Administrative Specialist

Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.

Job Category:
Academic Staff

Employment Type:
Regular

Job Profile:
Administrative Specialist

Job Summary:

The Center for Dairy Research (CDR) is seeking an administrative specialist to support a complex, growing research center on the UW-Madison campus. Housed in a new, state-of-the-art facility in Babcock Hall, CDR is the largest dairy foods research program in the US. The Center has over 60 full-time staff, supports graduate and undergraduate research, and provides technical and training support services to hundreds of dairy producers and processers around the globe. As part of the administrative team at the CDR, the administrative specialist will focus on employee and guest relations, daily administrative management, and special project coordination.

1. Employee Relations and HR: This role will provide critical employee support by owning processes and procedures related to unit level employee onboarding/offboarding and student employee recruitment and onboarding. They will also be the subject matter expert in travel and conference coordination and work directly with employees and guest speakers to ensure their business travel is booked and purchased following UW policy.

2. Guest Relations: This position will serve as main point of contact for all of our guests and coordinate with our program managers to ensure all visitors have what they need prior and during their visits. We schedule 45 short courses and 40+ group tours annually. This role will be responsible for assuring the logistics for the group tours are executed seamlessly and will support short courses as needed. We also have clients from the dairy industry and major funders visit for meetings on a weekly basis. This role will ensure the logistics are in place, meeting rooms are reserved, catering is ordered, and meeting materials are ready for all guests. This requires high level coordination with both internal colleagues and clients.

3. Daily Administrative Coordination: This role will provide overarching administrative service to the center and serve as back up to our financial and research/grant management team. This includes managing office supply inventory, coordinating with facilities for office custodial and maintenance requests, preparing workstations for new employees, preparing reports, coordinating with key industry partners, managing leadership and shared calendars, and assisting with agreement processing.

The ideal candidate will have experience coordinating a variety of administrative functions (HR and employee support, travel and event coordination, operations, financial transactions, program coordination, etc.) in a complex organization. They will have experience supporting the welcoming and onboarding efforts of new employees, familiarity with the recruitment process, ability to follow complex institutional policies related to travel, purchasing, and event coordination. Strong communication and interpersonal skills are essential to anticipating needs from a variety of internal and external customers along with the willingness to step in when needed to help the operations of the center run smoothly. If you have experience managing shared calendars and inboxes, booking shared spaces, and can optimize the use of Microsoft Office products, you'll have the technical skills necessary to be successful in this role.


Additional information:
• This is a full time, onsite position
• A 12-month evaluation period may be required
• A criminal background check may be required

Key Job Responsibilities:

• Schedules logistics and secures resources for meetings, conferences, travel, and work unit operations

• Serves as a first point of contact for individuals and groups, provides basic organizational information via phone, in person and through other communication mediums, and routes more complex inquiries to the appropriate entities

• Collects, analyzes, and prepares various communication materials from established sources utilizing technology mediums

• Sends, receives, copies, and distributes communications to the appropriate entities according to established policies and procedures under general supervision

• Maintains established methods and organizational systems directed at the maintenance of electronic/physical records related to work operations according to established policies and procedures

Department:

College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Center for Dairy Research - Administration

Compensation:

The minimum starting salary for this position is $55,000. However, final salary will be based on experience and qualifications.

Employees in this position can expect to receive benefits such as generous vacation, holidays, and paid time off; competitive insurances and savings accounts; retirement benefits. Additional benefits information can be found at:


Required Qualifications:

• Experience in an administrative support role requiring excellent organizational and time management skills to address competing priorities and a high variety of daily responsibilities.
• Experience organizing and managing operational details and logistics including scheduling, calendar management and coordinating meetings.
• Experience using Microsoft Office Suite and ancillary systems to support business operations. (i.e. Workday or other systems to support human resources, finance, and program management functions).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with various stages of the employee lifecycle including recruitment, onboarding, and offboarding coordination.
• Experience coordinating conference and business-related travel for colleagues including booking hotels, registration for conferences, assisting with expense reporting, and coordinating ground and air transportation.
• Experience with financial processes and systems including purchasing card transactions and other procurement activities.

Education:

Bachelor's degree in business administration or a related field preferred; OR a minimum of three (3) years of experience in administrative support or program management

How to Apply:

To apply for this position, please click on the "I am a current employee" button or "I am not a current employee" button under "Apply Now". You will be prompted to upload the following documents.

• Resume (required) - Detail your educational and professional background
• Cover letter (required) - Address each of the required and preferred qualifications as they relate to your work experience

It's important that your cover letter and resume reflect your experience for this position related to the Qualifications section. Your application materials will be used during our evaluation to determine your qualifications as they relate to the job. The most qualified applicants will be invited to participate in the next step of the selection process.

IMPORTANT: There is only one attachment field; please upload all application materials here. All requested application materials must be submitted for your application to be considered. Please submit only the materials specified; additional materials will not be reviewed.

Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without need of employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of the appointment. University sponsorship is not available for this position.

References: Finalists will be asked to provide contact information (phone and email) for three references, one of which must be a current or former supervisor. References will not be contacted without prior notice.

Contact Information:

Madeilene Hoffman | HR Generalist at View email address on click.appcast.io

Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information


Institutional Statement on Diversity:

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgrounds and encourage all qualified individuals to apply. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website.

To request a disability or pregnancy-related accommodation for any step in the hiring process (e.g., application, interview, pre-employment testing, etc.), please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) in the division you are applying to. Please make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you.

Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment.


The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7).


The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report contains current campus safety and disciplinary policies, crime statistics for the previous 3 calendar years, and on-campus student housing fire safety policies and fire statistics for the previous 3 calendar years. UW-Madison will provide a paper copy upon request; please contact the University of Wisconsin Police Department.