Executive Assistant

The Role

Maynooth University is committed to a strategy in which the primary University goals of excellent research and scholarship and outstanding education are interlinked and equally valued.

We are seeking applicants for the temporary, half-time post of Executive Assistant to assist in the administrative work of the School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures. The successful candidate will join a strong administration team in a busy office, providing support to our students, academic and administrative colleagues across the School and University. The successful candidate must have excellent organisational, administrative and IT skills, and experience of working in a busy office environment. They must be able to demonstrate an ability to take initiative to direct their own work, as well as working as part of a team. Please note the working schedule will be Monday to Friday.

Principal Duties

Administrative and other duties:

The duties will include but are not limited to:

• General office administration, including maintenance of records, accounts, details of budgets, creation and maintenance of databases and spreadsheets, managing appointments, correspondence, maintenance of files, and circulation of information to staff;

• Reception duties: answering calls, post, taking messages and responding to enquiries from prospective or past students, other staff members, and members of the public;

• Support on website maintenance and management, and social media tools;

• Accounts administration, i.e. processing of invoices (both manual and through the procurement system), expenses for payment and liaising with the MU Finance Office;

• Working extensively with current students, in terms of communicating with students, pastoral care, and directing students to appropriate services, and other operational and student support duties that may arise in the normal course of the academic year;

• Working in a collegial manner to build and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues within the School and across the University;

• Assisting with the operational development and administration of timetables and examination processes;

• Providing logistic support related to hosting and hospitality of various events and guest lectures held throughout the academic year;

• Participating in any necessary training and development, and workshops, as relevant opportunities arise;

• Learning and understanding new University procedures as they arise;

• Other duties as requested from time to time by the Head of School and Administrative Lead.

The ideal candidate will have:

Essential

• Third level degree and or relevant experience working in a university or educational establishment;

• Excellent time management and administrative and organisational skills;

• Excellent IT skills, in particular the Microsoft Office suite, and the ability to learn how to use new systems;

• The ability to work in a team environment and share responsibility for tasks with colleagues;

• The capacity to work autonomously and to manage workload, deadlines, and responsibilities;

• Excellent interpersonal and teamwork skills, enabling effective liaison with university staff, students, university partners and other internal and external stakeholders in a professional and collaborative manner;

• Understanding of GDPR and the ability to exercise discretion regarding sensitive data and documentation and confidential material, maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards.

Desirable

• An understanding of working in the education sector.

• Strong knowledge of systems used in academic departments including Moodle, Academic Database, Microsoft Teams, Office 365.

Faculty

The Maynooth University Faculty of Arts and Humanities comprises the Departments of Ancient Classics, English, History, Media Studies, Music, Philosophy and the following Schools: Celtic Studies (Early Irish and Nua Ghaeilge) and Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures (Chinese, French, German and Spanish and Latin American Studies).

The University has also developed a number of interdisciplinary institutes to support excellent research and to build research capacity across disciplines. The Arts and Humanities Institute is closely associated with Faculty research activity.

The role of the Faculty is to co-ordinate the academic activities of individual departments, schools and institutes, to oversee the strategic development of these units and to support interdepartmental and interdisciplinary activities and programmes.

The University

Maynooth University is a very distinctive university, a collegial institution focused on science and engineering, humanities, and social sciences, and equally committed to research, teaching and community engagement. Located in Ireland’s only university town, its distinctive features and character owe much to its unique history and heritage. It provides a high-quality educational experience to over 15,000 students on a campus with 18th century roots and 21st century dynamism.

The strategic trajectory and accomplishments of Maynooth University, in the 25 years since its establishment as an autonomous public university, are exceptional, and a source of great pride to the university community, staff, students and alumni. Maynooth University in 2024 ranked in the top 90 global Times Higher Education (THE) Young University rankings, placing 86th in the world. Maynooth University’s growing global reputation is based on the originality, quality, importance and impact of its research and scholarship, commitment to teaching and learning, the quality of academic programmes, and its leadership in widening participation in higher education. The sources of success are the dedication of its staff and the energy and engagement of its students.

Maynooth University is a place of lively contrasts, a modern institution, dynamic, rapidly growing, research-led and engaged, yet grounded in historic academic strengths and scholarly traditions. With over 15,000 students, Maynooth offers a range of programmes at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level in the humanities, science and engineering and social sciences, including business, law and education. The University also offers a range of international programmes and partnerships.

Maynooth’s unique collegial culture fosters an interdisciplinary approach to research, which its world class academics bring to bear in tackling some of the most fundamental challenges facing society today. The University’s research institutes and centres consolidate and deliver this impact as vibrant communities of learning, discovery and creation. Research at Maynooth also is very much central to its teaching and the University prides itself on placing equal value on its research and teaching missions.

Maynooth University’s Values

Our values define who we are, what we believe in and how we act as a community. They underpin our future success and guide our expectations of ourselves and each other. Our values apply to everyone in the University community:

• Integrity

• Collegiality

• Responsibility

• Freedom of expression

• Ambition

Tenure

This is a full-time, permanent post.

Salary

Executive Assistant: €32,030 – €48,430 (pro rata) per annum (13 points). Appointments will be made in accordance with public sector pay provisions.

Hours of Work

A 35-hour working week is in operation in respect of full-time positions (prorated for part-time positions). This can be reviewed or adjusted from time to time through national agreements.