Deputy Chief of Staff - Dean's Office

Position Summary

The Columbia University School of General Studies (GS) is the finest liberal arts college in the United States dedicated to making Ivy League education accessible to nontraditional students.

GS was founded in 1947 on the mission of expanding access to elite higher education, and it remains the most diverse college in the Ivy League, with many transfer, first-generation, and international students.

GS students are fully integrated with Columbia’s broader undergraduate population and are taught by Columbia’s celebrated faculty.

The Deputy Chief of Staff manages the day-to-day operations within the Dean's Office at Columbia University School of General Studies.

This position requires a strategic and detail-oriented professional who can handle a wide range of responsibilities, ensuring the smooth functioning of the office and facilitating effective communication between the Dean's Office and other departments within the School and across the University.

The Deputy Chief of Staff works in direct support of the School’s mission to ensure access for the very best and brightest nontraditional students to a Columbia undergraduate education, including the School’s work in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and ensures that the Dean’s priorities in this area are deeply ingrained across the full breadth of the School’s current activities and newest initiatives.

The Deputy Chief of Staff will indirectly supervise the School’s events teams on all events involving the Dean or the events that are School-wide while directly supporting the Dean and Vice Dean in managing the most critical and public-facing functions of the School Class Day, Orientation, Trustee presentations, or any other critical functions that are needed in a dynamic and highly effective work environment.

Responsibilities

Dean’s Office Planning and Management :

• Works closely with the Vice Dean to ensure the highly effective and efficient management of the Dean’s Office, specifically in support of the Dean and Vice Dean roles but closely coordinated with key administrative functions at Columbia GS.
• Leads the team effort to prepare communications, presentations, speeches, or other public-facing activities of the Dean and Vice Dean, including Board of Trustee presentations, Board of Visitors Presentations, Class Day and Orientation speeches and remarks, or any other key public-facing event held by the School and requiring the participation of the Dean’s Office senior leadership.

Works closely with the Executive Director of Communications to ensure coordination and consistency of Dean’s messaging and communications.

• Works with the Dean’s team to ensure briefs for major events are prepared appropriately and in a timely manner by departments for key meetings and activities involving the Dean.
• Works closely with the Vice Dean and Senior Leadership Team on all aspects of the School’s administration.

Special Projects Management

• Works on special school-wide projects as needed on behalf of the Vice Dean as needed.
• Manages and coordinates on behalf of the School and the Dean’s Office the School’s engagement on several highly sensitive projects involving collaboration with Central offices, university leadership, or external partners.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) :

• Manages the Dean’s DEI Steering Committee and related strategic initiatives in the area of access and equity.
• Supervises Columbia GS’s DEI initiatives and the staff charged with their implementation.
• Works closely with Columbia HR, GS HR, and the senior leadership team at Columbia GS to ensure ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all of the school’s activities and efforts, including coordinating staff training.
• Other related duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; Advanced degree preferred. Minimum of 7 to 9 years related experience is required. Experience in a university or other complex environment is desirable.
• Proven experience creating, maintaining, and managing against project plans. Proven ability to own, influence, and be accountable for the success of projects managed.

Proven excellence in communications, relationship building, negotiation, problem-solving, and organizational influence.

• Comfortable with organizational ambiguity and changes inherent to business process changes.
• Possess the following qualities : integrity, hands-on, creative, forward-looking, attention to detail, sensitivity to timelines, goal-oriented, motivator.
• Ability to influence group dynamics in a team player environment. Ability to work with resources and resource managers to identify issues & roadblocks and to facilitate solutions.

Strong background and experience in change management.