Executive and Administrative Assistant

**Job Title**
- Executive and Administrative Assistant (EAA) -Full time - Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy

**About the University**

**It’s your time to shine**
- Work where the world comes to create, discover and learn.
We are one of Canada’s top universities and leading research institutions. With more than 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students, two campuses (Lethbridge and Calgary), seven faculties and schools, and more than 2,500 employees, ULethbridge is Lethbridge’s second largest employer. Faculty and staff come together to contribute, each in their own way, to establishing ULethbridge as Canada’s destination university. In 2022, Lethbridge was recognized as one of Canada’s top small cities.

**Position Details**
- The Prentice Institute is a dynamic and diverse research institute that works on a variety of projects for which a high level of experience with task planning and prioritizing; confidentiality; file management; calendar, scheduling, and time management; gatekeeping; and professional communication are essential. A key responsibility of the EAA is managing the calendar for the
Director, and Associate Directors, which requires working independently to schedule appointments; appropriately allocate time to each of the Director’s areas of work; and manage critical last-minute changes. Understanding the Director’s priorities, and being aware of key issues for the Institute, is pivotal to this position. The work of the Administrative Assistant enhances the effectiveness of the Director, and Associate Directors, of the Institute.

Work at a University in general, and at a research institute specifically, is reading and writing intensive. This position works independently, requires exceptional judgment, common sense, and is often self-directed. Due to the many priorities and issues within the research and contract portfolios of both the Institute and the Director, the EAA must have an ability to work under very challenging time constraints and conditions, not losing track of work when immediate priorities rearrange. The number of changes and the volatility of the Director’s calendar cannot be overstated. Each member of the executive works with a variety of stakeholders, from local to national, from University of Lethbridge staff and faculty to NGOs to government officials. Management of the calendar involves superior knowledge, patience and commitment to ensure the members of the executive are scheduled to make the most effective and efficient use of their time. In any given week, 40% or more of the Director’s time can be allocated to remote and in-person meetings, in addition to his writing, teaching, administrative, and supervisory responsibilities. Scheduling duties include two Associate Directors. It is critical that the EAA understands effective time and space management.

Responsibilities include:

- Keeping the Director’s calendar up-to-date, including scheduling meetings, rescheduling appointments and protecting the Director’s time to ensure appropriate time for teaching prep, writing, research, and other administrative tasks. This includes managing changes and general scheduling volatility.
- Basic competency: making the Director’s time a priority.
- Basic competency: ensuring meeting times don’t overlap; that there is adequate time to travel to/from in-person meetings; that meetings of the same type are clustered together.
- Managing incoming communications to the Institute’s general inbox and phone line; and directing them to the appropriate party or responding as required.
- Basic competency: filing and management of the Prentice Institute inbox.
- Basic competency: critically evaluate how to process incoming communications.
- Basic competency: clear and professional verbal and written communication skills.
- Basic competency: ability to create and use templates; and format files using software including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Creative Cloud.
- Basic competency: to consistently use the file naming and management protocols of the Institute.
- Planning and organizing events such as meetings, open houses, conferences, invited speaker events.
- Basic competency: familiarity with hosting Zoom meetings and webinars.
- Basic competency: creating digital promotional materials utilizing Publisher, PhotoShop, Canva, etc.
- Basic competency: creating promotional write-ups.
- Maintaining a high degree of discretion and confidentiality.
- Basic competency: familiarity with federal and provincial FOIP legislation.
- Basic competency: familiarity with TCPS2 Course on Research Ethics.
- Assisting with the development and maintenance of both internal and external communications.
- Basic competency: utilizing newsletter software (Constant Contact) to compile, design, and distribute newsletters; utilizing Craft CMS to maintain website.
- Procurement and purchasing of goods and services; managing incoming and outgoing invoices.
- Basic competency: capacity to navig