Project Coordinator – Uyghur Cultural Archive

University of British Columbia•Vancouver, BC

7d•CA$4,739 - CA$5,102•Onsite

About The Position

The Rahile Dawut Uyghur Cultural Archive is a large, multi-year, community-rooted digital heritage initiative dedicated to preserving, organizing, and ethically sharing Uyghur cultural materials dispersed across the globe. Hosted in the Department of Asian Studies, this project integrates digital archiving, community collaboration, workshops, metadata development, research coordination, and cross-institutional partnerships. The Project Coordinator provides high-level administrative leadership, complex financial management, culturally grounded communication, and project-wide coordination. This role involves independent decision-making, supervision of student staff, and responsibility for sensitive cultural materials. The Project Coordinator ensures smooth day-to-day operations, guides workflows across multiple workstreams, and supports long-term planning and reporting. This position requires strong judgment, exceptional organizational skills, fluency in Uyghur (Arabic and Latin scripts), and deep cultural sensitivity. Evening or early-morning work may occasionally be required to support international partners and community events. The incumbent will apply knowledge of Uyghur language, cultural protocols, and best practices in handling sensitive archival materials to provide accurate, respectful, and confidential support, ensuring political and personal sensitives are respected. The position requires knowledge of team workflows, project protocols, financial procedures, budget management, and appropriate communication strategies for a multicultural and multilingual environment.

