Project Assistant

Department Summary: The Scientific Resource Center (SRC) is a coordinating center for a large, multi-center federal program, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) program, that collectively aims to synthesize evidence to inform medical decision-making. We are a centralized resource for scientific, medical, editorial, and technical expertise to support and promote scientific rigor, consistency and efficiency within the program and its products.

Position Summary: The Project Assistant provides administrative support to the SRC team and completes the tasks listed below under the direction of the Project Manager. The Project Assistant will be a key position to maintain the infrastructure that ensures the SRC functions as a cohesive whole. This position is administrative, but in an environment where the project content is heavily scientific in nature. We seek a candidate with high attention to detail, advanced administrative and communication skills, and experience scheduling complex calendars.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Serve as point of contact for SRC staff for essential office functions (50%)
  • Assist in developing and distributing internal staff meeting agendas
  • Manage project calendar
  • Maintain documentation tracking the status of deliverables
  • Track and follow-up with staff on annual documentation of conflicts of interest and trainings
  • Arrange travel and process travel authorizations and reimbursements for project staff per PVARF regulations.
  • Assist with human resources documentation and hiring processes as needed.
• Provide administrative support to external meetings with EPCs and AHRQ (35%)
  • Prepare meeting materials including agendas, reference documents, and meeting minutes
  • Assist with CME accreditation (collecting COI forms, submitting agendas, drafting learning objectives)
  • Submit meeting recordings to transcription service, proofread summaries and distribute
• Manage scheduling for Project Leadership (15%)
  • Schedule meetings and take notes as needed
  • Manage the schedule including resolving conflicting meetings, and rearranging meetings based on priority
  • Follow up on requests: including providing documents related to content being reviewed, researching questions

Competencies sought:

• Organization - Compiles and formats process documentation for each contract task order; Organizes paper and electronic filing systems for project process documents.
• Strategic Thinking - Identifies and tracks action items from meetings and other communications; Prioritizes a dynamic, high-volume list of tasks
• Technology Management - Makes effective use of video conferencing platforms (e.g., Microsoft Teams, Zoom, etc); Utilizes Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) and Outlook
• Customer Service - Provides customer service skills through electronic communications; Anticipates the needs of both internal team members and external customers

Qualifications

Required

• Two or more years experience working in an administrative role in an office environment
• Bachelor's degree or above OR an equivalent combination of training and experience.
• Attention to detail
• Collaborative problem-solving
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
• Knowledgeable of English usage, grammar, spelling, and punctuation
• Ability to use tact and diplomacy to maintain effective working relationships

Preferred:

• Four or more years experience working in an administrative role in an office environment
• One or more years working in academic/research/health care/government environment
• One or more years of grant management experience
• One or more years of processing travel arrangements

Working Conditions

The majority of our department is fully remote, with some employees hybrid on-site at the VA Portland Health Care System campus. We anticipate this position being hybrid on-site due to the nature of the work but would consider fully remote applicants with demonstrated experience in a remote environment. We offer flexible working hours (between approximately 7 am and 6 pm PT), though accountability, consistency, and reliability are required.

Additional information

New employees must submit COVID-19 vaccination documentation or seek an exemption within 8 weeks of beginning employment.

The Portland VA Research Foundation is an equal opportunity, affirmative action organization. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to status as a protected veteran or a qualified individual with a disability, or other protected status such as race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, or age. We celebrate diversity and are committed to cultural inclusion, respect for differences, acceptance, and respect for all employees.

Please apply online at http://www.pvarf.org and include a CV/Resume, cover letter, and list of 3 references.