Administrative Specialist

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How to Apply

A cover letter is required for consideration for this position and must be attached to the first page of your resume.  The cover letter should address your specific interest in the position and provide examples of the skills and experience that will make you successful in the role.  For the Career Portal system to accept your cover letter, include it as the first page of your resume document.

Summary

This position is part of the Survey Research Center's (SRC) Director's Office (SRC DO) Unit at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research (ISR).  SRC DO has an immediate opening for an enthusiastic and highly motivated professional to support confidential, executive-level academic affairs for research faculty and related administrative processes.  You will be part of the SRC DO team that supports SRC's research enterprise in research administration, finance, faculty, and staff human resources, facilities, communication, and other administrative support functions.  This role requires someone who can work independently and as part of a team, and who will maintain a positive employee relations environment, ensuring prompt, efficient, and professional responses to employee issues.  You will report to the SRC Assistant Director.

What You'll Do

As part of the SRC DO team, you will support activities aimed at attracting and maintaining a highly talented and diverse research faculty.  Your major areas of responsibility will include: 

Recruitment: 40%

• Assist the SRC Director, Assistant Director, and Faculty-led search committees with recruitment processes from initial position request through new hire appointment processing and onboarding.
• Draft postings, and advertisements, identify diverse posting venues including appropriate professional and scholarly journals and/or websites, listservs, email groups.
• Organize and facilitate search committee kickoff meetings, provide guidance and administrative support throughout the search process.
• Coordinate recruitment visits (predominantly in-person, with rare occasions of hybrid, or remote visits) including travel arrangements, itineraries, job talk presentations, and feedback
• Maintain status report on open searches.
• Prepare, track and organize search materials.
• Prepare recruitment casebooks.
• Prepare offer letters for faculty and LEO appointments.

Appointments: 30%

• Serve as an expert resource on faculty positions and appointment activities (e.g., time-in-rank, renewals, appointment changes, effort changes, sabbaticals/leaves).
• Generate, maintain, and analyze recruitment and appointment metrics.
• Coordinate research faculty, postdoctoral research fellow and GSRA appointment processes with ISR Director's Office and ISR HR.
• Coordinate joint appointments with counterparts in academic units.

Other Administrative Responsibilities: 30%

• Develop and deliver onboarding for all new faculty appointments, including visiting faculty.
• Assist in inviting exchange visitors and scholars to SRC and hiring foreign nationals.
• Serve as liaison with Shared Services and the International Center.
• Maintain faculty email groups, committee lists, and organization charts.
• Maintain and distribute procedures and advise on best practices.
• Periodic assistance with executive support and project work for the SRC Director, Associate Directors, and Assistant Director.

Why Work at Michigan?

In addition to a career filled with purpose and opportunity, the University of Michigan offers a comprehensive benefits package to help you stay well, protect yourself and your family, and plan for a secure future.   Benefits include:

• Generous time off.
• A retirement plan that provides two-for-one matching contributions after the first year.
• Many choices for comprehensive health insurance.
• Life insurance.
• Long-term disability coverage.
• Flexible spending accounts for healthcare and dependent care expenses.

Learn more about U-M benefits .

Required Qualifications*

We'd like to hear from you if you have:

• Three or more years of higher education administrative experience.
• Working knowledge of academic appointments, policies, and procedures.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise judgement and handle issues of a confidential or sensitive nature.
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills.
• Exceptional attention to detail.
• Proven analytic problem solver.
• Sophisticated computer and technical skills, particularly with the full range of MS Office and Google Apps for Education suites.
• Understanding of and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Desired Qualifications*

We are especially interested if you also have:

• Five or more years of in-depth experience with academic affairs, in particular faculty appointments in the research track, academic tenure track, and lecturer track.
• Experience processing employment and visiting scholar visas and green card applications.
• Detailed knowledge of and experience with Provost and UMOR appointment and promotion guidelines for research faculty.
• Experience with UMOR and Rackham postdoctoral research fellow appointment policies and procedures.
• Working knowledge of staff human resources.

Work Locations

This position is on-site at the University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center in Ann Arbor with flexibility for hybrid work within our overall Center guidelines.  Flexible work guidelines for SRC DO staff/this position are that the position is 100% in office for the first 90 days.  After successfully, completing the 90-day onboarding/training period, the guidelines are 4 days in the office and one day remote.

Additional Information

The Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan seeks to employ a diverse workforce as a reflection of our commitment to serve the diverse people of Michigan, to maintain the excellence of the university, and to ground our research i varied disciplines, perspectives, and ways of knowing and learning.

Background Screening

The University of Michigan conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer and may use a third party administrator to conduct background checks.  Background checks are performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Application Deadline

Institute for Social Research (ISR) job openings are posted for a minimum of fourteen (14) calendar days. Applications will be reviewed as received throughout the posting period and continue until the position is filled.

U-M EEO/AA Statement

The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.