Career Center

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range:

Position Summary

The Assistant Director serves as the primary travel arranger for student group travel and visitors invited to participate in recognized student group programs and events, and works as part of the Administration and Planning (A&P) team to provide administrative assistance to Undergraduate Student Life staff. The Assistant Director reports to the Associate Director of Administration and Planning, who oversees the management of approximately 400 recognized student groups.  

Responsibilities

• Books a heavy volume of air and rail transportation, lodging and ground transportation, for undergraduate students, University visitors, and Undergraduate Student Life (USL) staff, working closely with USL managers and advisers to adhere to Columbia University???s and Columbia College's travel policies and protocols. Serves as the primary point of contact for booking, logistics, itineraries, and inquiries relating to travel for staff, students and visitors. 
• Reconciles a high volume of travel expenses and processes expense reimbursements via Concur (the University???s online travel and expense system). Initiates and reconciles travel advances and prepares reports on travel spend. 
• Acts as a liaison between USL and campus partners including, but not limited to, Columbia College Finance and Columbia Travel & Procurement to facilitate contracts associated with travel and Columbia Transportation to secure car service vouchers and charter bus reservations. Maintains positive relationships with vendors of direct travel, such as car rentals, hotels, and airlines, and with the University's travel partner World Travel, Inc. (WTI).
• Provides backup assistance to the A&P unit, including processing financial transactions, P-Card reconciliation, and non-travel Concur transactions and reimbursement/expense reports.  Provides general programmatic, administrative, and financial processing to USL staff.  
• Serves as USL???s primary liaison for Columbia???s undergraduate travel policy and interacts with the Undergraduate Travel Review Committee???s core planning team to ensure that student groups and advisers are aware of the latest policies and adhere to reporting and compliance requirements. Facilitates regular training sessions on travel policies and practices for USL staff members, including during new staff onboarding, at the annual adviser training retreat, and on an as-needed basis for individual USL units. 
• Advise a cohort of student groups who participate in frequent travel. 
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor???s degree and/or its equivalent required. 
• Minimum of two years of related experience required.
• Direct experience arranging complex domestic and international travel itineraries required.
• Knowledge and/or experience using Concur a strong advantage.
• Outstanding administrative, organizational, and interpersonal skills required.
• Must be willing to learn new processes and technologies as needed.
• Must be well-organized, detail-oriented, and work well under pressure, managing multiple responsibilities simultaneously in a high volume operation.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, and a strong commitment to providing high-quality service in a fast-paced environment.
• Tact and diplomacy and the ability to exercise judgment when working with sensitive and confidential information.
• Fluency with Microsoft Office Suite, Google Workspace, Adobe programs, and other similar technology platforms.
• Must be able to work with diverse constituencies and support an inclusive work environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of University policies and procedures preferred. 

• Knowledge of Columbia???s financial systems preferred.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.