Executive Assistant to the President

Executive Assistant to the President
University of Puget Sound
Job ID: 6649
Location: President's Office
Full/Part Time: Full Time
Regular/Temporary: Regular

Staff Posting Details
Appointment: Regular, full-time (1.0 FTE)

Position Summary:

To provide high level, detailed direct assistance to the president in performing the duties of the chief executive officer of a complex organization. Working closely with the director of the Office of the President and with the chief of staff, key areas of responsibility include management of the president's schedule, correspondence, meeting preparation, and travel arrangements. Represents the president in a gracious, inclusive, and professional manner.

Essential Job Functions and Responsibilities:

Serves as first-line resource for the president in achieving maximum effectiveness with daily scheduling. Maintains and monitors the president's schedule of appointments and events; interfaces with constituents on campus and externally to ensure the president has necessary materials for appointments and events; arranges, monitors, and adjusts complex travel schedules; evaluates requests for appointments according to established and emerging priorities; serves as liaison with the president's direct reports to ensure the president has needed information for appointments and to resolve scheduling issues; coordinates summaries of meetings, prepares itineraries for meeting attendees and ensures distribution as needed. Conserves the president's time by reading, routing, and drafting responses to correspondence for a broad range of constituents; collects and analyzes information; initiates telecommunications when needed. Manages high volume electronic mail accounts, and organizes accounts for future access. Ensures quality and timeliness of all communications. With other office staff, provides hospitality to office guests while ensuring efficient flow of visitor traffic to keep the president's schedule timely. Welcomes guests, answers or directs inquiries in person or on the telephone. Maintains confidential materials; develops and utilizes file, retrieval, and other organizational systems to ensure ready access to information. Researches, collects, analyzes, and synthesizes information to produce documents and reports. Produces information by transcribing, formatting, inputting, editing, retrieving, copying, and transmitting text, data, and graphics. Serves as liaison for the president with Technology Services to troubleshoot and maintain optimal computer and all electronic communications devices. Manages president's expenses. Serves as resource for other campus administrative staff on protocols related to work and correspondence with the president and senior decision-makers. Maintains professional and technical knowledge by attending educational workshops; reviewing professional publications; and establishing personal networks. Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience, plus four years of increasingly responsible administrative support experience, preferably at the senior executive level. Demonstrated ability to effectively manage changing priorities and multiple tasks in deadline-driven, high-volume, fast-paced office environment. Ability to pay meticulous attention to detail and follow through on initiatives while managing a large and varied workload and workload demands. Demonstrated ability to work in a collegial, consultative and collaborative manner. Exceptional organizational, planning and time management skills to manage projects and priorities independently and to ensure participation and contributions from individuals not directly supervised. Ability to execute effectively by using resources efficiently, planning and prioritizing, meeting deadlines, and keeping others informed of work plans and progress toward goals. Ability to use business knowledge, innovative thinking, and sound judgment in the solution of problems or the pursuit of opportunities. Skill in examining and refining operations and procedures and developing and implementing new strategies within the scope of defined responsibilities. Superior one-on-one interpersonal and communication skills, including ability to foster confidence and trust and negotiate solutions in sensitive or confidential situations. Strong oral, written and interpersonal communication skills are required to interact with staff, students and external stakeholders. Demonstrated ability to draft error-free, audience-specific professional communications for a wide range of constituents; demonstrated exceptional proofreading skills and knowledge of grammar, standards of professional correspondence. Advanced-user level experience with Microsoft Outlook or similar calendaring or email software preferred, with other Microsoft Office suite or similar word-processing, spreadsheet, and other productivity software required. Demonstrated ability to use diplomacy, discretion, and judgment in providing information to and referring others. Demonstrated skill in detecting emerging issues and making time-sensitive decisions with limited information and where precedents have not been established, in accordance with knowledge of department priorities, president's style and preferences, and institutional strategic goals. Ability to consolidate information from various sources to reach sound decisions, and ability to consider the ultimate impact of decisions and actions on internal and external customers. Experience with or understanding of higher education operations at the senior decision-maker level preferred. Experience coordinating executive's travel schedule preferred. Ability to respectfully work, communicate and provide leadership within a diverse campus community.

Success profile:

This position provides direct support to the president in achieving maximum effectiveness. The successful candidate will demonstrate an ability to work closely with high-capacity senior decision makers, to shift priorities seamlessly, and to serve as a representative of the president and model for other college staff. The successful candidate will demonstrate an appreciation for the mission of liberal arts education and the opportunity of serving in this key role at the center of the college's operations. The successful candidate will demonstrate the ability to engage in appropriately assertive communications while preserving Puget Sound's culture of discourse in community. Individuals with action orientation and ability to work both independently and in collaboration with others are encouraged to apply.

Compensation and Benefits: Decisions about starting salaries are made based on the extent and relatedness of the candidate's education and experience and on internal equity and market considerations.

Puget Sound offers a generous benefits package. For more information, visit: https://pugetsound.edu/human-resources/benefits

Application Deadline: Review of application materials will begin immediately. Search and selection procedures will be closed when a sufficient number of qualified candidates have been identified.

Required Documents:

Resume Letter of Interest

Applications submitted without the required attachments will not be considered.

All offers of employment are contingent on successful completion of all required background checks. All new hires will be required to submit proof of current COVID-19 vaccination (including booster) or receive an approved medical or religious exemption from the university.

Diversity Statement:

We acknowledge the richness of commonalities and differences we share as a university community; the intrinsic worth of all who work and study here; that education is enhanced by investigation of and reflection upon multiple perspectives. We aspire to create respect for and appreciation of all persons as a key characteristic of our campus community; to increase the diversity of all parts of our University community through commitment to diversity in our recruitment and retention efforts; to foster a spirit of openness to active engagement among all members of our campus community. We act to achieve an environment that welcomes and supports diversity; to ensure full educational opportunity for all who teach and learn here; to prepare effectively citizen-leaders for a pluralistic world.

Puget Sound is committed to an environment that welcomes and supports diversity. We seek diversity of identity, thought, perspective, and background in our students, faculty, and staff. To learn more please visit: https://pugetsound.edu/about-puget-sound-0/mission-core-values/institutional-equity-diversity

The University of Puget Sound is an equal opportunity employer.


How to Apply
For complete job description and application instructions, visit: www.pugetsound.edu/employment

About Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a selective national liberal arts college in Tacoma, Washington, drawing 2,600 students from 48 states and 20 countries. Puget Sound graduates include Rhodes and Fulbright scholars, notables in the arts and culture, entrepreneurs and elected officials, and leaders in business and finance locally and throughout the world. A low student-faculty ratio provides Puget Sound students with personal attention from faculty who have a strong commitment to teaching and offer 1,200 courses each year in more than 40 traditional and interdisciplinary fields, including graduate programs in occupational and physical therapy and in education. Puget Sound is the only nationally ranked independent undergraduate liberal arts college in Western Washington, and one of just five independent colleges in the Pacific Northwest granted a charter by Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s most prestigious academic honorary society. Visit "About Puget Sound" (http://www.pugetsound.edu/about) to learn more about the college.

As a strategic goal and through our core values, University of Puget Sound is committed to an environment that welcomes and supports diversity. We seek diversity of identity, thought, perspective, and background in our students, faculty, and staff. EOE/AA



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