Assistant to The Chair

**Date Posted**:05/14/2025
**Req ID**: 42973
**Faculty/Division**: Faculty of Arts & Science
**Department**: Dept of Geography
**Campus**: St. George (Downtown Toronto)
**Position Number**: 00010751

**Description**:
**About us**:
The Faculty of Arts & Science is the heart of Canada’s leading university and one of the most comprehensive and diverse academic divisions in the world. The strength of Arts & Science derives from our combined teaching and research excellence in the humanities, sciences and social sciences across 29 departments, seven colleges and 46 interdisciplinary centres, institutes and programs.

We can only realize our mission with the dedication and excellence of engaged staff and faculty. The diversity of opportunities and perspectives within The Faculty reflect the local and global landscape and the need for curiosity, innovative thinking and collaboration. At Arts & Science, we take pride in our legacy of innovation and discovery that has changed the way we think about the world.

Founded in 1935, the Department of Geography & Planning is one of the oldest and largest geography departments in North America. Geographers study the spatial dimensions of human and biophysical activity, while planners help local and regional communities envision their future and find ways to get there. Located in downtown Toronto, our department lies in a sophisticated, harmonious geography and planning environment. Together, our programs reflect the diversity of the field, which we see as a source of intellectual excitement and strength.

**Your opportunity**:
Reporting to the Department Business Officer, the Assistant to the Chair provides a full range of administrative support for The Chair while working in collaboration with departmental staff. The Assistant to the Chair supports and coordinates academic administration processes including academic searches, tenure, promotion and PTR. The Assistant to the Chair provides support to a variety of committees including scheduling, development of agendas, minute-taking and coordination and dissemination of associated materials as well as ensuring follow-up on action items. The Assistant to the Chair plays a central role in promoting and preserving the professional and responsive image of the Office of the Chair.

**Your responsibilities will include**:

- Providing confidential, proactive administrative support to The Chair; Keeping well-informed on The Chair's leadership commitments and priorities, and maintaining The Chair's calendar
- Coordinating meeting schedules, agendas, materials, action and follow-up items
- Writing routine documents and correspondence such as preparing draft meeting briefs and statistical reports and summaries from data collected
- Following administrative rules and procedural instructions; Handling sensitive and/or confidential information
- Coordinating the recruitment of course instructors, sessional lecturers and/or stipend instructors
- Entering salary and/or personnel information in HRIS (Human Resources Information System)
- Determining logístical details and activities for events and/or programming; Serving as a resource to others

**Essential Qualifications**:

- Advanced College Diploma (3 years) in Business Administration or an acceptable combination of education and equivalent experience.
- Minimum three (3) years of relevant academic administrative experience in an academic environment/unit, or similar relevant experience.
- Demonstrated experience providing administrative support to a senior administrator including managing appointments/calendar, arranging events and meetings, preparing reports and drafting correspondence in a busy and complex work environment.
- Demonstrated experience providing academic administrative support for academic searches, tenure, promotions, and interim reviews or similar relevant experience is preferred.
- Demonstrated experience working with CUPE 3902 Units 1 and 3 collective agreements or other collective agreements is preferred.
- Experience processing payroll payments in the Human Resources Information System (HRIS) or similar systems.
- Knowledge of university academic policies, procedures and guidelines or experience referencing similar policy and procedural documents and/or regulatory requirements.
- Ability to establish and maintain effective office systems and protocols.
- Strong attention to detail for reviewing and verifying detailed financial information for approval by senior leaders, including expense claims and invoices.
- Demonstrated ability to manage events logistics including but not limited to scheduling committee meetings, ordering catering and booking rooms; Skilled at preparing detailed reports for leadership review and decision-making.
- Advanced skills with Adobe Acrobat, AMS (HRIS), and recruitment systems; Advanced skills in Office 365 (e.g., Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams), SharePoint and OneDrive.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills as well as interper