Assistant Director

About the Opportunity

The College of Social Sciences and Humanities (CSSH) combines Northeastern University’s signature approach to experiential learning with liberal arts education, interdisciplinary research, and community engagement, both locally and globally.

The College comprises 17 academic units, including two schools, seven departments, and eight interdisciplinary programs, as well as 15 research centers and institutes. Our faculty connects liberal arts education with the challenges of our time, and fosters ethical reasoning and critical thought, with attention to the enduring significance of history, literature, and culture. CSSH promotes inquiry with global perspectives and a culture of inclusion across interdisciplinary clusters of expertise including: Resilience, Sustainability, Health, and Equity; Cultural studies, Governance, and Globalization; and Network Science, Computational Social Science, Digital Humanities, and Data Ethics.

CSSH is strongly committed to fostering excellence through diversity and promotes a culture of inclusion for our students, faculty, and staff. Guided by a Strategic Plan on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, the College enthusiastically welcomes applications from members of groups underrepresented in higher education administration.

Responsibilities:

As a member of the college's shared services group, the Assistant Director will support one or more units within the college and report to the Associate Dean for Administration and Finance. Initially, this position will focus on supporting the Humanities Center. The Assistant Director supports the programs, events, and activities of a thriving Humanities Center during an exciting time of growth. Northeastern University’s Humanities Center, spanning our global campus network, promotes collaborative, innovative, and publicly-engaged humanities research and programming. The Humanities Center pairs deep reflective inquiry with experience to attend to the past, foster meaningful conversations in the present, and pursue more just futures.

The Assistant Director works with the Directors - based in Boston, London, and Oakland - and the Associate Director in Boston to coordinate the work of the Humanities Center. The Boston Humanities Center Director will provide day-to-day direction and oversight of the Assistant Director’s work.

The Assistant Director’s responsibilities will include:

• facilitating project support and overseeing staff for projects affiliated with the Center
• conceptualizing Humanities initiatives and programs with internal and external partners and supervises staff in implementing joint events and programs
• managing undergraduate and graduate student workers and co-ops
• working directly with outside vendors and designers, and consulting with the college’s Director of Marketing and Communications 

• facilitating event details, such as bookings, catering, technical support, budgeting, internal and external marketing, and overseeing staff teams
• ensuring sustainability, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are addressed in each aspect of the Center’s work

• generating agendas and other materials for regular meetings and programs
• budget preparation and oversight, tracking expenses, multiple accounts for gifts, grants, and operating funds, transfers and reimbursements, providing monthly financial reports to the Humanities Center Co-Directors and drafting annual reports

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree required, Master’s degree preferred, with proven and extensive track record of administrative experience, preferably 3-6 years in an academic environment within the Humanities.
• Excellent research, writing, and oral communication skills, including communicating effectively with the public, faculty, vendors, designers, and administrative contacts throughout the university.
• Required ability to create and coordinate calendars, meeting and event timelines, maintain accessible files, and manage multiple events, programs, and projects at once.
• Must be flexible and highly organized.
• Preferred experience running events and at a high level of visibility.
• Preferred experience working with budgets and paying external vendors. .
• Preferred experience supervising students.
• Preferred experience with project management.

We realize that this is a lengthy list of activities and qualifications. There are multiple paths toward success in this position, and each may look somewhat different depending on the successful candidate’s interests and experience.

Documents to Submit:

Applicants should submit a resume and a cover letter that highlights qualifications for the position and includes a diversity statement. In the diversity statement, applicants should describe how they can support CSSH's commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Applicants can provide specific examples of initiatives they have led or participated in that promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. This could include organizing events or programs, implementing policies or practices, serving on committees, or creating spaces that foster a sense of belonging for individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Position Type

General Administration

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.  

Northeastern University is an equal opportunity employer, seeking to recruit and support a broadly diverse community of faculty and staff.  Northeastern values and celebrates diversity in all its forms and strives to foster an inclusive culture built on respect that affirms inter-group relations and builds cohesion. 

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other  characteristic protected by applicable law.

To learn more about Northeastern University’s commitment and support of diversity and inclusion, please see www.northeastern.edu/diversity.