Senior Administrative Assistant II

Administrative Support Specialist

Van Andel Institute (VAI), a world-class biomedical research institute, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is dedicated to improving human health. We are pioneers in the fight against cancer, Parkinson's, and other diseases. We are committed to inspiring the next generation of scientists and educators.

Functions

• Provide general management and administrative support to senior-level management and multiple department/laboratory personnel; may perform in a project leadership role and schedule and coordinate large events, which may include seminars, conferences, meetings, and presentations.
• Prepare documents, correspondence, and mailings; schedule appointments and meetings and provide assistance at such meetings; serve as department timekeeper and first responder to outside inquiries; research, gather information, and draft proposals for transactional sales agreements; reconcile accounting statements and report discrepancies; check purchases against statements; update manuals and procedures for own area; and develop and maintain spreadsheets.
• May assume responsibility for training, assigning, and checking work of other administrative staff and perform other related duties as required, including work performed at lower levels.
• May schedule and coordinate or support large events, which may include seminars, conferences, meetings, and presentations. This includes notifying attendees, preparing agendas, making meeting and travel arrangements, and so on.
• Meet large project objectives, solve difficult problems, manage time and priorities, and coordinate project input from other employees; organize and track all project resources to maximize productivity; and anticipate problems and solve them as they arise using effective problem-solving tools.
• Ability and willingness to support local events, including community events, trade shows, or service deliveries.
• Establish and maintain departmental filing and archiving systems, including maintaining manuals, records, publications, and personnel files, and safeguarding confidentiality of files and records.
• Coordinate data from a variety of sources for the preparation of drafts and final reports, including coordination, preparation, and submission of proposals, manuscripts, grants, annual report information, marketing materials, and other documentation or presentations, which may be of a technical or scientific nature.
• Complete special projects and assignments, as needed, such as maintaining appropriate levels of office supplies, equipment, expense reporting, work orders, etc.
• Maintain inventory of materials and products, as well as support online tools to monitor inventory.
• May train lower-level employees and/or guest workers.
• Perform all other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• High school education or equivalent required, with an associate degree preferred; and 5 - 7 years of administrative support, office, or related experience required, preferably in K-12 education, with some project management experience.
• Demonstrated ability to handle moderately complex assignments under general supervision. Strong oral and written communication skills and the ability to manage multiple projects and requests under frequent interruptions and changes in priority.
• Superior organizational and analytical skills.
• General understanding of computers and software applications, with an emphasis on word processing, spreadsheet, database, e-mail, and presentation software.
• Experience in Canva a plus.