Executive Assistant to the Vice President and Chief Resilience Officer

Application Review Begins

August 26, 2025; position open until filled

Special Instructions to Applicants

To be considered for this position, please submit the following with your online application:

• A cover letter that tells us how your background, skills, and experiences make you a great candidate for this role based on the qualifications listed in the job posting.

• A current resume that outlines your professional experience, education, and any relevant certifications.

As part of the online application, you’ll also be asked to provide contact information for at least three professional references. We will contact finalists before we reach out to referees.

Safety and Risk Services is committed to finding the best candidate for the job, and that might be someone with a non-traditional background. Even if you don’t think you meet every preferred qualification, we encourage you to apply. Use your application to tell us what excites you about the position and highlight the transferable skills and experiences you would bring to the team.

Department Summary

The Division of Safety and Risk Services’ (SRS) mission is to collaborate with all campus constituents (students, staff, faculty, and visitors) and the surrounding community, to safeguard life and health and mitigate threats to the university’s core mission of academic excellence, research, and public service. Safety and Risk Services includes the Environmental Health and Safety Department, University Resilience Programs, Location Innovation Lab, Risk Management and Insurance, and the University of Oregon Police Department. SRS fulfills its mission by providing a variety of professional services, technical assistance, training, and regulatory oversight. The total Safety and Risk Services portfolio includes around 125 employees and a current annual operating budget of approximately $15 million.

The Division of Safety and Risk Services also supports, and the Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) leads, the University’s strategic Enterprise Risk Management and Organizational Resilience Framework to cultivate leadership, staff engagement, effective partnerships, situational awareness, innovation, and proactive problem solving to create a more resilient and agile university.

Position Summary

The Executive Assistant (EA) provides confidential and executive-level administrative support to the Vice President for Safety and Risk Services and Chief Resilience Officer (VP-CRO). Reporting to the Vice President, this position works closely with the SRS Chief of Staff and Director of Operations, and is a member of the SRS office administrative team. This role is responsible for a broad set of assignments and is expected to handle many sensitive and confidential issues. This position regularly requires the exercise of independent judgment. The executive assistant is responsible for effectively managing and scheduling the VP-CRO’s extensive meeting schedules while maintaining the ability to react quickly to emerging issues, which could include highly sensitive, confidential, security, incident response, and law enforcement matters. This role includes contributions in event coordination, project management, travel coordination, budgeting, and communication within SRS and with other offices. In addition, this position supports the VP-CRO’s work as co-director of the Institute for Resilient Organizations, Communities, and Environment research institute; and administration of Disaster Resilient Universities network. This position serves a critical coordination role for the VP-CRO's external-facing presentations and meeting schedule as it relates to the UO's strategic leadership, safety, security, risk management, and institutional resilience.

The EA also serves as a communications link with constituents, including government officials, state officials/agencies leads, university leadership, faculty, staff, and students within UO. The EA serves as the primary contact for all matters related to the VP-CRO’s schedule and activities in consultation with the VP-CRO’s Chief of Staff, and as such, must possess excellent oral and written communication skills, be well grounded in the university mission and brand and exhibit well-developed skills in diplomacy, tact, and team building. The EA provides critical background information to the Vice President before meetings, ensuring the Vice President has the necessary context for meeting goals and participants.

This unit may provide essential services during times of emergencies and inclement weather. This position may be required to fulfill essential services and functions during these times.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree OR equivalent combination of skills, experience, education, and training.
• Three years of experience providing confidential executive support that includes experience managing a calendar for an executive-level position.
• Must pass a Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) security clearance, a background check consisting of a national fingerprint-based criminal history records check.

Professional Competencies

• Demonstrated ability to manage stressful situations appropriately and to use sound judgment and initiative, particularly as it relates to handling sensitive and/or confidential information.
• Ability to communicate effectively, especially related to drafting correspondence, taking meeting notes, and creating daily executive briefings.
• Analytical and planning skills.
• Ability to prioritize tasks, work independently, manage projects and initiatives, and solve problems.
• Ability to actively support the enhancement of diverse learning and working environments.
• Ability to organize effectively, pay attention to detail, and exercise discretion and sound judgment.
• Ability and commitment to work effectively with students, faculty, and staff from a variety of diverse backgrounds in support of creating and fostering a welcoming and inclusive environment.
• Skilled in team building.
• Ability to maintain composure under pressure.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook for email and calendaring, PowerPoints, and Smartsheet.
• Ability to shift directions quickly when priorities change and deliver against tight deadlines.
• Integrity in dealing with sensitive and confidential information.
• Knowledge of University of Oregon policies and procedures.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in higher education.
• Experience with event planning, handling travel arrangements, and managing expense reporting.
• Experience managing executive calendars, coordinating travel and staffing executive-level committees.
• Experience with BANNER, Concur and/or similar information systems.

FLSA Exempt: Yes