Assistant to the Chair - Cell Biology & Physiology

Washington University in St. Louis; St. Louis (MO); On-site; USD 66,000 - 113,000; Full time

Job summary

Washington University in St. Louis seeks an experienced administrative professional to support the Department Head. You will manage confidential matters, coordinate calendars and travel, and prepare a variety of communications and documents for seminars, lectures, and recruitment processes.

The role involves coordinating events, supporting faculty reviews, and handling notary/public duties, while collaborating with multiple offices to ensure smooth operations.

Qualifications

• Administrative experience handling confidential information.
• Ability to anticipate needs and prepare materials for meetings.
• Strong calendar management and travel coordination skills.
• Familiarity with office policies and procedures.

Responsibilities

• Assists Department Head with confidential administrative details and prepares materials for meetings.
• Maintains Department Head’s calendar and schedules meetings, with alerts for daily commitments.
• Composes letters, memos, and correspondence with proper formatting and grammar.
• Provides administrative support for seminars and lectures including travel arrangements and reimbursements.
• Coordinates faculty recruitment, advertises, reviews documents, and schedules candidate visits.
• Supports department mentoring committees and faculty reviews; assists in appointment and promotion processes.
• Prepares tenure write-ups for WashU Board when required.
• Handles department public relations and distributes the department newsletter.
• Schedules and plans department events and notary/public duties.
• Backups payroll-related tasks and processing of new hires.

Skills

Confidentiality

Deadline Management

Independent Judgment

Multitasking

Oral Communications

Organizational Savvy

Service Oriented

Stress Management

Supervision

Tactfulness

Written Communication

Education

Associate degree

Job description

Position Summary

Provides administrative assistance and office support to the Chair/Department Head, which requires considerable judgement, tact, creativity and initiative. Responds to questions and inquiries and makes decisions, when appropriate, in the absence of Chair/Department Head according to organizational policies and procedures.

More information about the department can be found here: https://cellbiology.wustl.edu/.

Location

ST. LOUIS, MO 63110

Scheduled Hours

40

Job Description

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

• Assists Department Head with administrative details, usually of a confidential nature. Anticipate and prepare materials needed for meetings, appointments, and telephone calls. Greets guests and callers, ascertain nature of business, and handle situations as appropriate. Understands current regulations, policies, precedents, and practices. Interprets and adapts these guidelines, including in the absence of Department Head as needed.
• Mantains Department Head’s calendar, including scheduling meetings, providing alerts to daily commitments, arranging for implementation. Notes commitments made by Department Head during meetings and arrange for implementation or follow-up as needed.
• Composes a variety of materials, including letters, memos, and correspondence with responsibility for format, attachments, spelling, and grammar. Proofs and edits as needed correspondence and other documents generated by the Department Head.
• Provides administrative support for weekly seminar series, two annual named lectures, and other special symposiums. This includes reserving the auditorium, coordinating invitations, designing flyers and posters, advertising via print, digital signage, and email distribution lists. Makes travel arrangements for out-of-town speakers, plan speaker schedules, manage catering, and special dinners. Initiate speaker reimbursement/honorarium, obtain appropriate documentation for expenses, process expense reports.
• Coordinates faculty recruitment. Under direction of the search committee, places advertisements through journals and online services. Receives applications and letters of recommendation, organize documents electronically for review. Schedules search committee meetings. Arranges travel, meeting schedule, dinners, and all reimbursements for candidate visits.
• Schedules and provides administrative support for department mentoring committees and annual faculty reviews. Serves as responsible for supporting all steps related to faculty appointment and promotion process. Reviews faculty packets with Department Head for recommendation to departmental and ad hoc committees. Coordinates appointments with the Dean’s office. Schedules ad hoc Appointments & Promotions Committee and ensures that packets are prepared and distributed in a timely manner.
• Prepares tenure write-ups for submission to WashU Board, when required.
• Handles public relations for the department. Develops and distributes department newsletter three times per year.
• Schedules and plans department events including faculty meetings, retreats, picnics, holiday parties, and annual department photograph.
• Serves as a Notary Public for the Department. Co-manages department website along with department IT specialist and maintain electronic displays and updates with departmental announcements, activities, promotions, publications, news releases, grant awards, etc.
• Manages space-reporting assignments within the ManageSpace system, including completing annual survey and planning process.
• Serves as backup payroll representative. This includes timesheet review, troubleshooting and updating, onboarding new hires, distributing keys, running payroll reports, and entering new hires, terms and transfers.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Working Conditions

Job Location/Working Conditions

• Normal office environment.

