Department Administrative Coordinator

Job Summary

The Department Administrative Coordinator provides complex operational and administrative support, assisting the Department Head and Director of Administration, with the management of the Department of Surgery. The incumbent manages regular operations as well as one-time initiatives to support strategic planning and implementation initiatives. The Department Administrative Coordinator is responsible for a broad range of duties engaging in continuous quality improvement in the areas of operations planning, awards and event management, communications, research facilitation, information management, and finance.

Organizational Status
The UBC Faculty of Medicine Department of Surgery educates students at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels, and pursues research to make innovative advancements in knowledge and practice to improve health. The Department consists of more than 600 physicians, surgeons, scientists and educators and over 70 administrative, research and technical staff in nine divisions distributed across British Columbia. Specialty training programs are offered in Cardiac Surgery, Colorectal Surgery, General Surgery, Neurosurgery, Otolaryngology, Pediatric Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Radiation Oncology, Surgical Oncology, Thoracic Surgery and Vascular Surgery. The Department is also home to the Branch for Global Surgical Care (BGSC).

The Department Administrative Coordinator reports to the Director of Administration and also takes direction from the Department Head. The incumbent works with staff, trainees and faculty in the Department of Surgery as well as Dean’s Office, various hospitals, health authorities and research institute administrative staff to achieve excellence in many complex and diverse environments.

Work Performed

• Provides a broad spectrum of administrative management for research activities in the department including:

o Serves as a project manager for the Department’s annual research day,
o Coordinates the Research Committee activities,
o Liaises with external research offices regarding funding support, research facilitation support,
o Manages research project information forms, and
o Oversees the inventory of publications and research interests,
o Oversees the annual seed grant competition.

• Manages the Department of Surgery’s recognition programs including the Department’s Academic Year End Event, staff recognition events, internal faculty and resident awards, and identifying external recognition opportunities and coordinating award nomination packages for them.

• Develops, writes, and edits content, video and photos to maintain and enhance the Department’s communication channels, including website content, announcements, newsletters, and reports with the goal of promoting faculty, student, resident and staff engagement and raise the profile of the Department of Surgery to external stakeholders.

• Manages a variety of one-time and ongoing initiatives resulting from advancing the department’s strategic planning.

• Manages the response to department reviews, including but not limited to coordinating the activities of project teams, analyzing and evaluating outcomes and developing summary reports.

• Develops and maintains a comprehensive records management, filing and organizational system to track initiatives and operations.

• Oversees select research accounts including account planning and budgeting, management and monitoring, invoice generation, financial reporting, and clearing accounts at year-end to support clinical faculty research projects.

• Coordinates and summarizes financial information related to assigned projects, events and initiatives.

• Provides guidance and training regarding UBC financial procedures including supporting faculty and staff with Workday financial transactions including travel arrangements, overseeing petty cash, and reimbursements for the Department Head.

• Manages a variety of information management initiatives including, overseeing the maintenance and accuracy of email lists and directories, UBC email account creation and archiving, health authority software and email acquisition and archiving.

• Supports the Director of Administration and Department Head with complex scheduling duties.

• Contributes to a respectful, inclusive working environment.

• Performs other related tasks as required to meet the operational needs of the department.

Working Conditions

The workstation is in the Department of Surgery administration office.

Consequence of Error/Judgement
The incumbent must exercise considerable judgment and requires a high level of organizational skills to fulfill responsibilities, balance priorities, and ensure workflows are efficient and timely. The incumbent deals with communications which are sensitive and confidential in nature and demand excellent communication and interpersonal skills, integrity, and confidentiality. They need to demonstrate initiative and sound judgment to assess and respond to issues and resolve administrative problems. The incumbent must be able to ascertain and interpret guidelines and policies for the efficient implementation of policies and procedures.

Supervision Received

The Administrative Coordinator reports to the Director of Administration. The incumbent works independently under the broad guidelines established and updates the Director of Administration on matters only as needed.

Supervision Given

None.

Minimum Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. Minimum of two years of 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, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience with web-based communication tools.

• Demonstrated experience in office administration, including managing daily operational tasks, coordinating schedules and supporting team workflows.

• Proven ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with individuals at all levels of an organization.

• Ability to contribute to a respectful, cooperative and supportive work environment.

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.

• Demonstrated ability to implement, establish, set priorities, and meet deadlines as well as to develop strategic plans relevant to the department’s academic and research programs.

• Ability to analyze and interpret data, determine implications, and provide recommendations.

• Ability to understand and apply policies, procedures, and instructions.

• Highly effective analytical, oral and written communication, organizational, problem-solving, conflict resolution, and interpersonal skills.

• Ability to exercise leadership, a high degree of judgement, tact, discretion and initiative in all areas of responsibility.

• Ability to analyze and redesign work flows, operational processes to make them more efficient and effective.

• Knowledge of University policy and procedures and demonstrated experience with complex institution financial processing preferred.

• Experience in budgets preparation and forecasting, account reconciliation and financial reporting.

• Experience in research administration and financial management.