Administration Assistant - Medical Microbiology and Immunology

Competition 1389

This competition is open to all applicants however; internal candidates and applicants who were former employees of the University of Alberta in the past 18 months will be given priority consideration before external candidates. Please log in to verify your internal candidate status.

This position is a part of the Non-Academic Staff Association (NASA).

This position has a term length of 1 year plus 1 day with the possibility of extension and offers a comprehensive benefits package which can be viewed on our Benefits Overview page.

Location - This role is in-person at North Campus Edmonton.

Working at the University of Alberta

The University of Alberta acknowledges that we are located on Treaty 6 territory, and respects the histories, languages and cultures of First Nations, Métis, Inuit and all FirstPeoples of Canada, whose presence continues to enrich our vibrant community.

The University of Alberta is a community of knowledge seekers, change makers and world shapers who lead with purpose each and every day. We are home to over 14,000 faculty and staff, more than 40,000 students and a growing community of 300,000 alumni worldwide.

Your work will have a meaningful influence on a fascinating cross-section of people — from our students and community members, to our renowned researchers and innovators, making discoveries and generating solutions that make the world healthier, safer, stronger and more just. Learn more.

Working for the Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology

The Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology (MMI) was formed in 1995 by the merger of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and the Department of Immunology. The merger recognized the natural link between infectious diseases (offence) and host immunity (defence) as two sides of the same coin, and it positioned our department to become a leader in the growing research field of pathogen-host relationships.

We are a research-intensive unit that pursues dynamic projects in the areas of bacteriology, immunology, and virology. Our research foci include host-pathogen interactions, virus infection and replication, immune responses to pathogens, bacterial pathogenesis, as well as autoimmunity and cancer immunology. Our research goals are to create and improve therapeutic agents, vaccines, and physiological interventions to improve health and diminish or prevent disease.

Our strong graduate student program prepares graduates for entry into exceptional careers over a wide spectrum of areas and diverse capacities.

Position 

This is a trust funded position funded by the federal government (CBRF program) to establish a new vaccine development and testing center. Dr. Shmulevitz co-leads this program with another professor at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Shmulevitz directly leads the UA initiatives, working closely with 8 UA researchers on this team project. UA ICR associated with this project will be used to support an Administrative Assistant to support the project's administrative needs. Funding for this position is available for 4 years. 

Duties 

Financial support:

• Monthly P-card expenses reconciliation
• Preparing expense reports for reimbursement of travel expenses and other purchases
• Assist with providing required budgetary updates to the UA and UM project administrative leads
• Liaise with department, faculty, and partners to assist with resolving troubleshooting payroll-related issues or discrepancies with the employee information
• Generating and maintaining reports about the grant for the project team members related to salary expenditures, benefits costs, and payroll data for project budget tracking and audits.

Recruitment support:

• Assist preparing JFS for new positions, connecting with HRPs and other UA experts (eg. Shared services, Immigration, etc.) as needed to prepare/initiate documentation needed for hire of new employees in the labs part of the team
• Submitting requests to post new positions
• First point of contact/liaison with Shared Services on behalf of the department for recruitment activities 
• Provide information about new hires and contract renewals to Department Coordinator to process the hire of employees in a timely manner
• Facilitating the onboarding process for new hires, including preparing orientation materials, setting up workstations, and ensuring mandatory compliance training such as safety protocols is completed 

General administrative support:

• Coordinating travel arrangements for team members and invited guests, including booking flights, accommodations, and organizing conference registrations
• Ordering supplies and equipment, and managing the inventory of ordered materials
• Book team meeting times
• Follow up with suppliers
• Assist as needed with the arrangement of UA maintenance, surplus, or other work orders for the team members
• Assist with administrative aspects of grant applications
• Assist with administrative aspects of communicating with partners
• Liaise with the Prairie HUB and other CBRF administrators
• Assists with organizing and preparing agendas for meetings, attends the meetings to take meeting notes, and generates meeting minutes
• Communicate regularly with all researchers and partners of the project to assess and assist with providing administrative needs for project startup and progression, and to facilitate the team needs 
• Respond to all requests from researchers in a very timely manner, using exceptional organizational skills to facilitate needs rapidly.
• Assists with social media activities to increase public awareness of the program
• Assists with organizing symposia, conferences, and workshops, including arranging visitor flights and accommodations, rooms for the meetings, and timelines
• Organizing and maintaining project documentation, such as research protocols, grant proposals, and progress reports
• Acting as a point of contact for project communication, including correspondence with team members, stakeholders, and external partners
• Assisting with the preparation of regulatory submissions and reports.
• Maintaining personnel records, including contracts, job descriptions, and performance evaluations of personnel hired through team grant
• Acts as a liaison between the various home departments of the team members, handling correspondence and communication.
• Performs clerical tasks such as filing, data entry, photocopying, and answering phones.

Minimum Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree, college diploma, or certificate relevant to clerical/admin work
• Requires more than 5 years of experience in an administrative assistant role
• Experience working within a university environment, with increasing levels of responsibility
• Superior administration skills; excellent organizational skills including time-management and well-developed multi-tasking skills
• Demonstrated personal initiative and able to perform tasks and functions with a high level of independence
• Strong and creative problem solving skills; strong critical and analytical abilities
• Outstanding interpersonal skills; able to establish and maintain effective working relationships that contribute to resolving complex, sensitive and confidential issues
• Demonstrated ability to consistently produce results in-line with established goals and objectives
• Able to exercise judgment, tact, diplomacy, and confidentiality
• Able to work under pressure in a fast-paced environment, balancing competing deadlines and priorities
• Strong diplomatic and interpersonal skills in dealing with varied staff and with universities, local, provincial, national, and international collaborators
• Able to identify and address key administrative and managerial issues
• Excellent listening, verbal and written communication skills
• Proficient computer literacy and competence required, e.g., Microsoft Office Suite, Google tools, etc.
• Ability to proficiently develop and facilitate presentations to convey information and/or knowledge transfer
• Motivated and flexible team player with the ability to prioritize and meet tight deadlines 

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in HR and/or finance is an asset
• Experience in both research laboratory and central administrative roles is an asset