Administrative Assistant, Political Science, Faculty of Arts

University of Calgary; Calgary; On-site; CAD 28,000 - 40,000; Part time

Job summary

University of Calgary is seeking an Administrative Assistant (0.5 FTE, part-time) to support the Indigenous Maternal Child Wellness (IMCW) team within the Indigenous health research program. The role reports to Dr.

Jennifer Leason and supports administration, meetings, budgets, and communications. We invite applications from those with a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree and several years of administrative experience in a university or health research setting.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in related discipline.
• 5+ years of progressive administrative support experience.
• Experience in Indigenous health, care system and/or post-secondary environments is preferred.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and events with deadlines.
• Excellent organizational and communication skills.
• Knowledge of university policies and core business systems.

Responsibilities

• Manages workflow: schedules appointments, meetings, and travel for the director and team.
• Produces meeting minutes, action items, briefing notes, and communications.
• Maintains contact lists, project charts, and shared document organization.
• Processes travel, expenses, budgets, and financial reconciliations.
• Supports project management, contracts, and payments for research activities.
• Assists with events, communications, and dissemination of research outputs.

Skills

Organizational skills

Communication

Independent work

Interpersonal skills

Microsoft Office

PeopleSoft

eProcurement

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in related discipline

Tools

Microsoft Office

Outlook

Excel

PowerPoint

Visio

PeopleSoft

eProcurement Systems

Job description

Description

The Department of Political Science in the Faculty of Arts invites applications for an Administrative Assistant position. This Part-time Fixed Term position is for approximately 1 year (based on length of grant funding), with the possibility of extension.

This 0.5 FTE part-time term position reports to Dr. Jennifer Leason, PHD, Professor and CIHR Canada Research Chair Tier II in Indigenous Maternal Child Wellness. For more about Dr. Leason, please visit: https://www.jenniferleason.com

The administrative support staff will be responsible for assisting with the administration of Indigenous health research projects, including (but not limited to) organizing meetings, agendas, and travel; email and communications; budgets and account reconciliation; and contributing to transcription, references/resources support, interviews, field notes, and related data storage.

Primary Purpose of the Position: (Key purpose, functions, roles):

The incumbent will work out of the Indigenous Maternal Child Wellness (IMCW) office located at the University of Calgary, 2.5 days per week, while supporting Dr. Jennifer Leason and her research teams, and will report directly to Dr. Jennifer Leason. To learn more about the research, please visit: https://www.jenniferleason.com/research/

Summary of Key Responsibilities (job functions include but are not limited to):

Workflow Management

• Prioritizes and schedules appointments, meetings, seminars, and conferences, balancing the director's diverse responsibilities: leadership on local, community, national, university and international levels, including research management, Indigenous community commitments and Institute leadership accountabilities.
• Ensures Dr. Leason has all necessary information for each meeting, including minutes and action items from previous meetings. Ensures the team is duly informed of scheduled meetings, appointments, and travel itineraries, and works ahead to assemble the required documentation and briefing notes.
• Manages, organizes and follows up on monthly full-team meetings, meetings as requested, and any ad hoc committees or meetings called.
• Documents minutes and action items. Provides regular communications via email, telephone, virtual platforms and in person with administrative, students, faculty, contractors, community members (Elders/ Knowledge Keepers) and staff.
• Maintains and updates all contact lists, organization and project chart, project mapping, and timelines. Organizes, tracks, and compiles documents in the shared file system.

Books travel and processes expense reports.

Purchases and reconciles expenses and accounts.

Project Support

• Facilitates project management support, including project setup, extensions, changes, and closures.
• Facilitates communication with the central legal unit and VPR Research One Child Every Child administration regarding research agreements and contracts.
• Facilitates processes for payments to research participants and partner organizations and liaises with finance and HR to navigate appropriate hiring and payment protocols.
• Conducts timely, efficient and accurate processing of honorarium and other non-employee payments, contractors and Elders, as well as student scholarships and awards, as required.
• Liaises with the Arts Business Operations Centre and UService to facilitate administrative processes related to grant administration and management.

Research Management

• Supports the team and plans and executes events with collaborators, including meetings, research/writing retreats, symposia, community events, and special events.
• Drafts invitations to speakers, liaises with invited speakers and partners, creates itineraries, and makes travel arrangements and processes expense reimbursements.
• Supports and tracks the status of research knowledge dissemination, publication, and implementation of research projects.
• Supports and works with a communications advisor, web developer and animator to support communications.
• Occasional on-site attendance to facilitate national or international child health-related events hosted by the Director and/or research teams and partners.
• Documents meeting minutes and action items from research meetings and organizes information packages for dissemination to key internal and external stakeholders.
• Manages minutes and supports reporting on activities from One Child Every Child, CIHR, and funding agencies.
• Responsible for processing payments to speakers and convenors of events led by the research team.
• Assists with project budget management by processing research financial requisitions, tracking and projecting project expenditures.
• Supports writing timelines, referencing/citations (as supported by Dr. Leason and/or her postdoctoral and graduate students), and formatting submissions for publication.

Qualifications / Requirements:

• Bachelor's or master's degree in related discipline and 5+ years of progressive administrative support experience (a combination of high-level skills and experience will be considered).
• Strong experience in high-level coordination and administrative leadership within Indigenous health, care system and/or post-secondary, research and unionized environments.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects and major events, set priorities and be proactive to meet deadlines. Including managing conflicting priorities.
• Proven ability to work independently and be accountable for delivery of results. Comfort with taking initiative and decision-making responsibilities to ensure projects run smoothly and on time/task.
• Excellent organizational, analytical and problem-solving skills, maintaining accuracy and attention to detail.
• Exceptional professional communication and interpersonal skills.
• In-depth knowledge and experience of university policies, procedures and core business systems.
• Demonstrated communication skills, with an ability to exercise excellent interpersonal skills
• Previous experience in a university, First Nation/Métis/Inuit organization, and/or clinical health care environment is an asset.
• Ability to use discretion with confidential material, a high level of professionalism and a strong work ethic demonstrating diplomacy, kindness and good judgment.t
• Advanced skills in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio), Internet skills, PeopleSoft and eProcurement Systems.
• Knowledge of First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Indigenous peoples, TRC Calls to Action, UNDRIP and key Indigenous texts related to Indigenous maternal- child and peoples health and wellness.

Application Deadline:

September 28, 2026.

We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.

This position is part of the AUPE bargaining unit, and falls under the Operational/Administrative Job Family, Phase 3.

For a listing of all management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary, view our Management and Staff Careers website.

About The University Of Calgary

UCalgary is Canada's entrepreneurial university, located in Canada's most enterprising city. It is a top research university and one of the highest-ranked universities of its age. Founded in 1966, its 36,000 students experience an innovative learning environment, made rich by research, hands‑on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. It is Canada's leader in the creation of start‑ups. Start something today at the University of Calgary. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.

The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy ii' taa'poh'to'p committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.

The university's commitment to the Indigenous Strategy is evident through the oversight of 18 Elders serving on the Circle of Advisors and the many unit-based circles working towards implementation of the strategy including the Faculty Advisory Circle and teams such as the Office of Indigenous Engagement, the Writing Symbols Lodge, and the Indigenous Research Support Team. Many Indigenous-based events and processes are impacting curriculum, programming and polices at the University of Calgary.

As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Institutional Commitments ( [email protected] ) and requests for accommodations can be sent to People & Culture ( [email protected] ).

Do you have most but not all the qualifications? Research show that women, racialized and visible minorities, and persons with disabilities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At UCalgary we are committed to achieving equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible employment practices and workplaces and encourage you to apply if you believe you are right for this role.

We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.