Job Title
Administrative Assistant
Job Category
CUPE 2950
Job Profile
CUPE 2950 Salaried - Administrative Support 2 (Gr3)
Job Family Group
Staff - Union
Department
Yachie Laboratory | School of Biomedical Engineering | Faculty of Medicine
Compensation Range
$4,464.00 - $4,578.00 CAD Monthly
Job End Date
November 24, 2027
Posting End Date
November 26, 2026
Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.
At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.
Job Summary
The School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is a partnership between the Faculties of Applied Science and Medicine, established in 2017. The School is a nucleus for education and training, research, and innovation in biomedical engineering, creating new knowledge, new academic and training programs, and fostering translation and innovation. Its vision is to transform health and healthcare for all, achieved through innovative research and education at the convergence of engineering, medicine and biology. Through collaborative, innovative, and interdisciplinary approaches and building on UBC’s academic and research excellence, the School of Biomedical Engineering aspires to be a global leader in biomedical engineering research, education and translation. The SBME has two locations on Vancouver’s campus, the Gordon B Shrum building and the Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). For more information about the School of Biomedical Engineering, please visit https://www.bme.ubc.ca/.
The Administrative Assistant is responsible for providing administrative support to three Principal Investigators (PIs) and supporting administrative activities with the Advanced Therapeutics Manufacturing Facility (ATMF) at UBC. This position is expected to act independently at times on administrative and operational matters, data management and communications, and to take initiative to ensure effective administrative functioning of the three labs and the ATMF.
This is a 1.0 FTE position (35 hours per week) supporting three PIs and one facility. The proposed time allocation, pending confirmation by all PIs, is 2.5 days per week (17.5 hours, 50%) for Dr. Nozomu Yachie, 1.5 days per week (10.5 hours, 30%) for Dr. Megan Levings, including the ATMF, and 1 day per week (7 hours, 20%) for Dr. Christopher Moraes. The workload is planned to be manageable within regular working hours.
Organizational Status
The position reports to the PIs, Dr. Nozomu Yachie, Dr. Megan Levings, Dr. Christopher Moraes. The Administrative Assistant will work collaboratively with the staff, faculty, students and other members.
Work Performed
Admin Support for Dr. Nozomu Yachie
- Calendar support
- Organize the PI's calendar: book, reschedule and confirm meetings, including across time zones with collaborators in Canada, the US and Japan.
- Track deadlines (grant, reporting, review) and send reminders.
- Reconciliation of PI’s expenses
- Collect receipts and boarding passes, and prepare travel and expense claims in UBC's expense system.
- Reconcile PI purchasing card (P-card) transactions monthly and follow up with Finance on returned or rejected claims.
- Lab expense reconciliation support
- Reconcile supplier invoices and purchase orders for lab purchases, code them to the correct grant and file supporting documents, as one of several administrative duties.
- Compile monthly spending summaries for each grant from Workday reports for review by the Research Operations Manager.
- HR onboarding documentation for new lab members
- Reports to the Research Operations Manager for all onboarding work. Prepare and collect onboarding paperwork for new lab members and liaise with SBME HR to complete appointments before start dates.
- Arrange building access, keys, accounts and required safety training registrations.
Admin Support for Dr. Megan Levings
- Calendar support
- Organize the PI's calendar: book, reschedule and confirm meetings, including across time zones with collaborators in Canada, the US and Europe.
- Schedule internal, institutional and external meetings, and resolve meeting conflicts.
- Travel booking and reconciliation
- Book flights, accommodation, ground transport and conference registration.
- Prepare itineraries and keep travel records.
- Reconcile travel costs and submit expense claims after each trip.
Admin Support for the ATMF (under Dr. Megan Levings)
- Organizes the calendars of three manager-level ATMF staff and coordinates meeting requests.
- Schedules complex multi-party meetings involving many attendees, several institutions or external partners, including room and video conference bookings, invitations, materials and RSVP tracking.
- Books flights, accommodation and conference registration for ATMF staff.
- Supports the reformatting and organization of annual CFI and spending reports, in collaboration with the respective manager.
Admin Support for Dr. Christopher Moraes
- Lab supply ordering and reconciliation support (ad hoc)
- Identify suppliers, place orders for lab supplies, track deliveries, follow up as needed
- Reconcile supplier invoices and purchase orders for lab purchases, code them to the correct grant and file supporting documents, as one of several administrative duties
- Travel booking and reconciliation
- Book flights, accommodation, ground transport and conference registration.
- Prepare itineraries and keep travel records.
- Reconcile travel costs and submit expense claims after each trip.
- Administrative support for lab events
- Provide administrative support for lab social and team events (venue booking, ordering food, tracking RSVPs).
Admin duties shared across three (3) PIs
- Route documents for signature and track approvals.
- Support onboarding paperwork for new members in other groups as needed.
- Manage general correspondence and act as first point of contact for routine administrative requests.
- Keep shared files and records organized and up to date.
Consequence of Error/Judgement
This position requires judgment, tact, discretion and initiative. This position handles sensitive and highly confidential matters. Errors could have a negative impact on the operations and reputation of the School and the University resulting in negative public relations, inefficient use of resources, and loss of credibility. Inappropriate management of confidential documents and information could have an adverse effect on faculty, staff or students, or on UBC.
Supervision Received
The position reports to the Principal Investigators (PI’s), Dr. Nozomu Yachie, Dr. Megan Levings and Dr. Christopher Moraes. Lab reconciliation and onboarding work for the Yachie Lab is coordinated with the Research Operations Manager. Performs familiar duties independently and in accordance with established procedures.
Supervision Given
None.
Minimum Qualifications
High School graduation, plus one year of related training, plus two years of related experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own
- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion
Preferred Qualifications
- Relevant UBC experience preferred.
- Prior work experience in a University, research, education, and/or health care organizational structure an asset.
- Ability to work effectively under pressure, handle heavy volumes and meet constant deadlines.
- Training in secretarial practices, office procedures, and/or basic accounting.
- Intermediate skills in Microsoft Office programs including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook preferred.
- Highly effective interpersonal and organizational skills.
- Strong ability to manage Outlook and electronic communications platforms (e.g. doodle polls, Slack, MS Teams, Twitter).
- Ability to use internet applications and tools at an intermediate level.
- Ability to type 60 wpm and operate a normal range of office equipment.
- Strong ability to accurately maintain electronic calendars, reconcile scheduling conflicts, coordinate meetings and schedule the day's activities appropriately.
- Ability to plan, schedule and organize a variety of projects and/or events, often concurrently.
- Ability to compose correspondence, reports, presentations and other written materials using clear, concise business English.
- Ability to be thorough and maintain accuracy and high level of attention to detail.
- Ability to exercise judgment, discretion and diplomacy.
- Ability to work independently, with minimum supervision, and cooperatively both within the UBC community and with external stakeholders.
- Ability to work both independently and participate as an effective member in a team environment.
- Ability to develop and maintain cooperative and productive working relationships.
