Administrative Assistant

The Administrative Assistant is responsible for providing administrative activities associated with the de Boer laboratory and Shakiba laboratory. This position is expected to act independently at times on administrative and operational matters, data management and communications, and to take initiative to ensure effective administrative functioning of both labs.

The position will support two labs.

Organizational Status
The position reports to the Principal Investigators (PI’s), Dr. Carl de Boer in the de Boer lab and Dr. Nika Shakiba in the Shakiba lab. The Administrative Assistant will work collaboratively with the staff, faculty, students and other members in both labs.

Work Performed

Admin Support for the PI’s

• Arranges meetings involving the PI’s on request and maintains calendars/schedules for the PI’s.
• Maintains the PI’s curriculum vitae (CV) including publications, trainees/HQP, speaking engagements, awards, and committees, and formats and updates these on the relevant websites for funding applications and grant reporting.
• Adds e-signature of PIs (upon email approval by PI’s) to UBC forms (e.g. RPIFs and UBC Contact Request Forms, other forms for funding applications) and circulates them to the correct parties for signature/approval by deadline.
• Assists with grant applications and reports (e.g. compiling lists of publications, funding, details on trainees/HQP, and submitting this information on grant application websites).
• Tracks information about PI’s HQP (their conference presentations, diversity statistics, their following positions) for grants and reporting.
• Tracks grant and reporting deadlines and sends reminders to PI’s and relevant lab members.
• Renews and manages PI’s professional memberships.
• Arranges travel and accommodations for PI’s for scientific conferences and meetings.
• Submits PI’s expenses in Workday for lab-related purchases and travel expenses for reimbursements.
• Prepares and finalizes letters of reference for PI’s contacts including lab members, alumni, other contacts or colleagues applying for jobs and/or awards, and tracks due dates to ensure submission by deadline.
• Submits online references for lab members by deadline on behalf of PI’s.
• Helps coordinate lab tours for VIP visitors.

Admin Support for the Labs

• Arranges agenda for weekly lab meetings, schedules lab member’s presentations and subsequent 1:1 debrief meetings.
• Communicates meeting information to attendees and sends weekly reminders to lab members about the upcoming lab meeting.
• Arranges meetings between the PI’s and their lab members.
• Books meeting rooms for meetings and sets Zoom links for hybrid/remote meetings.
• Arranges annual Individual Development Plan (IDP) meetings between PI’s and lab members; helps to maintain IDP timelines and documentation.
• Coordinates and organizes lab retreats (usually annually, off-campus) including venue identification, booking and payment, liaising with other lab members, and preparing the agenda.
• Arranges virtual/in-person interviews with prospective new lab members, including scheduling, making reservations, booking flights and accommodations.
• Assists lab members with travel arrangements for scientific conferences.
• Maintains an up-to-date list of contact information for all lab members and communicates the list to departmental administrators/staff on request.
• Uses UBC Visa card for lab-related purchases and reconciles in Workday.
• Liaises between labs and departments on building-related matters (onboarding new lab members, obtaining building access permissions, and coordinating lab members attending departmental events).
• Orders catering for lab-related meetings on UBC Visa card.
• Arranges social events for the labs and orders catering. Social events include but not limited to annual lab BBQs, working lunches and annual holiday event.
• Manages the lab’s alumni Linked In groups as an admin (admitting new members), and arranges lab alumnae events.
• Maintains lab websites and lab acknowledgement slides with current lab rosters

Consequence of Error/Judgement
This position requires judgment, tact, discretion and initiative. This position handles sensitive and highly confidential matters. Errors…