Summary
The Michigan Kidney Translational Research Center is internationally recognized for its research work in combating kidney disease. Our team is from five continents, covering more than five disciplines in our endless pursuit to develop new therapies that improve the lives of our patients.
We are seeking a highly qualified candidate to provide our center director, Dr. Matthias Kretzler with exceptional administrative level support. This is not your typical Administrative Specialist position. This is a multi-faceted position that is a combination of an administrative and personal assistant, and project managment. The result is the candidate will provide a superbly professional level of support to Dr. Matthias Kretzler, Director of MiKTMC, while interfacing regularly with internal and external leadership.
Dr. Kretzler receives an average of 250-400 emails that require some level of response from him. It is not unusual for Dr. Kretzler to have 12-15 meetings in an 8-hour period, although he usually works 10-12 hours a day. Therefore, the candidate needs to have the ability to multi-task, be detail oriented, demonstrate clear communication, and execute their work with confidence, emotional intelligence, and cultural intelligence. No two days are alike, and there will be many days when the list of priorities worked on the day before, gets changed to address an emerging priority or opportunity. The candidate will be part of the Opps Team (Opportunities and Operations Team), and will receive support from a variety of members to assist them with learning and growing in the role.
Mission Statement
Michigan Medicine improves the health of patients, populations and communities through excellence in education, patient care, community service, research and technology development, and through leadership activities in Michigan, nationally and internationally. Our mission is guided by our Strategic Principles and has three critical components; patient care, education and research that together enhance our contribution to society.
Why Join Michigan Medicine?
Michigan Medicine is one of the largest health care complexes in the world and has been the site of many groundbreaking medical and technological advancements since the opening of the U-M Medical School in 1850. Michigan Medicine is comprised of over 30,000 employees and our vision is to attract, inspire, and develop outstanding people in medicine, sciences, and healthcare to become one of the world’s most distinguished academic health systems. In some way, great or small, every person here helps to advance this world-class institution. Work at Michigan Medicine and become a victor for the greater good.
What Benefits can you Look Forward to?
- Excellent medical, dental and vision coverage effective on your very first day
- 2:1 Match on retirement savings
Responsibilities*
High Level Administrative Specialist Support (80%):
- Performs advanced, diversified, comprehensive, and confidential administrative duties requiring broad and comprehensive professional experience, skill and knowledge of organizational policies and practices. Knowledge of both private and public-sector environments is a plus.
- Calendaring/Complex Scheduling: Review commitments, prioritize/escalate high priority items, plan for near-term/future/recurring events, provide timely and accurate information about meeting participants and purposes, etc. Exercise a high level of discretion and independent judgment regarding calendaring priorities.
- Prepares correspondence, memoranda, reports, etc. Initiates routine and some non-routine correspondence and memoranda. Screens telephone calls and visitors, and resolves routine and complex inquiries on scheduling meetings, teleconferences, videoconferences and other.
- Well-developed knowledge and ability to manage complex, international travel arrangements for Dr. Kretzler and occasionally some Lab members. Ability to modify these arrangements sometimes with very little notice. Willingness to be available to assist when Dr. Kretzler is traveling. Exhibit exceptional problem-solving skills in this area under occasional time-pressure.
- Exquisite attention to detail for meeting times, transport (air, train, airport shuttle, etc.) arrangements, hotel reservations, travel dates, visa requirements, conference registrations, itinerary development and agenda maintenance, etc. Schedules and maintains calendar of appointments, meetings and travel itineraries, and coordinates related arrangements.
- Effective management of University of Michigan reporting and administrative obligations for Dr. Kretzler (Conflict of Interest Reporting, Sunshine Act monitoring, AND CONCUR Expense Reconciliation).
- Highly effective and professional communication skills via email/telephone/in-person interactions that protect and manage Dr. Kretzler’s time.
- Intense motivation to learn the overall business operation and research goals of the Lab (in order to facilitate prioritization of meeting requests/appointment scheduling, etc..). This includes frequent outreach to team members to gain overall understanding of major partners and collaborators within the University, at other academic institutions and at our private-sector sponsor organizations.
- In coordination with Operations Manager, organize materials for meetings using knowledge of content areas, prepare meeting agendas, coordinate travel, prepare itineraries, secure appropriate meeting sites, coordinate hosting and special events, set up and troubleshoot AV equipment as needed. Proactively provide appropriate meeting materials to investigators and broader team.
- Other duties as assigned.