Requirements

High School graduation, plus a two year post-secondary diploma, plus four years of related experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own
Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion
Fluency in Uyghur (Arabic and Latin scripts) and English
administrative/project coordination experience, preferably in community-based, research, cultural heritage, or academic environments.
Demonstrated ability to independently manage complex budgets, schedules, and multi-stakeholder workflows.
Ability to exercise tact, discretion, judgement, and confidentiality when handling culturally sensitive issues and interacting with elders and community partners.
Excellent organizational and communication skills, including cross-cultural communication.
Strong proficiency with UBC systems Workday, Microsoft Office, Zoom, Google Workspace, and shared digital platforms.
Ability to navigate challenging, confidential, and sensitive situations with professionalism, diplomacy, and care.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree preferred
Project Management certification an asset.
Turkish fluency an asset.
Experience working with cultural archives, digital heritage materials, or metadata workflows preferred.
Familiarity with community-based digital humanities, multilingual metadata development, culturally grounded research practices, and Uyghur-language cultural materials considered an asset.
Experience supporting high-level workshops, multilingual communication, and culturally respectful engagement across academic, technical, and community settings preferred.
Ability to contribute native-level Uyghur linguistic and cultural knowledge to digital, educational, and interactive project initiatives is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Manages complex calendars for the PI, Co-Investigator, and team members; coordinates meetings with community partners, Elders, international collaborators, and advisory committees.
Coordinates hiring, onboarding, training, task assignment, and workflow management for research assistants and co-op students.
Plans and executes workshops, events, and field activities, including accommodation bookings, venue reservations, catering, A/V, accessibility needs, and travel logistics.
Assists with the coordination and facilitation of high-level workshops, strategic planning sessions, and collaborative meetings involving university stakeholders, community leaders, researchers, and external partners.
Develops and maintains project timelines, documentation standards, digital workflows, and operational procedures to ensure project continuity.
Ensures the culturally appropriate and confidential handling of sensitive Uyghur cultural materials (e.g., documents, scripts, audiovisual recordings) by coordinating processes for their access, use, and storage; maintaining strict confidentiality due to political sensitivities; and applying specialized knowledge of Uyghur language, culture, and archival practices in performing this work.
Prepares, monitors, reconciles, and reports on multi-fund budgets across grants (CFI, Wenner-Gren, Arcadia, SSHRC, Work Learn, etc.).
Processes reimbursements, invoices, honoraria, and contractor payments, including complex cross-unit payments and international transactions.
Oversees Visa reconciliation, receipt tracking, financial documentation, and compliance with UBC, CRA, GAAP, and grant-funding requirements.
Independently identifies discrepancies, resolves issues, and advises PI/Co-Investigator on budget impacts and financial planning.
Oversees the final approval process by preparing verified expense submissions for review and authorization by the Department administrator.
Resolves moderately complex financial issues such as incomplete documentation, policy interpretation and discrepancies, and coordinates resolution of more complex financial issues across multiple units.
Collaborates with the Finance Officer to verify expenditures, reconcile discrepancies, and resolve issues related to expense claims.
Assists with the coordination and review of UBC vendor agreements, procurement documentation, and institutional administrative processes in collaboration with university procurement, Client Services, privacy, and compliance teams, including support for Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) discussions.
Coordinates communications, meetings, approvals, and administrative workflows with external vendors, consultants, and cross-departmental stakeholders to support project operations and alignment with UBC institutional requirements.
Serves as the primary liaison with Elders, community members, academic collaborators, and staff across UBC and partner institutions.
Navigates complex interpersonal relationships with differing expectations and priorities, and resolves sensitive issues that may arise during consultation or collaboration.
Provides information of a complex nature, such as research protocols, program objectives, funding or resource allocations, and project updates, while ensuring that communication respects cultural norms and confidentiality.
Uses specialized knowledge of Uyghur language, cultural traditions, community engagement practices, and institutional policies to facilitate respectful and effective communication.
Applies initiative and judgement to adapt engagement strategies to the needs of Elders and community members, balancing academic requirements with cultural sensitivities and privacy due to nature of the project.
Resolves miscommunications, scheduling conflicts, sensitive requests, or culturally sensitive content decisions, and occasionally resolves more complex issues requiring coordination across multiple stakeholders.
Translates and prepares communications (e.g., project content, official documents for Elders and community members, research reports, correspondence, information materials) in Uyghur (Arabic and Latin scripts), English, and Turkish.
Provides information of a complex nature, ensuring that translations accurately convey context, tone, and meaning while respecting cultural protocols.
Uses specialized knowledge of Uyghur language (both Arabic and Latin scripts), English, and Turkish, as well as understanding of cultural nuances, to effectively convey messages across languages and audiences.
Exercises independent judgement in selecting appropriate terminology, formatting, and style for different audiences and types of content.
Resolves moderately complex ambiguities in source materials, culturally sensitive content, or conflicting translation conventions.
Maintains communication channels (email, Signal, WhatsApp groups, Google Drive, Slack), supporting effective information flow across a large, dispersed and international team.
Uses initiative and judgement to determine priority messages, ensure confidentiality where required, reconcile conflicting information across channels, and coordinate financial matters with the Department Administrator and Finance Officer.
Represents the project in professional, cross-cultural settings with tact, discretion, and diplomacy.
Explains project objectives, provides culturally appropriate advice, facilitates dialogue between stakeholders, and ensures communications respect cultural protocols and project goals.
Uses specialized knowledge of Uyghur language and culture, cross-cultural engagement practices, and institutional policies to navigate sensitive issues and foster positive relationships.
Supports culturally grounded Uyghur cultural heritage and digital humanities projects through multilingual research support, metadata creation, translation, review of cultural materials, and the organization of Uyghur-language content for archives, educational resources, and digital platforms.
Assists with the review, interpretation, and organization of Uyghur-language cultural materials, oral histories, archival content, and community knowledge for use in digital humanities, language preservation, and interactive educational initiatives.
Exercises independent judgement to adapt messaging and engagement strategies to diverse audiences, and to resolve moderately complex problems such as misaligned expectations, conflicting priorities, or culturally sensitive content.
Supports and coordinates culturally grounded Uyghur community outreach, youth engagement, and intergenerational knowledge-sharing initiatives with Uyghur community members, Elders, and partner organizations, including workshops, training sessions, and collaborative activities conducted in Uyghur and English.
Assists with multilingual communication, translation, outreach, and the development of accessible cultural and educational materials for Uyghur-speaking audiences while supporting culturally respectful and community-based research practices related to cultural heritage, oral histories, and traditional place names.
Provides day-to-day direction to research assistants, co-op students, and volunteers, including scheduling, workflow guidance, and task monitoring.
Participates in student hiring processes, onboarding, and role development.
Offers leadership in operational planning and contributes to committee coordination, event execution, and strategic project development.