Senior Administrative Assistant

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We are seeking a talented, experienced, and detail-oriented Senior Administrative Assistant to join the Applied Physics and Materials Science administrative team. The successful candidate will possess initiative, good judgment, and strong problem-solving skills and quickly gain knowledge of department, division, and campus-wide operations. In a moderately complex environment, the Senior Administrative Assistant is responsible for a variety of general administrative and clerical activities to support faculty members in the Applied Physics and Materials Science Department in the Division of Engineering Applied Science.

• Provide daily administrative support to professors and their research groups. Provide administrative support as needed to faculty-hosted visitors and scholars.
• Edit, correct, and update drafted letters. Consult requirements for different societies' recommendations.
• Purchase research equipment and lab supplies using P-card and TechMart administrative systems in accordance with Institute and government policies. Maintain accurate and complete purchasing documentation files. Resolve billing-related matters and regularly reconcile purchasing requisitions, P-card orders, and other costs.
• Generate and review cost summary and expense detail reports on research accounts and select departmental accounts.
• Coordinate group meetings and special events, including logistics, lodging, travel, catering, and facilities.
• Schedule meetings and maintain faculty calendars.
• Prepare classroom materials.
• Maintain professors' curriculum vitae, publication listings, and websites. Maintain Biosketch and Current & Pending Funding documents for NIH and NSF utilizing ScienCV. Track/update new publications in NCBI, lab website, Google Scholar, Caltech Authors, faculty CV, and NSF collaborators files.
• Assist Grants Manager with the preparation of administrative portions of grant proposals, securing faculty signatures, and tracking grant proposal reporting deadlines. Help submit NIH RPPRs (progress reports).
• Gather information and prepare administrative forms for visitors, postdoctoral scholars, and research staff hires. Onboard new lab personnel and guide departing personnel through the exit procedure.
• Manage funding and personnel on IACUC and IRB protocols.
• Coordinate domestic and foreign travel arrangements; provide itineraries; process travel expense reports. Ensure compliance with Caltech policies, funding agency, and export regulations. Help file PHS/NIH/DOE travel expense disclosure forms.

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience and at least 5 years of administrative support experience in an academic research setting.
• Excellent and diplomatic communication skills with a good command of grammar and usage. Excellent typing and proofreading skills.
• Developed sense of tact and discretion, and able to maintain confidentiality when required.
• Demonstrated facility with software programs and eagerness to learn new administrative systems.
• Experience using Microsoft Office/Office 365 and Adobe. Experience with Federal funding source (NSF, NIH, DOE, etc.) requirements, restrictions, and reporting.
• Intermediate-level Excel skills.
• Excellent organization skills and highly detail-oriented performance history.
• Ability to work under deadlines and prioritize work effectively.

• Proactive work ethic requiring minimal direction to accomplish goals.
• Demonstrated initiative for taking on unfamiliar or additional tasks.
• Current/prior Caltech administrative experience.

• Resume