What are the responsibilities and job description for the Executive Assistant position at Inside Higher Ed?
Department
SPH - Deans Ofc-460101
Career Area
Administrative/Clerical Support
Is this an internal only recruitment?:
No
Posting Open Date
06/04/2026
Application Deadline
06/10/2026
Position Type
Permanent Staff (SHRA)
Position Title
Executive Assistant - Advanced
Salary Grade Equivalent
NC13 / GN12
Working Title
Executive Assistant
Position Number
20055520
Vacancy ID
P021083
Full-time/Part-time Permanent/Time-Limited
Full-Time Permanent
Hours Per Week
40
Work Schedule
Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Work Location:
Chapel Hill, NC
Position Location:
North Carolina, US
Hiring Range
$62,000 - $70,000
Primary Purpose Of Organizational Unit
Establish, maintain and oversee effective processes, programs and operations required to administer the Gillings School of Global Public Health online MPH program.
Position Summary
The Executive Assistant’s (EA) primary responsibility is to provide executive support to senior leadership at the Gillings School. In this capacity, the EA will spend the bulk of their time providing calendar and operational support. In addition to overseeing the administrative functions related to ongoing projects, they ensure that assignments/requests/commitments of the executive they support are accurate, adequate, consistent, completed prior to deadlines and of high quality. This individual also works closely with, and will often receive guidance and assignments from, team members reporting up to their executive.
Finally, this position reports directly to the Assistant Director of Dean’s Office Operations. As such, this individual serves as a key liaison to the Dean’s Office team, communicating about, and helping to align work, and ensuring smooth exchange of information and coordination of schedules and priorities. The Gillings School administrative team has a matrix model, meaning that administrative staff are cross trained and support each other as needed. In this regard, the person in this position will occasionally rely on Dean’s Office staff to cover their duties or provide surge help and vice versa.
The person in this position must analyze, prioritize and keep track of multiple pieces of complex and often confidential information in order to make accurate, efficient decisions regarding workflow, and provide deft facilitation and processing of information and correspondence. In close collaboration with their executive, the Executive Assistant manages complex schedules, including requests for appointments, meetings, events and travel. This individual must be skilled in anticipating when adjustments in schedules need to be made. Because there often are more requests than available time slots, this task requires sensitivity, judgment, and the ability to prioritize. In addition, while many meetings and events are scheduled far in advance, frequently, requests from high level individuals within the School and university require rescheduling other meetings. This individual must also have excellent judgement about when problems need troubleshooting in a timely way, and provide their executive with critical information on timely matters. The individual must provide reminders for key deadlines (and ideally manage tracking systems) and ensure that work is done with high quality. The individual must be a strong communicator, verbally and in writing.
The EA is responsible for independent problem solving, answering questions, providing information and taking action on behalf of their executive as authorized. The Executive Assistant also is the entry point for students, staff, faculty, university administrators at UNC and elsewhere, and a variety of callers and visitors who seek guidance.
The EA must also be able to work with a high-level team that work within the units they support, playing an important role in ensuring that each team member receives key information in a timely manner. This individual must be able to work closely with others on Dean’s Office administrative team, coordinating the flow of information across both teams and serving as back-up, if needed, within the Dean’s Office. Similarly, this individual needs to consult about planned absences with the Dean’s Office to ensure that the Dean’s Office team can provide seamless continuation of support for their executive.
The EA must facilitate completion of work at a rapid pace on time-sensitive matters with routine interruptions.
Gillings Leadership participate in many outside research activities that benefit the School. In this context, the EA must communicate with staff from these groups and understand the nature of the topics on which these projects are focused.
Minimum Education And Experience Requirements
High school diploma or equivalency and three years of progressively responsible administrative/office management experience; or Associate’s degree in secretarial science, business administration, or a related discipline and one year of progressively responsible administrative/office management experience ; or Bachelor’s degree, preferably in business administration or a related discipline; or equivalent combination of training and experience. All degrees must be received from appropriately accredited institutions.
Management Preferences
Not Applicable.
