Administrative Assistant

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Job Summary

The Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences is seeking a full-time, regular Administrative Assistant who will provide support to the Grants Manager in the Geology and Geochemistry Department. Under direct supervision, the successful candidate will handle financial and non-financial duties for faculty, postdoctoral scholars, students, and research staff. The functional title for this position will be Grants Manager Assistant.

Essential Job Duties

• Assist in preparing proposals, ensuring proper formatting and content according to sponsor guidelines. Prepare budget and non-scientific documents, proofread, enter, and upload required information and documents. Assist with approval routing and document distribution.
• Assist with the financial and administrative monitoring of sponsored research awards, including preparation of monthly funds management and personnel reports, review of allowability of costs and account balances to prevent over or under-spending.
• Assist with the timely submission of technical reports; monitoring of fabrication and cost-sharing accounts, subawards and consulting agreements; maintenance of research award summaries; track pending proposals; and award closeouts.
• Assist with the monitoring and clearance of commitments on purchase orders; payment of invoices; and the extension or close-out of subawards and consulting agreements.
• Support faculty with administrative and clerical duties such as editing and proofreading correspondence, organizing meetings, seminars, and conferences. Prepare or copy class material and may update faculty websites. Maintain faculty calendars and schedule meetings/appointments.
• Purchase supplies and equipment via P-Card and TechMart; process sub-awards and consulting agreements; monitor receipt of deliveries; assist with invoice approvals; process reimbursements and payment requests; reconcile monthly P-Card reports.
• Coordinate travel arrangements and advances, process expense reports; assist with logistics associated with domestic and/or international travel; ensure compliance with sponsor and Institute travel policies and export regulations. Deposit reimbursement checks and ensure proper crediting to accounts.
• Assist with completing forms for guests, external affiliates, volunteers, visitors, visiting student researchers, and undergrad student programs.
• Provide backup support to department colleagues as necessary.
• Apply knowledge of Institute policies, Division practices, sponsor terms and conditions, and government rules and regulations to all assigned duties as applicable.
• Take initiative to inform the manager of outstanding work; proactively search for new information or established guidelines relevant to tasks and projects that may provide direction or solutions; maintain good communication of pending issues with faculty, postdocs, students, and staff.
• Other duties as assigned.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and at least 3 years of equivalent administrative experience.
• Detailed, process-oriented, excellent organizational skills, able to prioritize work effectively and meet deadlines.
• Good judgment and discretion; ability to maintain confidentially.
• Ability to work under deadlines, prioritize work effectively, and be flexible.
• Cooperative and self-motivated; handle duties in a proactive and timely manner.
• Strong interpersonal, written, and communication skills.
• Intermediate-level Excel skills.
• Experience using Microsoft Office/Office 365 and Adobe.
• Experience coordinating travel arrangements and making itineraries.
• Demonstrated facility with software programs and eagerness to learn new administrative systems.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledgeable in accounting as it pertains to budgets and cost detail spreadsheets.
• Experience with Caltech systems and software applications.
• Demonstrated initiative for taking on unfamiliar or additional tasks.
• Experience using website design software.

Required Documents

• Resume
• Cover Letter