Operations and Office Coordinator

Lake Forest College; Lake Forest (IL); On-site; USD 55,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Lake Forest College invites applications for a full-time Operations and Office Coordinator within the Gorter Family Career Advancement Center (CAC). The role provides strategic oversight of CAC office operations and front-line triage, leads the Career Ambassador student staff program, and manages the logistical execution of major career events.

The Operations and Office Coordinator reports to the Senior Associate Director for Communication, Operations, and Data, and will oversee a wide range of

Qualifications

• 3 years or more of administrative and office management experience and/or background in event planning or higher education preferred.
• Strong administrative and project management skills required. Must be attentive to detail and able to thrive in a fast-paced work environment while managing multiple projects and deadlines.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Word and Outlook, required and previous experience with software Excel, CRM systems, and Smartsheet preferred.
• Ability to work within established systems and create new ones where needed.
• Excellent problem-solving and written/verbal communication skills.
• Team-orientation and ability to provide exceptional customer service.
• Demonstrated supervisory skills, able to provide effective mentoring for students and new staff.
• Interest in supporting students, alumni, faculty & staff, and employers with diverse backgrounds and identities and commitment to the College’s values of Curiosity, Accountability, Intellectual Inquiry and Engagement.
• Flexibility to work evenings and weekends as needed for college events; valid driver’s license and willingness to travel occasionally within the Chicagoland area.

Responsibilities

• Provide operational leadership for office management and scheduling, designing administrative workflows and supervising front‑desk coverage to ensure seamless daily operations.
• Supervise and coach student staff to help them provide excellent customer service and coordinate work assignments into CAC operations and standards of service.
• Assist with recruiting, training, and supervising student staff members.
• Provide leadership and direction for the student peer resume review program, including facilitating training and leading project management for student peer advisors, consulting with career advising staff where needed.
• Oversee main office and Forester Career Closet operations, forecasting resource needs and coordinating the acquisition and organization of supplies to ensure seamless support for CAC initiatives.
• Coordinate and execute transportation logistics for programs or events as needed.
• Support CAC leadership team with administrative duties.
• Lead event planning process for 100+ annual programs, manage deadlines and vendor relations, and optimize attendance reporting.

Skills

Office management

Project management

Event planning

Customer service

CRM experience

Microsoft Office

Tools

Smartsheet

Handshake

OneDrive

Slate

LinkedIn

Excel

Job description

Operations and Office Coordinator, Gorter Family Career Advancement Center June 2026

Lake Forest College invites applications for a full‑time Operations and Office Coordinator within the Gorter Family Career Advancement Center (CAC). This role provides strategic oversight of CAC office operations and front‑line triage, leads the Career Ambassador student staff program, and manages the logistical execution of major career events. The Operations and Office Coordinator reports to the Senior Associate Director for Communication, Operations, and Data.

Responsibilities include:

CAREER CENTER OPERATIONS (35%)

Provide operational leadership for office management and scheduling, designing administrative workflows and supervising front‑desk coverage to ensure seamless daily operations. Supervise and coach student staff to help them provide excellent customer service and coordinate work assignments into CAC operations and standards of service. Assist with recruiting, training, and supervising student staff members. Provide leadership and direction for the student peer resume review program, including facilitating training and leading project management for student peer advisors, consulting with career advising staff where needed. Oversee main office and Forester Career Closet operations, forecasting resource needs and coordinating the acquisition and organization of supplies to ensure seamless support for CAC initiatives. Coordinate and execute transportation logistics for programs or events as needed. Support CAC leadership team with administrative duties.

EVENT PLANNING (25%)

Serve as project manager for a large volume of career programs (100+ annually), ranging from small group workshops to large‑scale signature networking events. Lead event planning process: collaborate with colleagues to clarify event goals, track event planning details, manage deadlines, and execute all planning processes, which may include scheduling facilities, catering, managing relationships with vendors and on‑campus partners, and event set‑up. Manage and optimize attendance reporting processes to support data‑driven event planning and evaluation.

RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (20%)

Lead front‑line engagement for current and prospective students and professionals, assessing needs and connecting them with the most relevant resources. Serve as point of contact for employers, facilitating job posting processes, and guiding them to appropriate campus partners and resources. Develop new communications and processes for triage where needed. Engage campus stakeholders to ensure operational continuity and alignment with CAC priorities.

PLATFORM OPERATIONS (20%)

Manage, organize, and research information using online technology systems, such as career service management system (Handshake), file storage (OneDrive), alumni database (Slate), project/data management (Smartsheet), and LinkedIn. Lead management of online employer approvals, job postings, applications, and account requests.

Qualifications

• 3 years or more of administrative and office management experience and/or background in event planning or higher education preferred.
• Strong administrative and project management skills required. Must be attentive to detail and able to thrive in a fast‑paced work environment while managing multiple projects and deadlines.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Word and Outlook, required and previous experience with software Excel, CRM systems, and Smartsheet preferred.
• Ability to work within established systems and create new ones where needed.
• Excellent problem‑solving and written/verbal communication skills.
• Team‑orientation and ability to provide exceptional customer service.
• Demonstrated supervisory skills, able to provide effective mentoring for students and new staff.
• Interest in supporting students, alumni, faculty & staff, and employers with diverse backgrounds and identities and commitment to the College’s values of Curiosity, Accountability, Intellectual Inquiry and Engagement.
• Flexibility to work evenings and weekends as needed for college events; valid driver’s license and willingness to travel occasionally within the Chicagoland area.

If you have any questions regarding the position, please direct them to the hiring committee at [e-mail].

About the Gorter Family Career Advancement Center

Lake Forest College has embraced career preparation as a key institutional goal for its undergraduate students with our long‑standing collegewide commitment to our mission of “preparing students for, and helping them attain, productive and rewarding careers.” The College is proud of taking a pragmatic approach that merges the foundations of a liberal arts experience with practical experiential learning opportunities and exceptional career preparation for our students. We are proud that for the fifth year in a row, Lake Forest College has been recognized by the Princeton Review on their top 25 Best Schools for Internships list and most recently, recognized as #14 for Best Career Services (2026). For the past 3 years, the College is also proud to have been ranked as top 3 for Social Mobility by U.S. News and World Report.

About Lake Forest College

Lake Forest College is a private, residential, liberal arts institution that enrolls more than 1,700 diverse students from forty‑three states and one hundred countries. Located just thirty miles north of Chicago, the college resides in the suburb of Lake Forest, Illinois.

If you are interested in learning more about employment at Lake Forest College, please visit Working at Lake Forest | Lake Forest College. If you are interested in learning about benefits at Lake Forest College, please visit Lake Forest College Employee Benefits.