Administrative Assistant - Learning, Design, & Marketing

Reporting to the Vice President of Learning & Community, the Administrative Assistant will provide administrative and office support to the Learning & Community (L&C) as well as purchasing, payroll records and administrative support to External Affairs & Marketing (EAM) and Design & Exhibits (D&E). Responsible for contributing to the smooth-running operations of these departments, the Office Administrator is also strategic in helping to support and advance organization-wide priorities.

The Administrative Assistant must enjoy working in a mission-driven, results-oriented organization that is guest and community centered. The ideal individual will be highly organized, be able to balance multiple priorities across departments and collaborate seamlessly with individuals across the organization.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Other duties may be assigned. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Demonstrate commitment to Shedd’s vision, mission, and values.
• Produce purchase orders, check requests, tracks invoices and expense reports for team of about 70 people to ensure compliance with Shedd guidelines.
• Maintain credit card purchases and monthly reconciliation of credit card purchases for all teams.
• Produce payroll records bi-weekly for L&C, EAM and D&E departments (70 ppl) and acting as a primary liaison between teams and institutional partners, ensuring efficient professional communication.
• Complete a broad variety of administrative tasks for VPs including scheduling and calendaring meetings, coordinating administrative requests, filing/maintaining documents in SharePoint for seamless recall, making travel arrangements, and assisting with coordination of off-site and division-wide meetings.
• Maintain standard operating procedures for L&C
• Coordinate onboarding of new employees, including help setting-up workstations, training documents, uniform orders, review of safety policies as well as purchasing procedures etc.
• Attend department or leadership meetings as requested, coordinating agenda items and tracking and following up on agreed-upon next steps to move forward a body of strategic work for the division and organization. Where requested, assist with and support coordination of special projects.
• Maintain an orderly office environment, including distributing daily mail, ordering and maintaining office supplies, etc.
• Scheduling conference rooms, schedule management of meeting spaces and technology; support scheduling and procedures for L&C vehicle usage.
• Provide a bridge for smooth communication between division leaders and staff across the organization, demonstrating the ability to maintain credibility, discretion and trust. Represent Learning & Community in logistical meetings as requested.
• Engage personally in continuous training on the business-critical platforms-Intacct, ADP, MS Teams, and SharePoint, to be a more knowledgeable and efficient “champion” of best practices in each of them.
• Work collaboratively with other administrators across the organization, identifying opportunities for increased efficacy and smooth operations.
• Provide customer service functions as a point of contact for public and internal inquiries; use relationship skills to manage customer expectations.
• Organizing and ordering meals as needed for meetings/programs.
• Other miscellaneous office and accounting ad hoc duties.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree preferred, but not required. An adequate mix of training and experience would be accepted in lieu of a degree.
• Strong work tenure: three to five years of experience in administrative assistance, preferably in a non-profit organization
• Proficient in Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams and Power Point).

Skills & Characteristics:

• Demonstrate the highest level of customer/client service and response
• Able to maintain a high level of integrity and discretion in handling confidential information.
• Expert verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong organizational skills that reflect ability to perform and prioritize multiple tasks seamlessly with excellent attention to detail
• High degree of professionalism combined with very strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with stakeholders, including staff, board members, external partners, community leaders and donors.
• Highly resourceful team player with the ability to complete a high volume of tasks and projects and make appropriate, informed decisions regarding priorities and available time.
• Ability to switch gears at a moment's notice and to react with appropriate levels of urgency to situations and events that require quick response or turnaround.
• Forward looking thinker, who actively seeks opportunities and proposes solutions
• Comfort level holding others accountable for deadlines and negotiation/priorities; candor
• Calm and collected demeanor.
• Ability to work evenings and weekends as needed.

We strongly encourage people of color, LGBTQ+ community, veterans and active duty military, parents, individuals with disabilities, and individuals from all cultural backgrounds to apply. Shedd Aquarium is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes everyone to our team.

If you need a reasonable accommodation at any point in the application or interview process, please let us know. In your application, please feel free to select which pronouns you use (For example – she/her/hers, he/him/his, they/them/theirs).