Administrative Assistant

Admin Assistant

Location: Boston MA

Rate: $30-33

Duration: 3 months

Academic Programs Coordinator

Position Overview

Reporting to the Associate Dean for Academic Programs, the Academic Programs Coordinator provides high-level administrative, operational, and project coordination support for the Academic Programs Office.

Working in a fast-paced environment with multiple and competing priorities, the Coordinator anticipates needs, organizes information, monitors deadlines, supports decision-making, and facilitates communication among faculty, students, staff, Institute offices, and University partners. This position plays an important role in maintaining efficient office operations while supporting academic priorities, strategic initiatives, and cross-departmental projects.

The ideal candidate demonstrates strong organizational skills, sound judgment, attention to detail, discretion, and the ability to work independently while managing multiple responsibilities and moving projects forward collaboratively.

Key Responsibilities

Administrative Support -- Approximately 50%

• Provide comprehensive administrative support to the Associate Dean for Academic Programs, including coordinating travel arrangements, preparing briefing materials, maintaining organized files, and tracking follow-up commitments.

• Organize, implement, and maintain administrative systems, processes, and procedures to ensure efficient day-to-day office operations.

• Coordinate meetings, prepare agendas and supporting materials, record meeting minutes, and track action items and follow-up activities.

• Serve as a primary point of contact and source of information for the Academic Programs Office, facilitating communication among faculty, students, staff, Institute offices, and University partners.

• Maintain office systems, records, faculty appointment information, student and personnel records, shared files, and the Academic Programs Office SharePoint site.

• Gather, organize, and maintain departmental data to support reporting, analysis, evaluations, and decision-making.

• Support routine financial and administrative operations, including expense reporting, purchasing card transactions, and recordkeeping.

• Draft, compose, proofread, edit, and prepare correspondence, memoranda, reports, presentations, and other administrative materials.

• Coordinate facilities, logistics, and arrangements for meetings, conferences, seminars, and other departmental activities.

• Handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion and sound judgment.

• Perform additional administrative and operational duties as needed to support departmental goals.

Project and Program Coordination -- Approximately 50%

• Support the Associate Dean and program directors in planning and coordinating academic priorities, strategic initiatives, and cross-programmatic projects.

• Develop, organize, and maintain project plans, timelines, deliverables, action-item trackers, and other tools to support successful project execution.

• Coordinate projects and workflows across departments, ensuring information, decisions, and materials are communicated and advanced in a timely manner.

• Monitor project progress, deadlines, dependencies, risks, resource requirements, and outstanding issues; provide status updates and identify matters requiring attention or escalation.

• Support strategic planning, stakeholder engagement, program evaluations, and reporting initiatives by gathering, organizing, and analyzing relevant information.

• Maintain project documentation, records, and reporting materials to ensure accurate information and visibility into project status.

• Facilitate communication and collaboration among faculty, program directors, administrative staff, and other internal and external stakeholders.

• Identify opportunities to improve administrative processes, workflows, and project coordination.

• Provide additional project and program support as requested.

Required Qualifications

• Prior administrative, office coordination, program support, or project coordination experience.

• Strong organizational, time management, and prioritization skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects and competing deadlines.

• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision and exercise sound judgment when handling complex assignments.

• Experience maintaining records, organizing information, preparing reports, and coordinating administrative processes.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to compose, proofread, and edit professional correspondence and documents.

• Intermediate to advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office or comparable applications, including Outlook/email and calendar management, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and SharePoint.

• Strong attention to detail and the ability to maintain accurate and confidential records.

• Ability to collaborate effectively with individuals across multiple departments and organizational levels.

• Demonstrated professionalism, discretion, initiative, and problem-solving skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting academic programs, higher education administration, or a university environment.

• Experience coordinating projects, strategic initiatives, meetings, and cross-functional activities.

• Familiarity with financial administration, purchasing card transactions, expense reporting, and departmental recordkeeping.

• Experience using project tracking tools, databases, SharePoint, and other administrative systems.