Administrative Support Specialist

Title: Administrative Support, Academic Programs

Location: Cambridge, MA - Hybrid

Duration: 2-3 months contract

• Reporting to the Associate Dean for Academic Programs, this position provides high-level administrative and project coordination support for the Academic Programs Office.
• Working in an environment with multiple and competing priorities, the coordinator anticipates needs, organizes information, monitors deadlines, supports decision-making, and facilitates communication among faculty, students, staff, Institute offices, and University partners. The position requires strong judgment, organization, attention to detail, discretion, and the ability to move projects forward collaboratively.

Administrative Support — Approximately 50%

• Provides comprehensive administrative support to the Associate Dean for Academic Programs, including travel arrangements, preparation of briefing materials, filing, and creating file organization, and follow-up on commitments.
• Coordinates meetings, prepares agendas and materials, records minutes, and tracks follow-up items.
• Serves as a point of contact for the Academic Programs Office and supports effective communication among faculty, students, staff, Institute offices, and University partners.
• Maintains office systems, records, faculty appointment information, shared files, and the Academic Programs Office SharePoint site.
• May support routine financial and administrative operations, including expense reporting, and purchasing card transactions.
• May draft correspondence, memoranda, reports, presentations, and other materials.
• Handles confidential information with discretion and performs related administrative duties as assigned.

Project and Program Coordination — Approximately 50%

• Supports the Associate Dean and program directors in their planning and coordinating academic priorities, strategic initiatives, and cross-programmatic projects.
• May organize and maintain project plans, timelines, deliverables, action-item trackers, and other tools to support the successful completion of assigned initiatives.
• May coordinate projects and workflows across different departments and with various contacts, ensuring that information, decisions, and materials move forward in a timely manner.
• May monitor project progress, deadlines, dependencies, risks, resource needs, and outstanding issues; providing updates and identifying matters requiring attention or escalation.
• Supports planning and engagement efforts, evaluations, and reporting by gathering information.
• May provide additional project support as requested.