Executive Assistant

Executive Assistant

The Department of Human Genetics is seeking an Executive Assistant to join our administrative team. This position plays an important role in supporting the department's academic mission by coordinating events, supporting student-facing programs, assisting with training grant administration, and ensuring smooth day-to-day administrative operations.

This is a highly collaborative, people-centered role for someone who enjoys coordinating events, managing details, supporting faculty and students, and helping academic programs run smoothly. The successful candidate will bring demonstrated experience with event coordination and complex scheduling/calendar management. Training will be provided for University of Michigan systems, departmental procedures, purchasing, reimbursement processes, and training grant administration.

The ideal candidate will have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, strong organizational and problem-solving abilities, attention to detail, sound judgment, and a commitment to providing outstanding service to faculty, staff, students, trainees, and visitors.

This role may be especially appealing to candidates interested in developing a career in student services or academic program administration.

This position reports to the Chief Department Administrator and works closely with the Department Chair, GTP Director, Student Affairs Administrator, Research Administration Team, and other administrative staff.

Administrative and Leadership Support

• Coordinate meetings and provide complex calendar and scheduling support for the Department Chair.
• Schedule meetings involving multiple internal and external stakeholders; resolve scheduling conflicts and communicate changes professionally and promptly.
• Prepare and process expense reports and Emburse transactions for the Department Chair, Chief Department Administrator, visiting speakers, short courses, and lectureships, ensuring compliance with departmental and institutional policies.
• Research and resolve reimbursement, travel, purchasing, and payment discrepancies.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Event Management and Visiting Speaker Coordination

• Coordinate departmental events, seminars, lectureships, visiting speaker programs, retreats, and other academic or community-building events.
• Manage event logistics, including room scheduling, catering, equipment, vendor coordination, invitations, RSVPs, event communications, materials preparation, day-of support, and post-event follow-up.
• Collaborate with department leadership, faculty, staff, and external guests to ensure event objectives are met.
• Coordinate visiting speaker logistics, including travel, lodging, itineraries, reimbursements, honoraria, and related communications.
• Support major annual events such as the department picnic, faculty retreat, annual retreat, and other department-sponsored activities.

Training Grant Programmatic Support

Provide administrative and programmatic support for the Genetics Training Program, an NIH-funded training grant program that supports graduate trainees in genetics. This role works closely with the GTP Director, DHG Student Affairs Administrator, DHG Research Administration Team, and student services staff to coordinate program activities, track deadlines, support trainees, and ensure compliance with NIH and program policies. Training will be provided on NIH training grant processes, University systems, and program-specific procedures.

• Learn and apply NIH training grant policies, as well as GTP-specific procedures.
• Assist the GTP Director with program communications, recruitment, and admissions activities.
• Process trainee appointments, reappointments, changes, and terminations in xTrain.
• Compile program data and prepare xTRACT tables for annual progress reports and renewal applications.
• Enter and update trainee stipend, tuition, and benefit payments in student financial and HR systems.
• Maintain the GTP alumni, faculty, and faculty representatives data.
• Course support for the GTP-related courses.
• Process trainee travel awards in accordance with GTP Director approval.
• Coordinate Short Course seminars and the GTP Retreat, including agendas, poster sessions, travel, reimbursements, and honoraria.
• Update website content related to the Genetics Training Program.

Other Programmatic Support

• Support department-sponsored academic activities, including coordinating student and research fellow attendance at the American Society of Human Genetics conference and organizing the department's alumni event at the conference.
• Assist staff and faculty arrangements for student recruitment activities at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists conference.
• Provide support for the department's Genetics Immersion Program, which introduces high school students to genetics.

Primary Purchasing Back-up

• Serve as the department's primary purchasing back-up, assisting with Marksetsite+ and Amazon Business purchases and preparing purchase orders based on submitted…