Administrative Assistant to AVP for WWU Peninsulas

Administrative Assistant to AVP for WWU Peninsulas

Western Washington University, with over 15,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia. Western has additional sites in Anacortes, Bremerton, Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo. Western is recognized nationally for its successes, such as being named one of the top public master's-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.

Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity. Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive. In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constituents. Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.

The mission of Western Washington University - Peninsulas is to empower individuals and communities across the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsulas through high-quality, accessible, higher education. Through innovative programs and partnerships with Olympic College and Peninsula College, we provide diverse pathways to academic excellence and career success. By aligning our curriculum with the evolving needs of the region and prioritizing engagement with local industries, we aim to foster a culture of lifelong learning and economic vitality. With a commitment to equity, inclusivity, and community collaboration, we strive to cultivate leaders who will positively impact the social, cultural, and economic landscape of the Peninsulas and beyond. WWU Peninsulas offers a suite of 10+ Bachelor's degree programs in cybersecurity, business, environmental programs and more.

The Assistant to the Associate Vice President for WWU Peninsulas (AVP) provides confidential, high-level administrative support assistant to the AVP and assists with the day-to-day operations of the AVP's office. The Assistant performs a broad range of administrative and strategic support services for the AVP and the AVP's leadership team, exercising judgment and discretion in handling matters of a confidential and sensitive nature. This position serves as a point of contact and provides administrative coordination between the AVP's office and constituents across the university, including students, faculty, and staff at WWU Peninsulas locations in Bremerton, Poulsbo, and Port Angeles as well as executive offices, college deans, and academic and administrative leadership in Bellingham. The Assistant builds and maintains effective working relationships across all of these locations, ensures consistent communication and follow-through on cross-site initiatives, and represents the AVP's office professionally with internal and external partners, including occasional attendance at community, partner, and other events with the AVP or as assigned.

Associate Vice President Support

• Assists with highly confidential issues and projects for the AVP that are sensitive in nature, including personnel matters, contracts, and correspondence.
• Maintains and manages the AVP's calendar, independently scheduling and prioritizing complex, high-volume appointments and coordinating with high-level internal and external contacts.
• Arranges and confirms travel accommodations; processes travel requests, reconciles expenses, and manages reimbursements using Concur Travel & Expense Management.
• Serves as budget authority support for the AVP; monitors and processes budget transactions, reconciles expenditures, and tracks spending against allocations.
• Drafts, edits, and proofreads correspondence, reports, presentations, and other materials on behalf of the AVP, ensuring compliance with university format and branding standards.
• Screens and prioritizes calls, emails, and visitors for the AVP; independently resolves routine inquiries and redirects others to the appropriate staff.
• Maintains confidential and official files for the AVP's office.

Cross-Campus & Constituent Relations (Peninsula Sites and Bellingham)

• Serves as a point of contact for students, faculty, and staff at the Bremerton, Poulsbo, and Port Angeles sites, as well as executive offices and college deans in Bellingham.
• Coordinates logistics for the AVP's travel and engagements at peninsula locations, including scheduling, room/AV arrangements, and materials preparation.
• Coordinates with site directors/coordinators at each location to align administrative processes and resolve logistical issues.

External Partner & Event Coordination

• Serves as a point of contact for external partners on behalf of the AVP, including government agencies, employers, and educational partners (K-12 districts, community and technical colleges, and other institutions).
• Coordinates communication and logistics with government agencies (e.g., city, county, state, and tribal partners) relevant to the AVP's regional partnerships and initiatives.
• Attends community or external events with the AVP as assigned.
• Tracks external partner communications, agreements, and action items, and follows up to ensure timely completion.
• Prepares briefing materials and background information for the AVP's meetings with government, employer, and educational-partner stakeholders.

Meetings, Data & Reporting

• Organizes and supports recurring faculty, staff, and student meeting series, including scheduling, agenda development, materials preparation, minute-taking, and follow-up on action items.
• Requests, gathers, and maintains documents from multiple offices; organizes and prepares data reports and summaries for the AVP's review and distribution.
• Works collaboratively with academic and administrative offices across campuses to compile accurate, timely information for decision-making.
• Assists in preparing materials for cross-divisional committees, councils, or advisory groups associated with the AVP's office.

Systems, Budget & Office Administration

• Serves as the AVP office's subject-matter resource for administrative and financial systems (e.g., budget/finance systems, travel and expense systems, document management, scheduling tools).
• Processes and tracks budget authority transactions for the AVP; reconciles records and assists with periodic budget reporting.
• Maintains office supplies, equipment, and records.
• Prepares and maintains standard operating procedures and administrative documentation for the office.

Staff Recruitment & HR Coordination

• Assists with running staff searches for the AVP's office and affiliated units, including initiating requisitions, posting positions, and tracking searches through the applicant tracking/recruitment system (e.g., PageUp).
• Works closely with Human Resources throughout the recruitment and hiring process to ensure compliance with university policies, classification requirements, and search procedures.
• Coordinates search committee logistics: scheduling committee meetings and interviews, distributing candidate materials, collecting evaluations, and communicating with candidates.
• Assists with reference checks, offer coordination, and new-hire onboarding paperwork in partnership with HR.
• Maintains recruitment files and ensures required documentation is complete and retained per HR and records-retention guidelines.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or 5 years of progressive senior-level administrative experience
• Demonstrated advanced computer skills, including advanced experience with Microsoft Outlook, Teams, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Visio.
• Demonstrated knowledge of web-based programs and database systems.
• Demonstrated effective organizational and time-management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities across multiple sites.
• Demonstrated strong interpersonal skills and ability to handle difficult and sensitive situations with tact, diplomacy, and confidentiality.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with faculty, staff, students, and administrators across multiple campus locations and with outside agencies.
• Demonstrated ability to represent an executive office professionally with external stakeholders, including government agencies, employers, and educational partners.
• Demonstrated experience managing travel logistics and processing expense reimbursements (e.g., Concur or comparable system).
• Ability and willingness to travel periodically to Bremerton, Poulsbo, and Port Angeles

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with an ERP/finance system (e.g., Banner), budget/finance tools, SAP Concur Travel &