Administrative Assistant II

University of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Pittsburgh is seeking an Administrative Assistant II for the Almarza Laboratory in the School of Dental Medicine. The role focuses on providing high-level administrative support to the principal investigator, including calendar management, meeting coordination, and travel arrangements.

You will prepare agendas, record minutes, distribute summaries, and help maintain regulatory binders and project communications across multiple sites.

Qualifications

• Associate's degree required.
• Minimum of 3 years of related administrative experience.
• Proficient in calendar management and meeting coordination.
• Experience supporting researchers or academic labs is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Maintain PI's calendar and schedule internal/external meetings across time zones.
• Prepare agendas, distribute minutes, and track action items with summaries.
• Coordinate travel, meetings, and events for conferences and consortiums.
• Manage shared drives with version control and proper permissions.
• Support outreach, seminars, and education core activities.

Skills

3 years experience

Calendar management

Meeting coordination

Administrative support

Education

Associate's Degree

Job description

Job Description - Administrative Assistant II (26005719)

The Almarza Laboratory is housed in the Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine and is a member of the Center for Craniofacial Regeneration, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Bioengineering. The laboratory focuses on temporomandibular joint (TMJ) bioengineering, with active programs in tissue engineering, biomechanics, and the characterization of sensory neurons that innervate the joint. The overarching goal is to understand the biological and mechanical basis of TMJ disorders and to translate that knowledge into better diagnostics and treatments.

Dr. Almarza directs the CREATE Center (U54 DE035413), a five-site, NIH HEAL Initiative-funded research consortium on temporomandibular disorders (TMD) that includes the University of Pittsburgh, University of Florida, University at Buffalo, Texas A&M, and UT Health Houston. He also chairs the TMD IMPACT Steering Committee, which unites CREATE with the 360° CHAT‑TMD and BETTER‑TMD centers, and serves as Multiple PI on the RE‑JOIN Consortium award (UC2 AR082196), which studies innervation of the knee and TMJ.

Job Summary

Performs administrative assistant support work of moderate complexity.

Essential Functions

This role's primary responsibilities include maintaining the PI's calendar and scheduling internal and external meetings across institutions and time zones, as well as coordinating recurring consortium meetings such as the Steering Committee, Working Groups, Executive Committee, and Core team meetings. The role involves preparing and sending agendas, Teams links, and meeting reminders, and recording, drafting, and distributing accurate meeting minutes with action items, supported by AI generated summaries. It also includes supporting the PI's travel arrangements for conferences, NIH site visits, and consortium retreats, and maintaining shared drives (Teams, SharePoint, Drive) with proper version control and permissions. Additional duties include assisting with the preparation of figures, charts, and tables (non-scientific formatting only), scheduling and coordinating consortium retreats, workshops, and annual meetings, and helping manage outreach and education core activities such as seminars, training events, and TMJ workshops. The role also covers tracking sample shipments, data uploads, imaging progress, and biospecimen inventory; managing attendee lists, registration, room reservations, catering, and travel reimbursements; coordinating submissions for abstract deadlines, society leadership materials, and session planning; tracking the PI's service commitments and external obligations; supporting interactions with patient advocacy groups and community partners; and updating and maintaining the PI's CV.

In coordination with the Program Manager, this role maintains up to date databases of publications, presentations, and consortium outputs for annual reporting, and assists with preparing NIH Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs). It also involves maintaining regulatory binders and ensuring staff training compliance (CITI, IACUC, HIPAA, OSHA), overseeing data sharing agreements, DUAs, MTAs, BAAs, and confidentiality agreements, and maintaining contact lists for all sites, including PIs, coordinators, trainees, and administrators. The role serves as the first point of contact for collaborative inquiries from NIH program officials, external partners, and industry collaborators, and coordinates newsletter creation and distribution as well as maintenance of the consortium website, including content updates, announcements, and events. It further includes helping the PI prepare for NIH check ins, internal reviews, and consortium wide evaluations; formatting and preparing manuscripts, presentations, biosketches, letters of support, and reports; organizing consortium symposia, workshops (such as TMJ workshops at ORS), and seminars; and assisting in the preparation of communication materials for USASP, ORS, BMES, AADOCR, ITIRM, and similar organizations.

Physical Effort

Light - Little physical effort required. Duties are primarily sedentary. May be required to move objects up to 20 pounds occasionally.

The University of Pittsburgh is an equal opportunity employer / disability / veteran.

Assignment Category Full-time regular

Job Classification Staff.Administrative Assistant II

Job Family Administrative Support

Job Sub-Family Clerical

Campus Pittsburgh

Minimum Education Level Required Associate's Degree

Minimum Years of Experience Required 3

Will this position accept substitution in lieu of education or experience? Combination of education and relevant experience will be considered in lieu of education and/ or experience requirement.

Additional details about Required Licensure/Certification N/A

Work Arrangement On-Campus: Teams that work on campus, in an office, or in a lab.

Hiring Range TBD Based Upon Qualifications

Relocation Offered No

Visa Sponsorship Provided No

Background Check For position finalists, employment with the University will require successful completion of a background check

Child Protection Clearances Not Applicable

The University of Pittsburgh is an equal opportunity employer / disability / veteran.