Executive Assistant to the Interim Executive Director and Sr. Associate Vice President, Learning Innovation

Colorado State University•Fort Collins, CO

1d•$64,000 - $80,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Executive Assistant serves as a trusted executive partner in Colorado State University’s Division of Learning Innovation, a new university-wide division focused on expanding access, strengthening learner success, and advancing teaching and learning. The division connects CSU’s academic excellence, workforce relevance, and land-grant mission through CSU Online, Professional and Continuing Education, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and Learning Innovation for Extension Programs. Reporting to the Interim Executive Director/Sr. Associate Vice President, the role provides high-level, confidential executive support, including calendar and priority management, executive communications, meeting preparation, travel coordination, stakeholder engagement, and strategic administrative support. The Executive Assistant anticipates needs, protects the leader’s time and focus, brings order to complexity, and helps align attention with high-impact divisional and university priorities. Success requires professionalism, discretion, service orientation, judgment, communication, and follow-through in a fast-moving, high-touch, mission-driven environment. Prior higher education experience is not required. The position is based in Fort Collins, Colorado, and regular on-site presence is expected. Occasional evening and weekend work may be required. The role does not supervise full-time employees, but may coordinate student employees, temporary staff, or project-based support.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree, or a high school diploma/GED plus five years of related work experience as degree equivalency.
At least 3 years of professional experience providing executive, senior administrative, operational, project coordination, client service, or high-level office support.
Ability to manage complex calendars, competing priorities, confidential information, and time-sensitive work accurately and professionally.
Ability to communicate clearly, warmly, and professionally with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite or comparable productivity tools, including calendar management, document preparation, presentation support, spreadsheets, and collaborative platforms.
Ability to exercise discretion, sound judgment, initiative, follow-through, and attention to detail in a fast-paced environment.
Legal authorization to work in the United States; visa sponsorship is not available.
Regular on-site presence in Fort Collins, Colorado, and occasional flexible hours, including evenings and weekends, may be required.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting a senior leader, executive office, board, owner, principal, cabinet-level leader, or high-visibility leadership role in a complex organization.
Experience creating a polished, responsive, high-quality experience for executives, clients, guests, partners, community members, or other key stakeholders.
Experience managing logistics, events, meetings, travel, communications, executive briefings, or special projects where timing, relationships, and details are critical.
Ability to anticipate needs, bring order to ambiguity, solve problems proactively, and create systems that help leaders and teams operate with greater clarity and effectiveness.
Experience in a mission-driven, service-centered, public-facing, entrepreneurial, or operationally complex environment.
Interest in contributing to the growth, culture, and impact of a new division focused on access, learner success, innovation, and the future of higher education.

Responsibilities

Manage and strategically prioritize the leader’s calendar, commitments, travel, and daily workflow.
Prepare the leader for meetings, events, and engagements by coordinating agendas, briefing materials, background information, correspondence, presentations, and follow-up actions.
Serve as a professional and trusted point of contact for the Division of Learning Innovation, using sound judgment, discretion, warmth, and responsiveness with university leaders, divisional staff, faculty, learners, external partners, and community stakeholders.
Draft, coordinate, proofread, and organize executive communications, meeting notes, correspondence, and materials.
Support strategic initiatives, leadership meetings, retreats, governance activities, searches, onboarding processes, and special projects by tracking timelines, deliverables, decisions, and next steps.
Maintain executive office systems, shared calendars, records, contact lists, planning tools, and administrative processes.
Anticipate needs, reduce friction, solve problems, and foster a calm, organized, and welcoming executive office experience.
Build working relationships across the division, colleges, administrative units, and external partners to support coordination, collaboration, responsiveness, and service excellence.
Coordinate the work of student employees, temporary staff, or project-based support as assigned.