Visiting Collaborators Event Support (10%):
- In collaboration with Operations Manager, anticipate and plan for logistics, meetings, events, and marketing for visiting scientific collaborators. Will involve complex scheduling, large audiences, and/or sensitive topics.
Backup Support (5%):
- Serve as a backup for MiKTMC Administrative Assistants during vacations.
Professional Development and Continuous Improvement (5%):
- Increase your understanding of various technologies utilized heavily by MiKTMC Team and Collaborators (Dropbox, MS Teams, MS Outlook, Slack, and Asana Project Management System) in order to help contribute to increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of MiKTMC’s work.
- Network with the members of the Neph Admin Staff group to grow in understanding the different aspects of administrative work happening in the Division of Nephology and throughout the Department of Internal Medicine.
- Meet bi-weekly with your Michigan Medicine mentor to assist you your professional development and accomplishing your goals.
Required Qualifications*
- Bachelor’s degree and significant administrative support experience, including some in a supervisory capacity is normally required
Qualities required to be sucessful in this role
- You have a passion for piecing together puzzles and love a challenge while enjoying bringing structure and simplicity to chaos.
- You consider yourself a excellent problem solver with a high ability for reasoning using diverse insight, rules, and logic to complete your work.
- You take initiative, are curious, and can organize complex schedules, plans, and small projects in ways others haven’t thought about.
- Your passion is in helping people and playing a supporting role. You find this engerizing.
- You enjoy a truly fast-paced, collaborative environment and can maintain a positive attitude despite of it.
- When given ambiguous tasks, you aren’t intimidated to break it down into subtasks and seek out those who can get the unknown questions answered.
- You understand how to strategize between emails, phone calls, or just walking to someone’s office to priority items forward.
- You have a proven ability to work professionally with internal and external stakeholders and serve as a representative of MiKTMC.
- You have proven in the past that you can work with internal and external leadership and give proactive support.
- You possess strong interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.
- You have a proven track record of displaying strong attention to detail, deep dedication to customer service, and a team approach in your work.
- You possess exceptional office technology skills including Microsoft products, virtual platforms, and room A/V systems, and a willingness to learn and master new technologies as needed.
- You have a basic understanding of U-M research activities, as well as working knowledge of university policies and procedures preferred.
Values important to the Michigan Kidney Translational Research Center Teams
- Business sense – you have a strong business sense and can interpret priorities and make sound judgment calls when needed.
- Commitment to excellence – you perform duties at the highest level possible consistently.
- Excellent communicator – you can interact with a diversity of people and cultures in a confident, professional manner.
- Confidentiality – you demonstrate the ability and temperament to work with sensitive information.
- Teamwork – you have a team-oriented experience and approach and are able to foster professional relationships.
- Insightful – you think outside of the box to keep tasks and critical items moving forward.
- Emotional intelligence – you are mindful to recognize your own emotions and can keep calm and productive under stress.
- Innovative ideas – you stay curious and are open to bringing innovative suggestions forward that will impact the team, partners, and organization positively.
Desired Qualifications*
- You have some background with program or project management.
- You have strong working knowledge of university policies, procedures, and processes.
- You are proficient with Concur, MPathways, Procurement systems, Outlook calendaring, Schedulon, Zoom, and Dropbox.
- You have experience with international travel arrangements, travel visas with various State departments, and enjoy putting a travel portfolio together for staff that are traveling.
- You are bilingual in Spanish - MiKTMC serves a large Hispanic population.
Additional Information
- Hours: full-time (8 hours per day, 8a-5p, 5 days per week) with occasional off-hours
- Hybrid position: the expectation is 4 days per week onsite with flexibility according to needs
- All finalists will be given a basic technology skill testing and scenario testing in their interpersonal, verbal, and written skills. This will be done virtually.
Background Screening
Michigan Medicine conducts background screening and pre-employment drug testing on job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent job offer and may use a third party administrator to conduct background screenings. Background screenings are performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Report Act. Pre-employment drug testing applies to all selected candidates, including new or additional faculty and staff appointments, as well as transfers from other U-M campuses.
Application Deadline
Job openings are posted for a minimum of seven calendar days. The review and selection process may begin as early as the eighth day after posting. This opening may be removed from posting boards and filled anytime after the minimum posting period has ended.
Vaccine Requirements
COVID-19 vaccinations are required for all students, faculty and staff working in the following areas: Michigan Medicine including the Medical School, Dental School, University Health Service or the Mary A. Rackham Institute. This includes those working remotely and temporary workers. More information on this new policy is available on the U-M Health Response.
U-M EEO/AA Statement
The University of Michigan is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.