Office Admin & Executive Asst to the Dean

University of South Florida•Tampa, FL

7d•$60,000 - $70,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Executive Assistant serves as a trusted partner to the Dean and a central point of coordination for the Dean's Office. The position manages the Dean's time, information, commitments, meetings, communications, and administrative workflow while providing responsive support to College and University leadership and external stakeholders. The position requires the ability to anticipate needs, manage multiple priorities and competing demands, coordinate effectively with multiple associate deans and senior leaders, exercise sound judgment, independently research and synthesize information, maintain exceptional confidentiality, and bring matters to completion without requiring repeated intervention from the Dean. Success requires both executive judgment and a willingness to personally execute the administrative details necessary to keep the Dean and Dean's Office operating effectively.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent with at least five years of experience in administrative or office support roles, or a Bachelor’s degree with three years of related experience.
Additional education may not be substituted for this experience requirement.
Degree Equivalency Clause: Four years of direct experience for a bachelor’s degree.
Senate Bill 1310- The Florida Senate (https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1310) is conditional upon meeting all employment eligibility requirements in the U.S.
SB 1310: Substitution of Work Experience for Postsecondary Education Requirements
A public employer may include a postsecondary degree as a baseline requirement only as an alternative to the number of years of direct experience required, not to exceed: (a) Two years of direct experience for an associate degree; (b) Four years of direct experience for a bachelor’s degree; (c) Six years of direct experience for a master’s degree; (d) Seven years of direct experience for a professional degree; or (e) Nine years of direct experience for a doctoral degree
Related work experience may not substitute for any required licensure, certification, or registration required for the position of employment as established by the public employer and indicated in the advertised description of the position of employment.
Minimum Qualifications that require a high school diploma are exempt from SB 1310.

Nice To Haves

Formal education beyond the minimum qualification is not required.
Particular consideration will be given to demonstrated executive-support experience, judgment, technological capability, discretion, service orientation, initiative, quality of work, and reliable execution.
Significant experience providing executive or high-level administrative support, preferably to a senior executive in a complex organization.
Demonstrated ability to manage a complex executive calendar, exercise appropriate judgment regarding access and priorities and protect time for high-priority work.
Exceptional judgment, discretion, professional composure, adaptability, and ability to respond constructively to feedback.
Demonstrated initiative and a strong record of ownership, follow-through, and bringing assignments and requests to completion without repeated oversight.
Experience preparing executive agendas, meeting materials, correspondence, presentations, travel arrangements, and records with a high degree of accuracy and polish.
Strong visual judgment and demonstrated ability to produce polished, professional, executive-level presentations and materials.
Ability to independently research unfamiliar issues, identify authoritative information, and synthesize findings into useful executive materials.
Excellent written, verbal, interpersonal, and customer-service skills, including the ability to interact professionally with senior leaders and VIP stakeholders.
Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, SharePoint, and Word and proficiency with Canva or comparable visual-design tools.
Exceptional organizational skills and ability to manage multiple simultaneous priorities, deadlines, stakeholders, and workstreams.
Ability to anticipate needs, take appropriate action without continuous direction, and recognize when an issue requires escalation.
Experience developing or using systems to track decisions, assignments, deadlines, follow-up, and completion.
Experience in higher education, government, nonprofit, corporate, or another complex organizational environment is preferred but not required.
Performs other duties as assigned.

Responsibilities

Serves as the primary gatekeeper for the Dean's time and attention and strategically and operationally manages the Dean's calendar. Exercises sound judgment and appropriate authority in making routine scheduling, access, referral, and prioritization decisions consistent with the Dean's priorities. Communicates decisions diplomatically and confidently, including when requests should be declined, deferred, shortened, delegated, or redirected. Regularly assesses the Dean's calendar and workload, identifies conflicts and capacity concerns, and recommends appropriate adjustments.
Schedules meetings and appointments, coordinates participants and logistics, resolves conflicts, and protects sufficient time for preparation, strategic work, priority initiatives, travel time, and other responsibilities rather than simply filling available calendar time.
Anticipates the Dean's needs and ensures preparation for meetings and engagements by developing agendas and assembling background information, presentations, correspondence, briefing materials, and other necessary documents.
Personally manages the transactional work associated with executive support, including scheduling meetings; preparing agendas and meeting materials; booking travel and preparing itineraries; processing travel documentation and reimbursements; drafting and formatting correspondence; maintaining records and files; coordinating meeting logistics; and supporting events and executive engagements.
Maintains reliable systems for tracking decisions, assignments, commitments, requests, and deadlines. Proactively follows up with responsible individuals, obtains missing information, identifies stalled matters, communicates status and next steps, and ensures appropriate closure without requiring repeated intervention from the Dean.
Coordinates effectively with multiple associate deans and other senior leaders with complex and sometimes overlapping portfolios, priorities, and demands. Navigates competing requests and interpersonal dynamics with professionalism, diplomacy, composure, consistency, and sound judgment. Responds constructively to direct feedback, changing priorities, and ambiguity.
Serves as a professional representative of the Dean and College with senior university leaders, faculty and staff, students, donors, alumni, community and industry partners, school district leaders, candidates, and other VIP stakeholders. Provides responsive, courteous, solutions-oriented service and takes ownership of inquiries and requests through resolution whenever possible.
Triages incoming communications, determines appropriate priorities and referrals, gathers information needed for responses, drafts correspondence on behalf of the Dean, and ensures timely follow-through. Communicates decisions, responsibilities, deadlines, and completed actions clearly and maintains appropriate documentation.
Serves in a position of exceptional trust and maintains strict confidentiality regarding personnel matters, leadership discussions, institutional decisions, organizational changes, strategic planning, and other sensitive information.
Exercises mature judgment regarding what information may be shared, with whom, and when. Understands that information encountered through proximity to the Dean may be preliminary, incomplete, privileged, sensitive, or inappropriate for discussion outside the Dean's Office. Maintains appropriate professional boundaries while developing positive and productive working relationships throughout the College and University.
Independently researches issues relevant to College and University leadership using authoritative sources, including university, State University System, AAU, governmental, accreditation, and peer institution resources. Identifies appropriate sources and synthesizes findings into concise, accurate, decision-ready briefings, summaries, comparisons, and background materials.
Prepares polished presentations, reports, agendas, correspondence, meeting materials, and other executive documents. Work produced by the Dean's Office is expected to meet a consistently high standard for accuracy, organization, writing, visual presentation, and attention to detail. Materials should be executive-ready and appropriate to the audience without requiring substantial correction, reformatting, or redesign by the Dean.
Demonstrates advanced proficiency with Microsoft 365, including Outlook and calendar management, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, SharePoint, and Word, as well as Canva or comparable visual-design tools. Uses technology to organize work, track commitments, manage information, improve collaboration, and streamline administrative processes and demonstrates the ability to learn new productivity and AI enabled tools.
Coordinates the Dean's travel, including transportation, accommodations, itineraries, briefing materials, documentation, and reimbursement processes. Coordinates executive meetings and events from preparation through completion, including agendas, materials, logistics, notes, decisions, action items, and follow-up. Supports College events and high-profile engagements as needed.
This position primarily operates during normal university business hours; however, executive-level support occasionally requires responsiveness outside regular working hours. The Executive Assistant must have the flexibility to occasionally work evenings or weekends when required by urgent matters, executive travel, major events, time-sensitive communications, or significant College or University needs. The Dean's Office values reasonable work boundaries and does not expect routine after-hours work; however, the individual must recognize when circumstances require timely attention and respond appropriately.