Career Center

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $58,000 - $70,000

Position Summary

Reporting to the Executive Director of the Institute of Latin American Studies, the incumbent manages all academic, development, and outreach operations of the Institute, its Centers, and Programs.  The incumbent leads and develops public programming, communications, and visiting scholars programs of the Institute.

The incumbent acts as principal faculty liaison responsible for the organization, management, and planning of all faculty-related matters, including visiting faculty and scholars.

Responsibilities

PUBLIC PROGRAMMING, COMMUNICATIONS, AND OUTREACH

Serves as the Institute's lead on public programming, communications and outreach, such as K-12 outreach,events (approximately 2-5 per week), conferences, and faculty activities (including minutes of committee meetings), etc. Designs and coordinates Institute events and programs during the year, maintaining schedules and providing logistical support for speakers, leads communications, supervises program student assistants of the Institute (approximately 10 assistants) to ensure appropriate event coverage.  Leads the communications of the Institute, creating communications strategies.  Directs the production of the weekly ILAS newsletter, the ongoing development of the website, and social media strategies and content.  Develops and implements processes to monitor and evaluate public programming, outreach, and communications efforts.  Responsible for the creation and composition of the Institute's annual report, and writes other reports for internal and external constituencies.

DEVELOPMENT

Assists Institute leadership in all matters relating to fundraising and grant-writing, identification of potential federal and foundation grant opportunities, writing grants and funding proposals, and creating fundraising strategies and campaigns; works closely with Columbia faculty and senior Institute staff to develop and write grant proposals and ensures compliance with all sponsored program activities; works proactively and independently to evaluate fundability of ILAS faculty projects and and/or generate proposals that are responsive to calls for applications; creates and maintains relationships with funders and collaborators by overseeing reports and coordinating board meetings, when applicable; informs Business Manager of all incoming funds and their allocation.

The Program Manager maintains pertinent records, files and documents; assures completeness and accuracy consistent with external and internal compliance requirements.  Works with faculty and staff members on relevant aspects of grant administration and may serve as liaison between facultySponsored Projects Administration (SPA) and Sponsored Projects Finance/RPIC (SPF/RPIC), maintaining current knowledge of policies and troubleshooting application submissions.

The incumbent speaks authoritatively on grants administration matters as a representative of ILAS.

FEDERAL GRANTS

Manages the implementation of the Institute's federal grants, assuring compliance with grant regulations and grant reporting, including compilation of report data and processing of bi-annual report submissions. 

COMMITTEES

Manages the Executive Committee of the Institute, prepares agenda, records discussion, and oversees follow-up actions for Committee meetings (4 per year); schedules and convenes all other faculty meetings during the course of the year on a variety of Institute issues.

FACULTY AFFAIRS

Develops and coordinates the Institute's annual faculty grants competitions from original proposal requests to selections to follow-up with faculty grantees (10-15 grants per year); works with faculty to organize and plan seminars and conferences; works with Business Office to process grant reimbursements and applicable payments.  Responsible for the Institute's visiting faculty, fellows, and scholars??? programs), including Tinker Visiting Professors, the Professional Fellows Program, the Lemann Fellows Program, the Argentine Fellows Program, adjunct appointments, and other visitor programs that may be developed.

Organizes the competition process for grants and visiting positions, oversees the University visa process and the academic appointment process in conjunction with the Business Manager (approximately 20 visiting scholars per year), when applicable; processes course approvals via COI submission and ensures cross-registrations and departmental sponsorships when applicable; advises visitors on matters such as visa and housing arrangements and letters of invitation. Incumbent collaborates with financial staff to process visitor reimbursements, honoraria payments, per diem payments, and housing/lodging requests.

Other duties as requested

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor's degree or equivalent and minimum of 2 years' related experience in areas including financial management and personnel supervision.  Proficient in Spanish and some background or interest in Latin America.

Additional Minimum Qualifications

Must have, or be able to acquire quickly, a detailed knowledge of University policies, procedures, and systems. Good computer literacy and skills. Knowledge of financial accounting. Strong communication, interpersonal, managerial, and organizational skills. Initiative, discretion, ability to establish priorities, ability to work under pressure and without supervision and good independent judgment required.

Preferred Qualifications

Working knowledge of Portuguese is highly desirable. Event planning experience preferred. Professional experience with communications preferred, especially with social media. Experience working in Latin America and with faculty preferred. 

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.

About Columbia University

Columbia University is one of the world's most important centers of research and at the same time a distinctive and distinguished learning environment for undergraduates and graduate students in many scholarly and professional fields. The University recognizes the importance of its location in New York City and seeks to link its research and teaching to the vast resources of a great metropolis. It seeks to attract a diverse and international faculty and student body, to support research and teaching on global issues, and to create academic relationships with many countries and regions. It expects all areas of the university to advance knowledge and learning at the highest level and to convey the products of its efforts to the world.

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