#123687 Public Relations and Human Resources Specialist

DESCRIPTION

The Department of Urban Studies and Planning is the School of Social Sciences' newest department. It builds off of the 40 years of success and history of the USP Program as one of UC San Diego's leading interdisciplinary programs which is widely acknowledged as one of the best of its kind in the nation based on the caliber of its faculty and alumni. The USP Department offers two undergraduate degrees: the B.A. in Urban Studies and Planning and the B.S. in Real Estate and Development.

Both degrees are comprised of rigorous requirements including a final capstone project. USP faculty and students have deep connections and collaborate frequently with community and industry partners. Faculty also have active grant writing and research portfolios. The new transition to departmental status will enable all facets of USP to grow in the coming years and it is anticipated the student enrollments will continue to increase and faculty research portfolios will also expand.

Under general direction of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), the incumbent is responsible for the administrative functions of human resources, communications and event management of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning.

The incumbent coordinates and facilitates all logistics and planning for events such as conferences, colloquia, workshops, roundtables, seminars, symposia, receptions, and general meetings that involve research professionals, private industries, government sectors, campus departments, donors, community partners, etc., and participates in the creation and management of event budgets, including catering, supplies, marketing, and other direct costs.

The incumbent responds to non-complex, basic inquiries from public or media who reach out for potential engagement opportunities and also manages the department's website content development and postings and ensures compliance with University brand guidelines and policies. The incumbent works closely with the Department Chair, CAO, IT, faculty, and staff on the content development process, including brainstorming, information gathering, designing, writing, revising and editing for new web content. The incumbent creates content for the department's social media sites, maintaining an effective presence on social media.

The incumbent serves as the primary HR contact for career staff, undergraduate student researchers and additional non-career staff including postdoctoral scholars, and is responsible for developing job descriptions, recruitment, onboarding, payroll and timekeeping. In addition, the incumbent applies professional human resources, organization policies, and procedures to provide interpretation and/or guidance to supervisors, managers and employees on campus personnel and postdoctoral scholar policies and procedures and collective bargaining agreements, including informal conflict resolution; recruitment, compensation, benefits, payroll, and other related topics.

• Must be willing and able to travel. Must occasionally be able to work evenings, weekends and a flexible schedule to meet deadlines and event needs.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Knowledge of human resources policies and programs, and how they affect other organizational policies and procedures.

• Thorough knowledge and understanding of concepts, principles and practices of event planning including event design, organization and production. Extensive experience in successfully planning, designing and organizing professional events, including negotiating for venues and services. Ability to, with short notice, resolve problems related to a conference venue, service, or other associated matter.

• Demonstrated experience with web design and content management.

• Ability to work with complex employment issues and multiple personnel programs. Ability to interpret collective bargaining agreements.

• Strong oral and written communication skills. Demonstrated experience performing administrative skills with a high level of proficiency and competency to include: composing, editing, and finalizing complex correspondence, publications, business letters, summaries, and reports; editing and proofreading final products; and skill in proofreading work for grammar, spelling, punctuation and typographical errors.

• Effective interpersonal skills, including tact, diplomacy and flexibility to work with staff, faculty, students, industry and the community as part of a team and in accordance with the principles of community. Ability in working effectively in an international and multicultural setting. Ability to interact professionally with national and international guests from the private and public sectors.

• Proficient skill in using personal computers and a wide variety of software packages for word processing, spreadsheets, database processing, presentations and calendaring (e.g. Microsoft Office suite). Knowledge of e-mail systems as a primary form of communication. Accomplished skill at navigating the Internet for information retrieval.

• Excellent time management skills. Ability to work in a fast paced environment with shifting priorities. Strong demonstrated ability to organize and prioritize workload, to work independently on simultaneous detailed projects, produce accurate, timely results and to meet tight deadlines.

• Proven ability to research information and prepare concise, well-organized reports and spreadsheets; to analyze complex situations, and recommend/implement effective courses of action.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS

• Job offer is contingent upon satisfactory clearance based on background check results.

Job offer is contingent on successful engagement in the UC COVID-19 Vaccination program (fully vaccinated with documented proof or approved exception/deferral).

To foster the best possible working and learning environment, UC San Diego strives to cultivate a rich and diverse environment, inclusive and supportive of all students, faculty, staff and visitors. For more information, please visit UC San Diego Principles of Community.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, gender identity or sexual orientation. For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy see: http://www-hr.ucsd.edu/saa/nondiscr.html

UC San Diego is a smoke and tobacco free environment. Please visit smokefree.ucsd.edu for more information.