Demonstrated proficiency with MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).
Research skills.
Ability to learn new software programs.
Proven understanding of the Center for Decision Research and its goals.
Excellent professional verbal, written, and presentation skills.
Organizational skills and attention to detail.
Superior customer service and interpersonal skills.
Demonstrated ability to seek out, coordinate and appropriately disseminate information.
Ability to work independently with little supervision.
Possess a self-motivated disposition.
Ability to identify opportunities for improvement and recommend effective changes, all while achieving key objectives resulting in desired outcomes.
Ability to handle multiple detailed tasks/projects simultaneously and meet strict deadlines with frequent interruptions.
Demonstrated ability to work effectively and diplomatically with colleagues, as well as with students, faculty and corporate contacts in a multitude of communication methods, including in person, email, and phone.
Professional demeanor, including tact, discretion, and a customer service-oriented approach.

Responsibilities

Serves as primary contact for all of the Roman Family – CDR program and events execution, and budget and accounting matters related to program and events.
Working closely with the Executive Director, oversees and leads logistics for events across the Center, including academic workshops, the Think Better series, Summer Send Off, Fall Welcome, PhD Orientation, internal RF-CDR retreats, admitted PhD students weekend, brown bag lunches, and other events.
Keeps track of registrations; prepares communication and assists with outreach, invitations and materials related to the events; evaluates and selects venues; oversees contracts.
Manages and delegates tasks to Operations Assistant and other RF-CDR staff.
Manages the needs of invited speakers for RF-CDR’s Monday Workshop series, including developing a full schedule of enriching meetings with faculty, PhD students, and postdocs, managing AV and operational logistics of presentations, and ensuring complete satisfaction.
Provides oversight and support for the Center’s program and events calendar in addition to support with the Executive Directors expense processing, calendar management, and field questions during non-traditional hours per needs of faculty.
Working in collaboration with the leadership teams, provide support to the Center’s labs spaces in the creation and dissemination of official onboarding documents and training materials for incoming CDR staff.
In collaboration with the leadership team, serves as a primary contact for all accounting, expenses, procurement, and reimbursements for the Center, working in a timely and efficient manner using Booth Financial systems.
Manages and oversees the following reconciling Center and Labs expenses; conference expense reimbursement for graduate students; Thaler Tversky award account creation and management; independent contractor payments; guest speaker reimbursements; organizational tasks related to behavioral science faculty’s research accounts and chargeback reports on a quarterly basis; chargeback reports and replenishing petty cash account on a quarterly basis.
Oversees and manages the work of part-time or temporary operations staff as needs arise.
Serves as an ambassador for the Roman Family CDR, advancing the progress of Center activities by developing and maintaining strong relationships with Booth and University of Chicago departments, including the offices of Accounting, IT, Legal, H.R., and Faculty Services.
Offers support for other related duties as assigned, including office mail, supply closets, catering, parking and dining reservations, and work requests to various University of Chicago or Booth Departments.
Assists with identification and resolution of event and program needs, including vendor selection and contract negotiation.
Keeps track of all expenses, prepares reports on costs, using existing procedures to solve routine problems as they arise.
Compiles data to be used in event and program evaluation.
Contributes to improvements by implementing ideas as they are identified, with general direction from others.
Performs other related work as needed.