Senior Administrative Coordinator

Senior Administrative Coordinator

The Carsey School of Public Policy is seeking a highly organized, proactive, and experienced professional to provide advanced administrative support to the Director. This role is ideal for someone with a strong executive support background who enjoys bringing structure, follow-through, and calm coordination to a busy leadership environment.

The Senior Administrative Coordinator serves as a key partner in managing the Director's daily operations, including complex calendar management, meeting preparation, communications support, project tracking, and follow-up on high-priority initiatives. This position plays an important role in helping the Director manage time, priorities, commitments, and internal communications effectively.

This role requires sound judgment, professionalism, discretion, and the ability to handle sensitive information with care. The successful candidate will be comfortable working with faculty, staff, students, university leaders, and external partners, and will bring a high level of responsiveness and professionalism to every interaction.

In addition to direct leadership support, this position helps coordinate daily office operations and administrative processes that contribute to an organized, effective, and welcoming workplace. The role also supports selected School events and public programs, working with faculty, staff, and external partners to help manage logistics, timelines, materials, and communications.

We are looking for someone with excellent organizational and communication skills, strong attention to detail, and a proven ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment. The ideal candidate is resourceful, steady under pressure, able to anticipate needs, and committed to making sure important details and deadlines do not fall through the cracks.

Prior experience supporting senior leadership, managing complex calendars, coordinating meetings, and working in an academic, nonprofit, or mission-driven environment is strongly preferred.

Duties/Responsibilities

Director/Associate Director Support (50%)

• Serve as the primary point of contact for the Director and Associate Director for internal and external constituents, maintaining professionalism and discretion in managing sensitive information and communication.
• Independently manage Director-assigned projects and liaise with stakeholders to deliver results
• Provide comprehensive support for graduate-level academic programs, manage day-to-day operations while conducting analysis, evaluation, and offering strategic guidance to ensure alignment with the Director's priorities and program excellence.
• Perform complex operational, sensitive, and administrative tasks for the Director with a high degree of judgment and confidentiality.
• Act as the primary point of contact for the Director's calendar: schedule and prioritize meetings, coordinate schedules, minimize conflicts, and reduce unnecessary commitments.
• Coordinate complex scheduling and communications in collaboration with other executive assistants.
• Provide high-level support to senior leadership and senior-level directors as needed.
• Attend meetings at the request and on behalf of the Director and Associate Director, serving as their representative and ensuring follow-up on key actions.
• Make decisions, represent, and sign on behalf of leadership when appropriate.
• Conduct research and analysis to inform leadership decisions and provide insight and perspective on key subjects and audiences.
• Anticipate, draft, proof and edit materials for Director's correspondence, appointments, meetings, and presentations.
• Develop clear, accurate, and executive-ready reports to support decision-making.
• Prepare agenda, schedule, create presentation materials, and record minutes for recurring meetings to include, but not limited to Staff Meetings, Advisory Board Meetings, Academic Planning Meetings, and Executive Committee Meetings. Track follow-up items for senior leadership and above to ensure completion.

Office Management (30%)

• Drive strategic improvements in office operations by streamlining processes, strengthening internal communications, and leading change initiatives that enhance organizational efficiency and staff effectiveness.
• Oversee day-to-day operations of the front desk to ensure a welcoming and professional environment.
• Ensure smooth operations of the Carsey office to include maintaining office space, updating internal documentation, and monitoring office protocols.
• Manage supplies, inventory and vendor relationships to support office functionality.
• Support general office needs and requests as required to ensure high-quality customer service to students, staff and guests.
• Communicate office issues, updates, and reminders to staff.
• Manage new employee onboarding in coordination with supervisors.

Event Planning (20%)

• Lead and manage event management processes, including marketing, setup, space reservations, technology needs, catering, and communications, working closely with the Carsey Communications Team.
• Provide administrative and operational support for a range of events to include major School events, public lectures, academic program events, workshops, alumni and fundraising events, Advisory Board meetings, staff retreats, and internal celebrations.
• Attend event-related meetings as needed and prepare/assemble materials for events.
• Maintain the Carsey event calendar in collaboration with leadership and program directors.
• Supervise staff, volunteers, non-exempt and student employees who are brought in to assist with events.

Requirements

Minimum Acceptable Education & Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Communications, or a related field preferred.
• Five (5) years of high-level executive support experience in fast-paced environments (higher education, nonprofit, or similar preferred).
• Equivalent combination of education and professional experience may be considered.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Demonstrated ability to anticipate the needs of senior leadership while providing strategic support to advance organizational and academic priorities.
• Proven experience managing complex executive calendars and competing priorities with sound judgment and discretion.
• Highly organized and detail-oriented, with proven ability to manage multiple priorities independently in a fast-paced academic or research environment.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills, with demonstrated success collaborating effectively with faculty, staff, administrators, and external partners.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, including drafting executive correspondence, preparing polished presentations, and developing reports that synthesize complex information for diverse audiences.
• Demonstrated discretion and professionalism in handling sensitive and confidential information.
• Proven experience coordinating complex events and meetings, including logistics, communications, and stakeholder follow-up.
• Knowledge of office management best practices, with the ability to streamline procedures, improve operations, and support effective onboarding.
• Experience preparing fundraising proposals or managing grant-related processes, including familiarity with funding lifecycles, compliance, deadlines, and recordkeeping.
• Experience in higher education administration, particularly in supporting graduate-level academic programs, strongly preferred.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and demonstrated experience using collaboration platforms such as MS Teams and Zoom.

Applicant Instructions:

Applicants should be prepared to upload the following documents when applying online within the My Experience: Resume/CV section of the application: (Maximum of 5 Documents)

• Resume/CV
• Cover Letter
• Contact Information for 3 Professional References

Applications that are missing any of the required items may not move forward for consideration. Additional uploaded documents not requested in the position announcement will not be reviewed.

Compensation Pay Range:

$20.15 - $33.15

The pay range for this position is listed above. Actual offer will be based on skills, qualifications, experience, and internal equity, in addition to relevant business considerations. More information on benefits can be found here: USNH Employee Benefits | Human Resources

Location:

Durham