Faculty Assistant

Harvard University • Cambridge, MA

11d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Faculty Assistant (FA) provides administrative and operational support to faculty to enable effective teaching and research. The FA serves as the primary point of contact for administrative matters and coordinates day-to-day activities. Strong in-person presence is required.

This is a hybrid position with an expectation of working on campus three days per week. The exact schedule will be determined with the manager and may adjust based on operational or business needs. Standard hours are 35 per week.

Requirements

• At least three years of administrative or customer support experience.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities accurately and with attention to detail.
• Professional written and verbal communication skills.
• Discretion and sound judgment, including the ability to handle confidential information.
• Ability to work independently and escalate issues appropriately.
• Stakeholder coordination skills.
• Ability to support multiple faculty members simultaneously with a customer-service orientation.
• Ability to work across teams and with a variety of projects and constituencies.
• Strong skills in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Completion of internal financial, procurement, or research compliance training.

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with higher education, research administration, or academic operations.
• Experience with Canvas and Concur.

Responsibilities

• Manage faculty calendars, travel, expenses, and daily administrative needs.
• Prepare correspondence, reports, and meeting materials.
• Serve as primary administrative support for faculty activities, including events, visitors, and purchasing.
• Route faculty requests to the appropriate functional partner and act as the faculty member’s main point of contact with functional partners and shared service centers.
• Support faculty members in activities directly related to their teaching and research portfolios.
• Provide support for events led by faculty.
• Obtain permissions and register copyrights when needed.
• Update Canvas course materials when teaching fellows are unavailable.
• Submit faculty Concur expense reports.
• Assist designated faculty with corporate card receipts and required financial forms, and advise faculty of upcoming payment deadlines.
• Use technical applications including word processing, database management, spreadsheets, graphics and presentation software, electronic calendars, email, and other technical or scientific applications.
• Perform other related duties as assigned, including sharing responsibility for general administrative coverage such as reception and event support.

Benefits

• Generous paid time off, including parental leave.
• Medical, dental, and vision health insurance coverage starting on day one.
• Retirement plans with university contributions.
• Wellbeing and mental health resources.
• Support for families and caregivers.
• Professional development opportunities, including tuition assistance and reimbursement.
• Commuter benefits, discounts, and campus perks.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed