Virginia Tech is a public land-grant university, committed to teaching and learning, research, and outreach to the Commonwealth of Virginia, the nation, and the world. Building on its motto of Ut Prosim (that I may serve), Virginia Tech is dedicated to InclusiveVT-serving in the spirit of community, diversity, and excellence. We seek candidates who adopt and practice the Principles of Community, which are fundamental to our on-going efforts to increase access and inclusion, and to create a community that nurtures learning and growth for all of its members. Virginia Tech actively seeks a broad spectrum of candidates to join our community in preparing leaders for the world.

Position Summary:
Reporting to the Chief of Staff, the Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff works with leaders across all Facilities Department operating units to strengthen and ensure alignment between operational priorities and organizational strategy (structures, systems, culture, etc.). The position manages departmental communication and outreach programming, resource support and development initiatives, and organizational assessment and accountability mechanisms. The position provides context and background information on issues and provides leadership and assistance to the Chief of Staff on a variety of complex and special projects. The position serves as the primary backup to the Chief of Staff.
The incumbent must be detail, action, solution, and results oriented and dedicated to continuous improvement. The incumbent is expected to fulfill identified responsibilities with limited supervision while maintaining effective communication with departmental leadership.
Other responsibilities include:
• Independently performing complex administrative and leadership responsibilities.
• Accessing and synthesizing data from a variety of sources to formulate informed viewpoints on organizational issues.
• Providing leadership and coordination for Facilities Department employee support initiatives.
• Serving with professionalism, a positive attitude, and excellent customer service skills.
• Developing, interpreting, and implementing administrative and business policies and procedures.

Required Qualifications:
- Advanced degree in business, public administration, or related field; or training and work experience that equates to an advanced degree.
- Understanding of organizational effectiveness mechanisms and strategies, including communication and outreach, resource support and development, and assessment and accountability.
- Demonstrated ability to successfully handle sensitive information and maintain confidentiality, strong personal ethics commitment, and demonstrated sound judgment.
- Exceptional writing and communication skills, including proven ability to prepare and present clear and concise reports to senior management and articulate complex and/or technical issues to various levels of organizational stakeholders.
- Analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, with ability to see patterns, be a fast thinker, and make decisions with strong attention to accuracy, detail, and local context.
- Demonstrated ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks concurrently; excellent organizational and delegation skills; meet deadlines with short turn-around times, and ability to work collaboratively in a team environment;
- Experienced in researching and preparing executive level documents, reports, and presentations.
- Strong problem solving and conflict resolution skills to manage complex tasks and/or those that require balancing competing interests.
- Fast learner, result driven, accepts and acts on all forms of feedback to effect change.
- Commitment to high level of customer service.

Preferred Qualifications:
- Demonstrated administrative responsibility in higher education or public sector.
- Demonstrated experience with staffing support initiatives (outreach, recruitment, professional development, organizational effectiveness, etc.) in a diverse organization.
- Data retrieval experience with programming tools that access hierarchical and relational databases (Oracle).
- Demonstrated knowledge of federal and state laws and regulations applicable to a higher education environment.
- Working knowledge of university organizational structure, policies, and procedures.



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