Executive Assistant to the Senior Vice President

About the Opportunity

The Office of External Affairs at Northeastern University is looking for a talented, hard-working, and highly motivated candidate to serve as the Executive Assistant to the Senior Vice President (SVP). Reporting to the Manager for Strategic Initiatives and Executive Projects, this person will play an important role in the management of high-priority projects in addition to administrative support.

The ideal candidate has experience in a dynamic, fast-paced, and highly collaborative environment. They will proactively support all daily business administrative responsibilities for the SVP and work with the Manager for Strategic Initiatives and Executive Projects to ensure smooth daily operations across the division. The ideal candidate is looking for an exciting role with a wide range of responsibilities and projects, which include:

• Providing high-level administrative support to the SVP including maintaining a busy executive calendar and organizing and preparing for meetings.
• Coordinating domestic and international travel.
• Tracking and preparing budget reports.
• Planning, coordinating, and implementing logistics for division-wide meetings and priorities including all-staff meetings, meetings with new hires, annual summer retreats, and holiday events.
• Assisting with Commencement preparations including working with keynote speakers’ teams on logistics and briefing the SVP.
• Designing program or project vision, goals, objectives, and methodologies. Collaborating throughout the division to evaluate progress and refine project plans. Evaluating and providing feedback.
• This individual regularly handles confidential material and information and exercises discretion in doing so. They will perform other duties as required to ensure the smooth operation and responsiveness of the division.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree required with 3-5 years of experience in an office environment. Candidate must be a mature professional who can manage and facilitate an intense workload and produce quality results in a fast-paced environment. The ideal candidate possesses strong written and verbal skills. Must be able to manage multiple priority projects at once with ease and efficiency. Must be a self-starter who is highly motivated, can think independently and analytically, is organized, and extremely detail oriented. Must be proactive, anticipate problems, and be resourceful to find workable solutions, and should work well with others at all levels. Proficiency with MS Office products, including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook is required. Experience in higher education is not needed, nor is it desired. This role requires an in-person presence five days a week. Some evening and weekend hours may be required.

Key Responsibilities

Administrative Support

• Provide high-level administrative support for the Senior Vice President.
• Maintain a busy executive calendar, organize, and prepare for meetings, coordinate domestic and international travel, track and prepare budget reports.
• Performs other duties as required to ensure the smooth operation and responsiveness of the department.
• Meeting and Event Management.
• Plan, coordinate, and implement logistics for division-wide meetings and priorities. This includes regular all-staff meetings, meetings with new hires, the annual summer retreat, annual holiday party and soiree, and other events.
• Assist in Commencement preparations, including working with keynote speaker's teams on logistics, and ensuring the SVP is briefed.

Project Management

• Design program or project vision, goals, objectives, and methodology.
• Collaborate with members of the division to evaluate progress and refine plans, while exercising sound judgment for project progress and project direction on behalf of the Senior Vice President.
• Evaluate and provide feedback for submissions from the departments in the division. This could involve editing documents, maintaining a current knowledge of division priorities, providing relevant responses, etc.
• Other duties as assigned.

Position Type

General Administration

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.  

Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as well as commuting & transportation. Visit https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/ for more information.  

Northeastern University is an equal opportunity employer, seeking to recruit and support a broadly diverse community of faculty and staff.  Northeastern values and celebrates diversity in all its forms and strives to foster an inclusive culture built on respect that affirms inter-group relations and builds cohesion. 

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other  characteristic protected by applicable law.

To learn more about Northeastern University’s commitment and support of diversity and inclusion, please see www.northeastern.edu/diversity .