Department Chair’s Assistant & Team Lead

About the role

The Department Chair’s Assistant & Team Lead supports the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. This role operates with a hybrid requirement during the academic year, consisting of 4 days on campus and 1 day remote.

Responsibilities

• Provides administrative leadership for the departments by developing, implementing, and maintaining office procedures, workflows, and operational standards.
• Captures and monitors the work of 2 faculty support staff, delegating and monitoring tasks to ensure consistency, accuracy, and adherence to departmental protocols.
• Serves as the first point of escalation for operational and workflow issues within the support team.
• Acts as the department’s lead resource on administrative processes related to professional service agreements and other contractual needs; provides guidance, training, and workflow direction to team members as needed.
• Oversees daily operations of the Chair’s Office with minimal need for higher-level administrative intervention.
• Coordinates faculty meetings, prepares agendas, records meeting minutes and tracks action items.
• Serves as a primary resource for department and University policies, providing guidance to faculty, staff, students, and visitors.
• Manages department-wide logistical processes, including key requests, room reservations, directories, and departmental communications.
• Plans and organizes annual prospective graduate student recruiting weekend, seminar speaker visits, and other high visibility departmental events, including overseeing departmental commencement planning.
• Provides comprehensive administrative support including purchasing supplies, arranging travel, organizing events, preparing expense reports and reimbursement requests.
• Provides administrative support to the Department Chair(s) and their lab/students, including purchasing supplies, arranging travel, event support, preparing expense reports and reimbursement requests.
• Provides administrative support for faculty and academic appointment/reappointment processes (ME), coordination of visiting students, and handling of visa related documentation and requests (ME/MS.)
• Manages the department’s communication strategy by managing and overseeing the website, weekly newsletter, digital signage, and internal announcements.

Qualifications

• Exceptional organizational and multitasking skills, with the ability to prioritize and manage competing deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to draft and edit documents and correspondence with accuracy and attention to detail.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint) and familiarity with administrative software and systems.
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion and professionalism.
• Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to build trust and work effectively with a diverse group of stakeholders.

Skills

• Experience in leading and overseeing administrative support staff, including task delegation and performance monitoring.
• Familiarity with higher education or academic settings, including experience with faculty appointments, promotions, and event planning.
• Advanced proficiency with administrative systems such as Workday, Interfolio, and Yale Message.
• Experience coordinating international travel and handling complex scheduling arrangements.

Benefits

Details on benefits are not specified in the job posting.

Pay

Details on pay are not specified in the job posting.

Schedule

Details on schedule are not specified in the job posting.