Admin Assistant – Senior | The Affective Neuroscience and Developmental Psychopathology Lab

The Affective Neuroscience and Developmental Psychopathology Lab is adynamic, busy clinical neuroscience lab with a team atmosphere and a culture of respect and inclusivity. Our mission is meaningful and important: to reduce suffering by investigating the brain mechanisms relevant to the pathophysiology and treatment of depression, suicidality, and related problems in adolescents and young adults. The lab’s several ongoing studies include a variety of techniques, including neuroimaging, neuromodulation, ambulatory assessment, and pharmacologic manipulation. The principal investigator (PI) of the lab is also the director of a career development program for early-career scientists in mental health fields.

The ideal candidate is motivated, very organized, persistent, uses initiative to solve problems, conscientious, accountable, takes responsibility, looks for solutions, has integrity, develops innovative ways to do lab tasks, respects others, has excellent communication skills, is assertive, enjoys improving processes, likes working as part of a team, has strong strategies for logistics, and enjoys working on projects that have meaning and purpose. This is a busy, dynamic work environment, so someone who finds purpose in learning, being busy, doing many types of tasks, and having variety will enjoy this setting.

This position is grant funded.

Purpose:
Under general direction, provides varied administrative support of a complex and technical nature to single or multiple department(s) or a division. The person in this position is a valued member of the lab team and is critical to accomplishing our research and training goals.

Responsibilities:

• Provides input to presentations and other department/supervisor work (i.e., supervisor provides general thought and ee will draft more material based on initial ideas).
• Develops and sends correspondence on behalf of department and department head (i.e., draft and send meeting minutes, draft and send meeting events).
• Plans conferences for department and department head.
• Under general direction, provides varied administrative support to a department or group of professionals.
• Makes travel arrangements and oversees expense reimbursements.
• Arranges payments to consultants on research studies and faculty on training programs.
• May also perform all responsibilities of an Administrative Assistant – Intermediate:-
• Maintains supervisor’s calendar (i.e., proactively schedules meetings on supervisor’s behalf, uses survey applications to determine possible meeting times among groups of people, coordinates with other administrative assistants, makes recommendations for large meeting venues and catering, takes leadership role to ensure meetings flow smoothly).
• Maintains various accounting and budgetary records (i.e., completes expense reports) and tracks activities and progress with tools such as spreadsheets
• Develops reports for executive or department. Analyzes complex information requests and determines complex trends.
• Prepares materials and completes forms for research grant applications.
• Collaborates with vendors, research centers, local grants management specialists, contracts groups at Pitt/UPMC, catering/meeting contacts, grants managers and program directors of funding organizations. Works closely with PI, research coordinators, and research team members.
• Contributes to project management activities such as statements of work, budgets, and Gantt charts.
• Reviews administrative procedures and operating practices and makes recommendations to increase efficiency.