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At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career. 

Job Description Summary

The Skylight Administrative and Communications Coordinator is a key member of the Science Centre for Learning and Teaching team (Skylight) within the Faculty of Science Dean’s Office. This role coordinates and manages administrative, operational, communications and event support to the Skylight team which is distributed across departments and units within the Faculty of Science.

Working with considerable independence, initiative, and judgment, the incumbent coordinates complex administrative processes, manages communications and website content, organizes events, meetings, and committees, and supports financial and human resources activities. The role requires strong organizational, communication, writing, editing, project coordination, and problem-solving skills, along with the ability to manage multiple priorities, handle confidential information with discretion, and build effective relationships with Skylight team members, faculty, staff, students, and external partners.

Organizational Status

Skylight is an educational research and support unit engaged in advancing the science behind education. Skylight contributes to the body of theoretical and practical knowledge about learning and teaching science, and to help students expand the depth and breadth of their learning.

Reporting directly to the Director of Skylight, the incumbent works closely with Skylight team members and collaborates with faculty, students, and staff across the Faculty of Science, the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT), the Learning Technology Innovation Centre (LTIC), and other UBC units, as well as external partners.

The position is also a member of the Science Dean's Office administrative support team and provides coverage and support as required. Administrative team coverage is coordinated by the Senior Manager, Academic Initiatives and Administration.

Work Performed

Administration and Events

• Organizes the calendars of the Director and Associate Director by scheduling meetings and appointments, identifying and communicating high priority requests, and coordinating with other schedules, handling requests for appointments by assessing the importance, urgency and relevance of requests.
• Acts as the primary point of contact of the Skylight team, manages the team’s general-purpose mailbox and triages inquiries to appropriate team members or other units in a timely manner.
• Drafts complex documents on behalf of the Director, including confidential correspondence, briefing notes, grant and award letters, presentations and reports based on brief oral instructions or notes; tracks action items as needed.
• Coordinates and organizes Skylight grant adjudication committee and Skylight team meetings, which include drafting and distributing agenda and materials, coordinating schedules, taking minutes and following up on action items as needed.
• Coordinates and oversees logistics, monitors registration and performs set up for Skylight regular events, workshops and other special events.
• Assists with human resources processes for Skylight team members such as staff hiring and onboarding processes; ensures technical needs of candidates are addressed in consultation with IT and/or LT Technology Rovers.
• Researches, collects, and organizes information and maintains the database of faculty scholarly projects/publications and initiatives by the Faculty of Science.
• Performs financial duties in Workday, including monitoring and reporting on complex budget expenditures, reconciling transactions, and preparing expenses and travel reimbursement.
• Maintains Skylight digital material archives.
• Trains staff and student workers on Skylight systems and procedures.
• Provides regular lunch relief and absence coverage for the Dean’s Office front desk and other administrative duties.

Communications and Media

• Manages Skylight’s website and related communications, reviewing and making editorial suggestions, proposing and implementing publishing options in online and print formats while ensuring alignment with UBC Communications policies and best practices.
• Creates and maintains informational and promotional content for the Skylight website in collaboration with the Skylight team members and/or Science Communications team; researches content and gathers related materials from a variety of sources, ensures content quality and consistency, and performs ongoing website content updates.
• Maintains timely communications with faculty members regarding events, grant opportunities, report submissions, and other Skylight initiatives through various channels, including email, websites, and in-person events.
• Supports engagement and collaboration within the Skylight team through effective use of communication and collaboration best practices and technologies.
• Investigates, analyzes and proposes communication strategies to promote unit’s mission to the leadership.
• Develops and implements templates such as newspapers and year-end reports for internal and external consumption.
• Administers online surveys; develops, uploads, monitors, handles data and generates reports.
• Reviews academic, marketing, and educational documents by proofreading, and supplementing by visuals (graphics and figures).
• Reviews internal documents such as reports, proposals, summary of activities generated by Skylight team members to ensure consistency across documents and communications.
• Provides design ideas to conference posters generated by Skylight team members.
• Designs visuals/tables/graphs for visualizing complex business processes to support decision making.
• Supports the development of strategic plans and reports.
• Supports the documentation and tracking of key performance indicators.

Consequence of Error/Judgement

Exercises independent judgment and, initiative, in resourcing and interpreting information. Works with conflicting demands and exercises judgment in establishing priorities and carrying work through to completion in a timely manner. Tact, discretion and attention to detail in dealing with confidential and sensitive matters is essential. Errors in judgment will reflect negatively on the Dean’s Office, the Skylight and UBC. If incorrect information is dispensed, interpreted or inappropriately communicated, the reputation of the university may be affected; financial documentation requires great attention to detail to ensure it is correct and appropriate in compliance with UBC procedures.

Supervision Received

Reports directly to the Director of Skylight; Dean’s Office admin team coverage is overseen by the Senior Manager, Academic Initiatives and Administration.

Supervision Given

Trains new staff on Skylight procedures; may supervise student workers.

Minimum Qualifications

• High School graduation, plus a two-year post-secondary diploma, plus four years related experience or the equivalent combination of education and experience
• Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own
• Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, inclusion, and Indigeneity

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting senior leaders in a fast-paced environment, including managing complex calendars, scheduling meetings, and coordinating competing priorities
• Experience coordinating online and in-person meetings, committees, events, including scheduling, logistics, agenda preparation, minute-taking, and follow-up on action items
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to compose clear and concise correspondence using business English
• Excellent creative writing, editing and proofreading, and content development skills for website and public-facing materials
• Experience in updating website content using Drupal or similar content management systems
• Experience using online survey platforms (e.g., Qualtrics), including survey development, distribution, data collection and analysis, and reporting
• Experience designing visuals, tables, graphs to communicate complex information
• Ability to review, edit, design and publish scholarly work in online and print formats
• Ability to conduct research online by compiling, analyzing and presenting information
• Knowledge of university policies and procedures an asset, including UBC Finance and Communications processes and policies
• Knowledge of learning and teaching best practices an asset
• Proficient in word processing, spreadsheet, database and presentation applications (e.g., Outlook, MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint), and the ability to learn and adapt to new systems or technology
• Excellent organizational skills, with the ability to prioritize work with competing demands, effectively manage multiple tasks or projects and meet deadlines
• Demonstrated initiative, sound judgement and problem-solving skills, and the ability to identify and implement process improvements
• Strong attention to detail, accuracy and the ability to handle confidential information with discretion
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain effective working relationships and provide professional service to a diverse range of stakeholders
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team environment
• Ability to be flexible and adapt to changing priorities
• Ability to perform set up at events and occasionally work outside regular office hours
• Ability to operate a normal range of office equipment (e.g., photocopier, Owl)