Senior Executive Assistant to the Executive Vice President & Provost

Stony Brook University•Town of Brookhaven, NY

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Office of the Provost at Stony Brook University is seeking a highly experienced Senior Executive Assistant to serve as the primary administrative partner to the Provost. As the Chief Academic Officer and Executive Vice President, the Provost serves at the highest level of university leadership with an expansive portfolio. We are seeking a dedicated professional to ensure the Provost is comprehensively prepared to navigate their daily obligations and strategic priorities, many of which are complex and time-sensitive. The incumbent will take decisive action, delegate related tasks, and ensure complete follow-through on behalf of the Provost. Impeccable professional judgment, utmost discretion, exceptional attention to detail, and strict confidentiality are essential at all times. Reporting directly to and collaborating closely with the Chief of Staff, the Senior Executive Assistant orchestrates the Provost’s schedule and obligations to maximize the effective use of their time. This includes arranging complex, time-sensitive meetings; coordinating intricate domestic and international travel; and proactively ensuring the Provost receives comprehensive briefing materials well in advance of all engagements. The incumbent will oversee the flow of executive correspondence, utilizing modern office systems to quickly assess, prioritize, and often draft responses on behalf of the Provost. Furthermore, the Senior Executive Assistant will oversee the front office suite—including supervising student interns and/or professional staff—and coordinate with colleagues providing back-up support. As a public-facing representative of the Provost and the Provost's Office, the Senior Executive Assistant will engage frequently with a wide array of internal and external stakeholders, and will maintain a welcoming, highly professional, and collaborative demeanor. It is expected that this individual is highly resourceful, adaptable, and capable of maintaining a consistent in-person presence, with the flexibility to work occasional nights and weekends as institutional needs arise.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree (foreign equivalent or higher).
Six (6) years of full time administrative experience providing high level support to an executive in a complex organizational environment.
Experience managing administrative operations/office management.
Experience providing executive meeting preparation through detailed briefings on key stakeholders, organizations and relevant business matters.
Experience coordinating complex travel arrangements and managing executive calendars.
Experience interacting directly with and providing support to executive-level leadership.
Experience with Microsoft Office and/or Google applications and Teams and/or Zoom.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree (foreign equivalent or higher).
Seven (7) years of full time administrative experience providing high level support to an executive in a complex organizational environment.
Experience supporting a university president, provost, vice president, dean, or other executive-level leader within a higher education institution.
Experience working for a government entity.
Supervisory experience.

Responsibilities

Manage the daily and long-term schedule of the Provost. This involves regularly coordinating complex meetings at the request of the Provost with internal and external stakeholders; receives and responds in a timely manner to a multitude of requests for meetings with the Provost; researching, requesting and organizing relevant information for meetings.
Incumbent is responsible for ensuring that the Provost is properly briefed for various meetings, conferences and events which may involve in depth independent research. Compiles pre-meeting/event briefs, talking points, correspondence and research reports for the Provost, ensuring Provost has a daily briefing packet to support preparation and effectiveness in meetings and engagements. Applies exhaustive attention to detail to ensure that the Provost has corresponding materials for meetings and engagements well in advance of each day, verifying that all meeting and event details are reviewed and confirmed.
Serves as a highly-respected and trusted representative of the Provost, maintaining high-status, trusted, and professional relationships with colleagues across the university campus, as well as critical external stakeholders.
Works closely with the Provost to coordinate travel arrangements for all off campus meeting locations and air travel, to ensure accuracy and punctuality. Orchestrates complex domestic and international travel itineraries for the Provost, systematically managing all related expenses and reimbursements with precision.
Staff Provost’s meetings as requested (including meeting documentation, conference room and Zoom set-up), and ensures comprehensive support is available for staffing all meetings led by the Provost. Attends and participates in select meetings with the Provost, ensuring follow up on priority agenda items for the Provost.
Full responsibility as initial point of contact, to assess and provide appropriate action for the many varied requests for the Provost’s time and/or university business, including continuous follow up on pending issues. Manages Provostial correspondence; interacts daily with high-level administrators on sensitive and/or confidential issues, including matters related to faculty members represented by the bargaining unit. Communicates regularly with staff, faculty and community constituents on behalf of the Provost.
Supports the Provost in the highly sensitive management of their correspondence, working closely with the Chief of Staff.
Serves as a first point of contact on behalf of the Provost, interacting with both internal and external stakeholders, requiring ongoing assessment and prioritization of requests throughout each day for information or action on behalf of the Provost. These requests, frequently of a highly confidential and/or urgent nature, require the utmost discretion in delegation of tasks to various staff and oversight to ensure effective and satisfactory resolutions.
Drafts polished email responses and other correspondence on behalf of the Provost for their review, ensuring strict adherence to executive voice, institutional context, and grammatical accuracy.
Process and track correspondence requiring approval by the Provost.
Proactively integrates modern digital tools to expedite drafting, streamline email tracking, and optimize the consistency, speed, and accuracy of the Provost’s outgoing communication.
Provide overall leadership and direction for visitor policies/protocol ensuring high degree of courtesy, sensitivity, and hospitality. Visitors can include international guests, donors, university leadership, faculty, staff, students, and other key external partners, and extends to incoming calls to the Provost’s Office, as well as physical visitors to the Provost’s Office suite.
Designs, documents, and maintains a training curriculum and "Suite Playbook" for student assistants and other staff, establishing standards for suite etiquette, and phone triage.
Recruits, hires, and trains high-caliber, advanced student workers and/or professional staff.
Manages work schedules to ensure minimal staffing thresholds are met, guaranteeing the physical front desk and phone lines are consistently monitored during operational hours.
Oversees shared space management, ensuring the Provost’s conference room and lobby are perpetually presentable. Set standards for management of the conference room, including how incoming requests are handled, ensuring the technology is ready and reset to standard after every single meeting, with the support of trained student assistants and professional staff.
Other duties or projects as assigned as appropriate to rank and departmental mission. May include working with the Provost beyond the normal workday to complete critical assignments, regularly requiring communicating via email during non-business hours.