Special assistant president

Full job description

Position Summary

The Special Assistant will develop and execute the overall strategy for positioning the President and promoting priorities, key messages and special initiatives. Collaborates with campus and external partners on executive communication strategies that support the College’s vision, mission, goals and objectives.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Partner with the staff in the Communications, Institutional Advancement (including Alumnae engagement, Student Affairs, Office of the Provost and President’s Office) with regard to: managing requests for the President’s time; coordinating and implementing a range of President-initiated activities; preparing briefings; hosting meetings with external groups and managing follow up from events; preparing presentations, reports, remarks and high-quality professional communications that support the President’s objectives and further enhances Spelman’s relationship with key stakeholders.
• Collaborate with members of the President’s Cabinet, Faculty Council, Staff and Leadership Council, Student Government leadership and external constituencies on the President’s behalf to support and advance College goals and objectives.
• Work with the Executive Administrative Assistant to the President to manage requests for the President’s attendance at meetings and participation in special engagements, along with any follow-up.
• Support partnerships with the appropriate individuals on campus to support the creation of successful programming to engage students, faculty, and staff in meaningful and rewarding ways to build and foster the College’s culture and collaboration goals.
• Establish a consistent identity for Presidential communications and develop and assess an annual communications plan for the President, including metrics and results reflecting target audience engagement, earned media success and other measurements.
• Serve as the primary liaison to the offices of Communications and Institutional Advancement to ensure that the President’s priorities and portfolio accomplishments are communicated to internal and external audiences.
• Collaborate with the Division of Communications to identify and assess opportunities to position the President as a thought leader on her personal and institutional areas of expertise, including opportunities to contribute expert opinion/analysis pieces and to provide analysis or expertise on relevant and timely topics in the media.
• Support crisis communications under the direction of the College’s Communications Division and the Department of Public Safety.
• Manage and/or develop the President’s social media and web-based accounts (i.e., Instagram, LinkedIn, blogs, etc.)
• Prepare and/or provide editorial support to the President for executive communications such as talking points, remarks, presentations, and public correspondence.
• Review and research, issues and trends and prepares reports and other communications on behalf of the President.
• With support from Institutional Advancement, prepares presentations, reports and remarks for donors and other philanthropic stakeholders.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree required. Six years of progressive experience in an Executive support role or equivalent combination of education and experience are required.

Must possess excellent interpersonal skills, and the ability to interact professionally with diverse constituencies, including senior officials within and outside the College as well as faculty, staff, students, parents, alumnae and trustees. Must be able handle matters with diplomacy and confidentiality. Must be flexible and able to adjust to changing situations, possess excellent organizational skills, and be a self-starter. Excellent decision-making abilities are essential. Independent judgment is necessary to plan, prioritize and organize a diversified workload with attention to detail. Work requires fact-finding and compilation skills plus ability to perform a variety of tasks simultaneously, at times with little supervision.

Must possess the ability to read and respond to correspondence; interpret various policies, instructions and procedures. Also, must be able to read, analyze, and interpret documents such as safety rules and legal documents. Must possess the ability to write reports and correspondence on behalf of the President. Good proofreading skills are essential. The duties of this position require excellent oral communication skills including the ability to speak effectively with individuals and groups both internally and externally and at all levels including executives/dignitaries.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must have advanced skills using Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). In additions of writing correspondence, memos, and e-mails, other duties may include creation of spreadsheets with formulas and presentations, use of databases and calendaring software, and perform web searches.

Preferred Qualifications

Master’s degree

Certifications, Licenses, Restrictions

None

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to: sit, walk use hands to handle office supplies, operate computer and other office equipment, talk, and hear. The employee is frequently required to: reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to: stand, stoop, climb, taste and smell, and lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, and ability to adjust focus.

Shift

Days

% Travel Required

1% - 25%

Full Time/Part Time

Full-time

Work Location/Schedule:

This position requires onsite work and is not eligible for remote work.

FLSA

Exempt

Number of Vacancies

1

Anticipated Candidate Start Date

Position End Date

Posting Detail Information

Posting Number

SC0688P

Posting Open Date

06/07/2024

Posting Closing Date

Open Until Filled

No

Special Instructions to Applicants

EEO Statement

Spelman College is an EEO/Minority/Female/Disabled/Veteran/Title IX Employer and we participate in E-Verify. We are a smoke-free campus.

COVID-19 Vaccination Protocol

Due to the heightened risk of contracting COVID -19 and the spread of variants, Spelman College requires up to date COVID-19 vaccination of all faculty, staff, and students (collectively “Campus Community”) that have job duties, attend classes, or are otherwise present on campus. You will need to submit proof of up-to-date COVID -19 vaccination: full vaccination and a booster (when eligible) or a single dose of the bivalent vaccine) prior to your first day on campus or you may seek a medical or religious exemption to the vaccination requirement by providing the necessary documentation to: Yemi Brown , PharmD Manager of COVID-19 Operations, at . Upon receiving your Spelman Technology log-in credentials, please keep your vaccination or exemptions records up-to-date using Etrieve .