Job Details

Department
ADV People and Culture

About the Department
Advancement engages alumni (~220k), current students, parents, and friends of the University through intellectual, professional and social activities on campus, around the world and online. Advancement raises $600 Million annually to support faculty and researchers, practitioners and patients, and students and programs across the University. Our work supports priorities in every division, school, department, and institute.

The Advancement People and Culture team plays a crucial role in cultivating a supportive and thriving workplace environment. The Team is dedicated to attracting top talent through effective recruitment strategies and ensuring a smooth onboarding process for new hires. Additionally, the Team champions ongoing professional development and learning programs to empower staff to excel in their roles and contribute meaningfully to Advancement's goals. By fostering a culture of inclusivity, collaboration, and accountability, the People and Culture team enhances employee satisfaction and retention, ultimately strengthening and extending the work of Advancement for the University.

Job Summary
The People and Culture Operations Associate provides moderate to complex professional support to the People and Culture team, addressing a variety of operational and administrative needs across the organization. This position contributes to the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure compliance with institutional and regulatory standards, participates in event and programming preparation, manages shared inboxes and team scheduling, executes communications tasks and procedures, and assists with data entry. This position provides professional support and solves straightforward problems for a broad range of business operations and academic activities. May develop and implement office procedures and policies and ensures compliance. May prepare and monitor the budget for a unit. Additionally, this role may support budget preparation, tracking, and reporting to ensure efficient resource management within the department.

Responsibilities

• Facilitates and promotes recommendations on People and Culture processes, including data entry, recruitment activities, written and electronic communications, proofreading, and interview scheduling. Contributes to the development and implementation of policies and procedures for recruitment coordination, data management, internal communications, and event logistics to ensure consistency, efficiency, and compliance with institutional standards.
• Acts as the primary backup for the intranet and staff newsletter, exercising autonomy in developing content, collaborating on design and layout, and ensuring timely revisions and updates.
• Supports development of project timelines across People and Culture team work efforts, including providing materials and follow-up to project stakeholders.
• Manages tokens and giveaways for People and Culture programs, including developing policies and procedures, maintaining inventory, placing orders, and advising colleagues on appropriate items for programs of varying scope and scale. Oversees domestic packaging and shipping needs.
• Coordinates the scheduling of sessions and events, including onboarding, training sessions, meetings, and other programs to ensure sessions supports employee engagement, program success, runs efficiently, and meet organizational needs.
• Develops and manages social media job postings and collaborates with IT and leadership teams to create content for digital signage. Designs and formats engaging visual materials that enhance visibility across platforms while maintaining alignment with the University's brand.
• Submits purchase orders (POs) and vendor invoices for processing and payment for the People and Culture Team; supports monitoring of the budget affiliated with operating costs, and develops tracking systems that monitor spend and projections.
• Supports staff events and programs, including coordinating logistics, arranging catering, and preparing and distributing presentation materials. Provides day-of support to ensure events run smoothly and deliver a positive participant experience.
• Monitors team inboxes, responding to or forwarding emails as appropriate. Provides calendar support to team leadership as needed.
• Seeks opportunities for professional development that will enhance job performance including attending webinars, seminars, building networks within the University and with colleagues at peer institutions.
• Assists in the monitoring of the various financial and budgetary activities, including vendors contracts. Preparing and monitoring the budget for a unit.
• Researches and analyzes data to create reports, and may create other reports for grants and contracts.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:
Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:
Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor's degree.

Experience:

• Minimum two years of administrative, office management, or other professional experience in a fast-paced, complex office environment.
• Background managing cross-team projects.
• Minimum one year of experience developing and monitoring budgets.
• Minimum one year of experience planning and executing events.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Demonstrated skill and knowledge of, or ability to learn quickly, the internal workings of the University as well as the technology tools available to Advancement, including Phoenix, the University's Donor Relationship Management System.
• Proficient in a Microsoft Windows computer environment, especially Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access.

Preferred Competencies

• Outstanding interpersonal and communications skills characterized by the ability to listen, speak, and write effectively. Explain complex ideas clearly and simply.
• Manage confidential information with discretion and tact.
• Act with integrity, professionalism, and confidentiality.
• Work collegially and collaboratively in a team setting.
• Self-motivated and take initiative.
• Prioritize multiple projects and independently follow through with detail.

Working Conditions

• This position has a hybrid work schedule which includes weekly in office presence.
• Standard office environment.
• Travel to campus and/or non-campus locations for University business.
• Work evenings and weekends as needed.
• This position is located in Hyde Park at 5235 South Harper Court.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• Cover Letter addressed to the Hiring Committee (required)

When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family
Administration & Management

Role Impact
Individual Contributor

Scheduled Weekly Hours
37.5

Drug Test Required
No

Health Screen Required
No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required
No

Pay Rate Type
Salary

FLSA Status
Exempt

Pay Range
$68,000.00 - $80,000.00
The included pay rate or range represents the University's good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible
Yes
The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-###-#### or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history. A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment. Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

The University of Chicago's Annual Security & Fire Safety Report (Report) provides information about University offices and programs that provide safety support, crime and fire statistics, emergency response and communications plans, and other policies and information. The Report can be accessed online at: Paper copies of the Report are available, upon request, from the University of Chicago Police Department, 850 E. 61st Street, Chicago, IL 60637.