Physical Effort

• Typically sitting at desk or table.
• Repetitive wrist, hand or finger movement (PC Typing).

Equipment

• Office equipment.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all job duties performed by the personnel so classified. Management reserves the right to revise or amend duties at any time.

Education

Associate degree or combination of education and experience may substitute for minimum education.

Required Qualifications

No specific certification/professional license is required for this position.

Certifications/Professional Licenses

No specific certification/professional license is required for this position.

Work Experience

Administrative (7 Years)

Skills

Not Applicable

Driver’s License

A driver's license is not required for this position.

More About This Job

WashU seeks highly motivated individuals who are able to perform duties in a manner consistent with our core mission and guiding principles.

Education

Preferred Qualifications

No additional education unless stated elsewhere in the job posting.

Certifications/Professional Licenses

No additional certification/professional licenses unless stated elsewhere in the job posting.

Work Experience

No additional work experience unless stated elsewhere in the job posting.

Skills

Confidentiality, Deadline Management, Independent Judgment, Multitasking, Oral Communications, Organizational Savvy, Service Oriented, Stress Management, Supervision, Tactfulness, Written Communication

Grade

G13

Salary Range

$65,900.00 - $112,700.00 / Annually

The salary range reflects base salaries paid for positions in a given job grade across the University. Individual rates within the range will be determined by factors including one's qualifications and performance, equity with others in the department, market rates for positions within the same grade and department budget.

Questions

For frequently asked questions about the application process, please refer to our External Applicant FAQ.

Accommodation

If you are unable to use our online application system and would like an accommodation, please email [e-mail] or call the dedicated accommodation inquiry number at 314-935-1149 and leave a voicemail with the nature of your request.

All qualified individuals must be able to perform the essential functions of the position satisfactorily and, if requested, reasonable accommodations will be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job, absent undue hardship.

Pre-Employment Screening

All external candidates receiving an offer for employment will be required to submit to pre-employment screening for this position. The screenings will include criminal background check and, as applicable for the position, other background checks, drug screen, an employment and education or licensure/certification verification, physical examination, certain vaccinations and/or governmental registry checks. All offers are contingent upon successful completion of required screening.

Benefits Statement

Personal

• Up to 22 days of vacation, 10 recognized holidays, and sick time.
• Competitive health insurance packages with priority appointments and lower copays/coinsurance.
• Take advantage of our free Metro transit U-Pass for eligible employees.
• WashU provides eligible employees with a defined contribution (403(b)) Retirement Savings Plan, which combines employee contributions and university contributions starting at 7%.

Wellness

• Wellness challenges, annual health screenings, mental health resources, mindfulness programs and courses, employee assistance program (EAP), financial resources, access to dietitians, and more!

Family

• We offer 4 weeks of caregiver leave to bond with your new child. Family care resources are also available for your continued childcare needs. Need adult care? We’ve got you covered.
• WashU covers the cost of tuition for you and your family, including dependent undergraduate-level college tuition up to 100% at WashU and 40% elsewhere after seven years with us.

For policies, detailed benefits, and eligibility, please visit: https://hr.wustl.edu/benefits/

EEO Statement

Washington University in St. Louis is committed to the principles and practices of equal employment opportunity. It is the University’s policy to provide equal opportunity and access to persons in all job titles without regard to race, ethnicity or shared ancestry, color, national origin, citizenship (where prohibited by federal law), age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information. As a federal contractor, the university maintains affirmative action programs to implement its equal employment opportunity policy for individuals with disabilities and protected veterans, in accordance with Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA), as amended.