Office Assistant

Department: Col of Engineering and Computing

Classification: Admin Office Specialist 3

Job Category: Classified Staff

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)

Location: Fairfax, VA

Workplace Type: Hybrid Eligible

Pay Band: 03

Salary: Salary commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

About the Department:

About the Position:

An Office Assistant is an essential position in an academic department. This position reports to the Chair of the Department of Statistics. The incumbent will work with the Office Manager and other staff and will be responsible for a broad range of tasks critical to the Department's administrative integrity and procedures relative to the needs of the faculty and the students. Additional responsibilities include but are not limited to serving as liaison with other administrative offices of the School and the University, interacting with departmental faculty, and assisting with organizing various events sponsored by the department. The individual in this position represents the department professionally and is a resource regarding the university and the department’s rules, regulations, policies, and procedures.

* Please note that this is not a 100% remote/virtual position, but it is telework friendly. Depending upon your department/office, with the chair’s approval, you may have the ability to telework 1 day per week.

Responsibilities:

Office Assistant

• Led by office manager or work independently
  • Serves as an assistant to the department chair and associate chair(s);
  • Completes day-to-day office tasks, including screening and routing phone calls and emails, filing, typing, mailing, copying, and shredding;
  • Schedules rooms for seminars, student exams, and other departmental functions;
  • Answers questions and routes in-person walk-in requests;
  • Provides administrative support for faculty, and for graduate student assistants, in collaboration with the office manager; 
  • Collaborates and communicates with administrative support in other departments to maximize best practices and mutual support;
  • Responds to requests/questions from students seeking information on the Department's graduate programs, certificate programs, and undergraduate courses, and routes student inquiries to appropriate faculty;
  • Processes book orders for all classes;
  • Keeps the administrative office and conference rooms neat and tidy;
  • Ensures that visitors are welcomed into an orderly professional environment; and
  • Supports departmental events, such as bookings and supply orders for holiday, summer, and retirement parties. 

Administrative Assistance to Graduate Programs

• Assists the PhD program director and MS program directors in the following areas: 
  • Filing;
  • Providing forms to students and faculty;
  • Entering exam results into the university digital system; and
  • Maintaining and updating files and forms.

Administrative Assistance and Advising for Undergraduate Programs

• Supports the undergraduate program coordinator in advising activities, including advising, attending orientations and recruitment activities when asked by the coordinator;
• Creates and maintains all records for the new undergraduate program; and
• Provides basic information to undergraduate students and routes them appropriately. 

Digital Support

• Provides administrative support to departmental webpage, social media, listserv or other digital communications, including moderate assistance to newsletters and presentations as suitable;
• Provides support to filing/filling on-line or dynamic forms; and
• Extracts data and information from university systems.

Back-up to Office Manager and other related duties as assigned

• Backup telecom coordinator, asset coordinator, and space coordinator;
• Covers office management activities when office manager is away;
• Makes appointments for the department chair, as needed; and
• Other duties as assigned by the chair or associate chairs.

Required Qualifications:

• Experience working in an office setting;
• Experience as a front office first point of contact;
• Experience in managing sensitive and confidential materials;
• Knowledge of general office practices and equipment;
• Knowledge of and prior experience with Microsoft Office, Google, or similar products for word processing, spreadsheets, e-mail, web-related applications;
• Excellent personal or customer service skills;
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
• Demonstrated problem-solving skills;
• Ability to coordinate a variety of activities and prioritize items of importance with and without supervision;
• Ability to exercise independent, sound judgement with accuracy and attention to detail;
• Ability to deal effectively with diverse clients including students, parents, faculty, and staff; and
• Aptitude to learn new software and internet applications.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in related field;
• Work experience in higher education;
• Experience with event planning;
• Experience with Banner, eVA, MicroStrategy, and Patriot Web;
• Prior experience updating websites;
• Experience in creating marketing materials;
• Knowledge of academic policies and procedures;
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite; and
• Familiarity with processes at GMU.

Instructions to Applicants: 

For full consideration, applicants must apply for Office Assistant at https://jobs.gmu.edu/. Complete and submit the online application to include three professional references with contact information, and provide a cover letter and resume.  Full consideration will apply to applicants who submit their completed application by November 21, 2024; however, review of applications will continue until the position is filled.

Posting Open Date: November 7, 2024

For Full Consideration, Apply by:  November 21, 2024

Open Until Filled:  Yes