Office Assistant (Lazaridis)

Position Summary

The Lazaridis School of Business & Economics strives to be leaders in our communities and help shape the future. We generate, disseminate, and implement knowledge about business and economics for the betterment of the world in which we live. We use our impactful research and experiential approach to education to meet the dynamic needs of our local, national, and international stakeholders.

The incumbent is responsible for providing administrative support for various leaders within the Lazaridis School including managing schedules and task lists, coordinating meetings and events, coordinating facilities, and reception and customer service.

The incumbent reports to the Administrative Manager for the Lazaridis School and supports the Senior Administrative Officer (Lazaridis School), the Director of External Strategic Initiatives (Lazaridis School), the Associate Dean of Business Faculty Development and Research, the Chair of Economics, and other faculty and department leaders as needed. The incumbent will need to balance their workload while setting and communicating clear expectations.

The Lazaridis School is a multi-campus faculty, and this position has a university-wide mandate and is based at the Waterloo Campus. The incumbent provides services to all campuses where the Lazaridis School provides services, requiring regular interpersonal interactions and collaboration with departments at the Waterloo, Brantford, Milton, and Toronto Campuses. Special attention is given to ensuring equitable service delivery across all locations. Occasional multi-campus travel is required.

Accountabilities

Leadership Support

• Coordinates agendas, including scheduling appointments, meetings, and travel.
• Coordinates and follows up on task lists.
• Organizes meetings and takes minutes when requested. (e.g. Faculty and Department Councils, Curriculum Meetings, and Retreats)
• Acts as a delegate on ChromeRiver, compiling receipts and submitting expenses.
• Stays current on Laurier’s expense policies and procedures as outlined in the Expense Handbook.
• Coordinates travel arrangements.
• Sorts and prioritizes communications such as e-mail and mail.
• Draft correspondences and invitations on behalf of their leadership.
• Provides administrative support for special projects.

Facilities

• Coordinates any repairs, renovations, moves, and furniture purchases.
• Orders office supplies including paper and toner for the photocopier fleet.
• Administers common areas such as meeting rooms, the Atrium, and storage space.
• Coordinates any facilities-related services such as access control, security, shredding, etc.
• Processes incoming mail and outgoing courier services.

Event Planning

• Coordinates the logistics for events including budgeting, scheduling, room bookings, catering, furniture setup, and technology needs. (e.g. luncheons, VIP events, town halls, orientations)
• Coordinates the logistics for guest speakers and other dignitaries including travel plans, hotels, payments, and reimbursements.
• Drafts and distributes communications related to the event, ensuring university communication standards.
• Reconciles all expenses related to the event.

Customer Service and Administrative Support

• Provides a welcoming and professional environment to guests, visitors, and dignitaries.
• Provides reception services by responding to phone and email inquiries courteously and professionally.
• Proofread documents, as requested, for spelling, grammar, and style.
• Ensures that documents are compliant with AODA standards.
• Assists with the operations of the office. (e.g. accreditation, events)

Collegiality and Professionalism

• Supports Wilfrid Laurier University’s values, vision, mission, and strategy.
• Supports and assists colleagues within the Lazaridis School during high-pressure times to ensure that the business of the School is completed on time, including, support with events and reports.
• Provides back-up for the Graduate Program Assistants.
• Maintains confidentiality around programs, reports, and budgets.
• Stays current on the most recent and relevant legislation, policies, best practices, literature, and software, related to the accountabilities and qualifications of the position.
• Ensures that the supervisor is kept up-to-date on all important items related to the position through electronic or in-person communication and seeks advice when necessary.

Qualifications

• 1 Year Post-Secondary Diploma/Certificate plus one year of recent, related work experience.
• Experience in the Canadian higher education system.
• An understanding of Laurier's general policies and procedures is an asset.
• Experience writing communications on behalf of someone ensuring an equivalent writing style.
• Experience using time management tools to organize one’s work to meet deadlines.
• Experience working under pressure towards tight timelines where priorities and tasks may regularly change.
• Experience analyzing and executing tasks with a high degree of accuracy.
• Experience making moderate decisions, and when not to make a decision, that affects one’s work and the work of internal stakeholders.
• Leadership Support Experience supporting administration including anticipating needs and ensuring that tasks are completed on time. Experience coordinating international travel and managing schedules while taking into account travel time and time zones. Experience with basic expense reimbursement. Knowledge of Laurier’s expense reimbursement guidelines is an asset. Experience working within a confidential working environment and the ability to diplomatically manage sensitive situations. Knowledge of Laurier’s faculty and staff collective agreements is an asset.
• Facilities Experience with health and safety standards.
• Event Planning Experience coordinating events including logistics and communications. Experience working with students is an asset. Experience working with senior-level VIPs at events is an asset.
• Software Intermediate Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint skills, including creating accessible (AODA compliant) documents, inserting tables, indexes, and graphics, and the use of basic functions like SUM, AVG, and COUNT. Basic BANNER, LORIS, COGNOS, and Millennium FAST skills to be able to search and view information. Intermediate Qualtrics skills to be able to create surveys, distribute surveys, and view survey results.
• Communication Intermediate verbal skills, including interpersonal, intercultural, and intergenerational skills to concisely explain information to a variety of individuals. Intermediate professional writing skills, including correspondences, meeting minutes, summaries, and websites. Intermediate de-escalation and conflict resolution skills when dealing with colleagues and other internal stakeholders.
• Experience working independently with minimal supervision and the ability to both self-start and be self-motivated.
• Experience working within a team and the ability to build strong relationships with colleagues and partners both internal and external to the Lazaridis School.
• An understanding of accessibility standards (AODA) and how they relate to the position.

Hours of Work: This is a full-time, limited term opportunity with an anticipated end date of August 27, 2027. The normal hours of work are 8:30am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday. Flexibility in hours will be required, including evenings and/or weekends to ensure the accountabilities of the position are completed. These accountabilities may include, but are not limited to, travel, meetings, events, and deadlines. When possible, the manager will adjust the work schedule so that no more than 35 hours are worked in a week.

This role requires daily in person attendance and is not eligible for a flexible work arrangement as per Policy 8.14 (Flexible Work Policy).

Compensation:

Level: B

Rate of pay: $31.86 to $33.68 per hour with an annual step progression on anniversary date up to $36.41 per hour.

Considerations for new hire step placements include, qualifications and length/depth of required experience, relevant market rates for similar jobs, internal equity, and estimated learning curve in starting the job.

Wilfrid Laurier University endeavors to fill positions with qualified candidates who have a combination of education, experience, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position while demonstrating Laurier's Employee Success Factors.

Equity, diversity and creating a culture of inclusion are part of Laurier’s core values and central to the Laurier Strategy. Laurier is committed to increasing the diversity of faculty and staff and welcomes applications from candidates who identify as Indigenous, racialized, having disabilities, and from persons of any minority sexual and gender identities. Indigenous candidates who would like to learn more about equity and inclusive programing at Laurier are welcomed to contact the Office of Indigenous Initiatives. Candidates from other equity deserving groups who would like to learn more about equity and inclusive programing at Laurier are welcomed to contact Equity & Accessibility. We have strived to make our application process accessible, however if you require any assistance applying for a position or would like this job posting in an alternative format, please contact Human Resources. Contact information can be found at

Should you be interested in learning more about this opportunity, please visit for additional information and the online application system. All applications must be submitted online. Please note, a resume and cover letter will be required in electronic form.

Please note, when pre-screening questions are used as part of the application process, AI is utilized to score responses. All other aspects of the hiring process are reviewed by our Talent Acquisition team.