Senior Executive Assistant

Company Description

By working at Harvard University, you join a vibrant community that advances Harvard's world-changing mission in meaningful ways, inspires innovation and collaboration, and builds skills and expertise. We are dedicated to creating a diverse and welcoming environment where everyone can thrive.

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is a world‑renowned institution dedicated to advancing public health through cutting‑edge research, education, and global collaboration. Our school is a special place to work because of its vibrant, mission‑driven community, interdisciplinary approach, and commitment to addressing some of the most pressing health challenges worldwide. We foster a collaborative and inclusive work environment where innovation, continuous learning, and work‑life balance are valued.

Learn more about the School’s mission, objectives, and core values, our Principles of Citizenship, and about the Dean’s AAA vision about our school’s ongoing strategic initiatives.

The overarching mission of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is to advance the public’s health through learning, discovery, and communication. To pursue this mission, the School produces knowledge through research, reproduces knowledge through higher education, and translates knowledge into evidence that can be communicated to the public, policymakers, and practitioners to advance the health of populations. In pursuit of these bold goals, the Dean’s Office (“DO”) works to support, strengthen, and champion the efforts of the School’s faculty, students, and staff.

This is a unique and rare opportunity to join a dedicated administrative team supporting the School's Dean of the Faculty. The Senior Executive Assistant will have a key role in establishing new workflows for supporting the priorities of the dean and the DO, and contributing to the mission of improving the lives and health of people everywhere.

• Administrative point of contact/access to the Dean: manages calls and emails (reviews, assesses, responds/reroutes, monitors follow up items to completion); tactfully negotiates requests for the Dean’s presence in meetings and at events; welcomes and assists expected guests and unexpected visitors and creates a welcoming environment for all constituents; develops and maintains a general knowledge of the School
• Schedule management: proactively handles the day-to-day activities of the dean and highly complex management of the Dean's calendar (including maintaining and analyzing metrics/data on how dean uses their time); anticipates the Dean's needs and the impact of competing priorities on the calendar, identifying and resolving conflicts before they arise; delegates scheduling and briefing materials tasks to the office coordinator; resolves scheduling conflicts and regularly communicating updates to relevant stakeholders;
  
  oversees agenda‑setting including gathering briefing materials, bios, and other prep materials
• Travel management: arranges complex and detailed travel plans, itineraries, and agendas, ensuring the Dean has all necessary information ahead of off‑site meetings and trips, including flights, hotels, ground transportation, visas, and other logistical planning; ensures compliance with University travel policies and protocols and completes required University processes and documentation related to travel
• Drafts, edits, and proofs brief correspondence and helps maintain archival records
• Works with the office coordinator to provide background for reconciling the dean’s expenses and reimbursements and the Dean’s corporate card
• Anticipates the needs of the Dean and acts proactively, strategically, and in symmetry with the DO staff
• Works with the Deputy Chief of Staff to organize and implement administrative systems and procedures to promote efficiency gains; maximizes the use of available technology and applications
• This position's responsibilities also include varied projects and tasks arising out of shifting demands that cannot always be foreseen. As such, they will perform other duties as required.

This is a full‑time,…