Office Coordinator

Department: Legal Services and Fair Practices 

Job Type: Limited Term

Full-time/Part-time: Part Time (>=1249 hrs/year) 

Campus: Waterloo 

Reports to: Senior Advisor, Human Rights and Conflict Management

Employee Group: CPAG 

Application Deadline: March 30th 2023

Requisition ID: 5469 

Wilfrid Laurier University is a leading multi-campus university that excels at educating with purpose. Through its exceptional employees, students, researchers, leaders, and educators, Laurier has built a reputation as a world-class institution known for its rich student experience, academic excellence, and global impact. With a commitment to Indigenization and commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, Laurier’s thriving community has a place for everyone.

Laurier has more than 19,000 students and 2,100 faculty and staff across campuses in Waterloo and Brantford, as well locations in Kitchener and Milton. The university is committed to providing an inclusive workplace, a flexible work policy and employing a workforce that is reflective of local and national demographics. Our locations are situated on the traditional territories of the Neutral, Anishnawbe, and Haudenosaunee peoples. We recognize the unique heritages of Indigenous peoples and support their intentions to preserve and express their distinctive Indigenous cultures, histories, and knowledge through academic programming and co-curricular activities. Laurier’s Centre for Indigegogy is one example of how Laurier honours Indigenous knowledge.

Position Summary

The Administrative Coordinator performs a wide variety of administrative, customer-service and project-related functions for the Office of Human Rights and Conflict Management. This position reports to the Senior Advisor, Human Rights and Conflict Management, but provides support to all members of the team. The incumbent works with highly sensitive and confidential information and displays high standards of diplomacy, professionalism and confidentiality. They incumbent must work with a high degree of independence and has extensive contact with all levels of the university community, including executives, faculty, staff and students.

Given that the incumbent provides support to unit leadership, they must possess excellent communication and editorial skills. They are required to compile information, draft high-quality correspondence and proof departmental documents. This position must be able to identify/anticipate the needs of the Senior Advisor, seek clarification when required and take initiative. The Administrative Coordinator contributes to the service orientation and efficient operation of the office. The incumbent must be able to handle a variety of tasks simultaneously, establish priorities, work independently, use good judgement and be comfortable with decision making. They must be able to work with interruptions to workflow which create changes in priorities. They must display a high degree of professionalism, excellent judgement and organization, and exceptional analytical and communication skills. They represent the Office in a professional and customer-focussed manner.

The incumbent will be the first point of contact for visitors to the office and will need to identify and accommodate those who are in crisis. Additionally, the incumbent must be able to manage the potential for high-risk encounters that involve survivors and perpetrators of sexual violence.

This position has a university-wide mandate and is based at the Waterloo Campus. 

Accountabilities

General Office Administration and Staff Support

• First point of contact for visitors to the office; respond to general inquiries in-person, by phone and email;
• Triage inquiries and determine action to be taken; respond and provide support to individuals in crisis;
• Anticipate and manage safety concerns involving sexual violence and intimate partner violence survivors;
• Assist with routine correspondence on behalf of the Office of Human Rights and Conflict Management, including confidential internal documents and information;
• Assists with preparing meeting materials and other documents, including drafting, proof-reading and formatting;
• Responsible for scheduling meetings involving diverse attendees from within and external to the University
• Responsible for managing all logistics associated with meetings and events, including: reserving rooms; making travel and parking arrangements; ordering catering; submitting set-up requests; arranging for technical support; assembling, printing and mailing hard copy materials; and distributing and uploading electronic copies of materials;
• Accompanies members of the Office of Human Rights and Conflict Management to meetings for note taking and ensuring follow up actions are taken;
• Assists with drafting, proof reading, updating and uploading content on Office of Human Rights and Conflict Management communication platforms, including websites, intranet sites, collaboration sites/portals, and social media;
• Maintains and updates the Office records, including paper and electronic files and databases;
• Coordinates with internal and external service providers and consultants to organize investigations and mediations order supplies, arrange large printing jobs, maintain equipment and conduct repairs;

Budget

• Manages all aspects of the office’s finances;
• Creates purchase orders and prepares/submits invoices for payment,
• Collects receipts, prepares and submits all expense forms and allocates all purchase card expenses as appropriate;
• Prepares, initiates and tracks interoffice fund transfers;

• Assists Senior Advisor in the development of the department’s annual budget; including special requests and initiatives;
• Monitors the department’s budget; performs regular reconciliation of accounts;

Executive Support

• Manage the calendar, meetings and travel arrangements for the Senior Advisor, Human Rights and Conflict Management
• Coordinate confidential, time-sensitive meetings among executive leaders;
• Anticipates the needs of the Senior Advisor by continually reviewing and adjusts priorities as required;
• Proactively manages next actions and follows up with participants as required

Projects

• Researches, collects data and prepares reports;
• Assists with preparation of project documents such as proposals and reports, edits and formats prior to distribution;
• Transcribes audio recordings and social media interactions into written text format
• Assists with internal investigations by interviewing individuals and summarizing conversations
• Manages business travel and accommodation arrangements for the team, as required;
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or other post-secondary education in office administration;
• Experience working in a university environment preferred;
• Experience working in a professional office environment essential;
• Experience handling contentious matters with sensitivity, confidentiality and balance
• Ability to create and maintain organizational systems for an office;
• Possession of strong interpersonal skills
• Ability to deal with confidential matters in a discrete and sensitive manner;
• Self starter and motivator with the ability to work independently;
• Experience scheduling large meetings and events, involving diverse groups and using different methods of communication (e.g. telephone, email, Outlook, Doodle poll, Sign up Genius);
• Proven ability for accuracy and attention to detail;
• Ability to interact with a wide variety of people, including people in crisis;
• Ability to engage with de-escalation skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills and highly professional demeanor;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills;
• Exceptional organizational skills with the proven ability to handle multiple tasks and priorities;
• Familiarity with University policies and procedures;
• Experience working with Microsoft Office software, database programs and web content management systems.

Compensation

Position Grade: EX-E

Rate of pay: $ 52,040  -  $ 65,048

Hours of Work: 

 This is a full time limited term position with an expected end date of. May 31, 2023. The normal hours of work are 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Monday to Friday.  Flexibility in hours will be required, including evening and/or weekend work due to events.  When possible, the manager will adjust the work schedule so that no more than 35 hours are worked in a week.

Wilfrid Laurier University endeavors to fill positions with qualified candidates who have a combination of education, experience, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position while demonstrating Laurier's Employee Success Factors.

Equity, diversity and creating a culture of inclusion are part of Laurier’s core values and central to the Laurier Strategy. Laurier is committed to increasing the diversity of faculty and staff and welcomes applications from candidates who identify as Indigenous, racialized, having disabilities, and from persons of any minority sexual and gender identities. Indigenous candidates who would like to learn more about equity and inclusive programing at Laurier are welcomed to contact the Office of Indigenous Initiatives. Candidates from other equity deserving groups who would like to learn more about equity and inclusive programing at Laurier are welcomed to contact Equity & Accessibility. We have strived to make our application process accessible, however if you require any assistance applying for a position or would like this job posting in an alternative format, please contact Human Resources. Contact information can be found at careers.wlu.ca/content/How-to-apply/

Should you be interested in learning more about this opportunity, please visit www.wlu.ca/careers for additional information and the online application system. All applications must be submitted online. Please note, a resume and cover letter will be required in electronic form.