Executive Assistant

The Michigan State University Foundation is a private, non-profit research foundation associated with Michigan State University, the premier land grant university in the nation.  The Foundation was formed in 1973 as an independent foundation chartered to promote, encourage and aid scientific investigation and research at the university; assist with patent matters and perform trust functions for the university's fundraising organization.

Today, the MSU Foundation is focused on helping Michigan State University achieve its objectives around economic development through the commercialization of intellectual property created by its faculty, staff and students.  Michigan State University is among the top 100 research institutes in the world with expenditures exceeding $700M annually. 

The MSU Foundation manages a $400 million endowment, built from decades of licensing revenue.  In addition to providing over $9.5 million in research funding to MSU annually, the MSU Foundation operates three subsidiary organizations focused on technology commercialization and economic development.  These three organizations - Spartan Innovations, Red Cedar Ventures, Michigan Rise Pre-Seed II Fund (MiRise), and University Corporate Research Park (UCRP) - are key partners in the Michigan State University Innovation Center along with MSU Business Connect and MSU Technologies.

The MSU Foundation looks to hire an Executive Assistant for the Foundation. 

The Executive Assistant's position carries diverse responsibilities, focusing mostly on support of work done by the Foundation's Executive Director, Director of Finance the Board of Directors, and other executives. It also involves working independently on special projects, or with other staff members on various projects and initiatives related to the Foundation enterprise. The leadership team of the Foundation rely on the Executive Assistant in the facilitation of their work, making this a critical function within the organization.

Responsibilities:

Supports the Executive Director, who is responsible for a wide range of activities related to finance and investments, real estate management, grantmaking, management of Foundation subsidiaries, and new-enterprise development:

• Acts as a liaison for key executive offices to internal and external constituencies while insuring strict confidentiality in interpretation and dissemination of information.
• Maintain current knowledge of the Foundation's strategic direction and overall mission.
• Assist with and track work-in-progress, long-term priorities and new initiatives.
• Conduct research on related topics, director issues, and other subjects pertinent to Foundation business.
• Create reports, organizational charts, and spreadsheets.
• Schedule meetings and appointments.
• Prepare expense and travel reports.
• Update board member information.
• Organize projects, prepare drafts, memos, and communications.
• Process annual conflict of interest statements.
• Create and update current and former board and committee lists.
• Research prospective board members and develop concise profiles.
• Head up occasional special projects.
• Maintain an organized filing system of paper and electronic documents

Complete all preparatory work and follow-through on meetings and conference calls of the Board of Directors and its committees:

• Organize the board's meeting schedule and those of board committees, Foundation subsidiaries, and working groups.
• Draft meeting agendas and briefing outlines for board and committee chairs.
• Compile background materials to assist the board and committee chairs and the Executive Director in preparation for meetings.
• Assemble and distribute briefing materials for meetings.
• Arrange meeting locations and setups including hotel rooms, conference rooms, A/V provisioning, catering, guest speakers and other special arrangements.
• Attend all meetings to record minutes.
• Prepare accurate minutes.
• Post-meeting follow-up on meeting outcomes.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• The candidate will have a strong track record as a proven, professional executive assistant with leadership skills and technology acumen from either a corporate or university setting. 
• Strong organizational and project management skills as well as multi-tasking abilities are required.
• This individual will have solid skills in the Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Word, Outlook and Excel.
• An Associate's or Bachelor's degree with a minimum of 6 years of administrative experience is required.

The MSU Foundation and Spartan Innovations are affirmative action, equal-opportunity employers.

Current Openings for Executive Assistant Jobs at Karen Andrews Group