Position/Schedule Requirements
On-call occasionally, Overtime occasionally
SPH - Deans Ofc-460101
Career Area
Administrative/Clerical Support
Is this an internal only recruitment?:
No
Posting Open Date
06/04/2026
Application Deadline
06/10/2026
Position Type
Permanent Staff (SHRA)
Position Title
Executive Assistant - Advanced
Salary Grade Equivalent
NC13 / GN12
Working Title
Executive Assistant
Position Number
20055520
Vacancy ID
P021083
Full-time/Part-time Permanent/Time-Limited
Full-Time Permanent
Hours Per Week
40
Work Schedule
Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Work Location:
Chapel Hill, NC
Position Location:
North Carolina, US
Hiring Range
$62,000 - $70,000
Primary Purpose Of Organizational Unit
Establish, maintain and oversee effective processes, programs and operations required to administer the Gillings School of Global Public Health online MPH program.
Position Summary
The Executive Assistant’s (EA) primary responsibility is to provide executive support to senior leadership at the Gillings School. In this capacity, the EA will spend the bulk of their time providing calendar and operational support. In addition to overseeing the administrative functions related to ongoing projects, they ensure that assignments/requests/commitments of the executive they support are accurate, adequate, consistent, completed prior to deadlines and of high quality. This individual also works closely with, and will often receive guidance and assignments from, team members reporting up to their executive.
Finally, this position reports directly to the Assistant Director of Dean’s Office Operations. As such, this individual serves as a key liaison to the Dean’s Office team, communicating about, and helping to align work, and ensuring smooth exchange of information and coordination of schedules and priorities. The Gillings School administrative team has a matrix model, meaning that administrative staff are cross trained and support each other as needed. In this regard, the person in this position will occasionally rely on Dean’s Office staff to cover their duties or provide surge help and vice versa.
The person in this position must analyze, prioritize and keep track of multiple pieces of complex and often confidential information in order to make accurate, efficient decisions regarding workflow, and provide deft facilitation and processing of information and correspondence. In close collaboration with their executive, the Executive Assistant manages complex schedules, including requests for appointments, meetings, events and travel. This individual must be skilled in anticipating when adjustments in schedules need to be made. Because there often are more requests than available time slots, this task requires sensitivity, judgment, and the ability to prioritize. In addition, while many meetings and events are scheduled far in advance, frequently, requests from high level individuals within the School and university require rescheduling other meetings. This individual must also have excellent judgement about when problems need troubleshooting in a timely way, and provide their executive with critical information on timely matters. The individual must provide reminders for key deadlines (and ideally manage tracking systems) and ensure that work is done with high quality. The individual must be a strong communicator, verbally and in writing.
The EA is responsible for independent problem solving, answering questions, providing information and taking action on behalf of their executive as authorized. The Executive Assistant also is the entry point for students, staff, faculty, university administrators at UNC and elsewhere, and a variety of callers and visitors who seek guidance.
The EA must also be able to work with a high-level team that work within the units they support, playing an important role in ensuring that each team member receives key information in a timely manner. This individual must be able to work closely with others on Dean’s Office administrative team, coordinating the flow of information across both teams and serving as back-up, if needed, within the Dean’s Office. Similarly, this individual needs to consult about planned absences with the Dean’s Office to ensure that the Dean’s Office team can provide seamless continuation of support for their executive.
The EA must facilitate completion of work at a rapid pace on time-sensitive matters with routine interruptions.
Gillings Leadership participate in many outside research activities that benefit the School. In this context, the EA must communicate with staff from these groups and understand the nature of the topics on which these projects are focused.
Minimum Education And Experience Requirements
High school diploma or equivalency and three years of progressively responsible administrative/office management experience; or Associate’s degree in secretarial science, business administration, or a related discipline and one year of progressively responsible administrative/office management experience ; or Bachelor’s degree, preferably in business administration or a related discipline; or equivalent combination of training and experience. All degrees must be received from appropriately accredited institutions.
Management Preferences
- This position must be politically astute and customer friendly.
- This position must be collaborative and enjoy the complexities of working in a matrix organization where it is persuasion rather than dictate that achieves cooperation.
- The position requires someone who understands and upholds the confidentiality of highly sensitive information.
Not Applicable.
Position/Schedule Requirements
On-call occasionally, Overtime occasionally
Salary : $62,000 - $70,000