The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) provides global leadership for a research, training, and education program to promote the prevention and treatment of heart, lung, and blood diseases and enhance the health of all individuals so that they can live longer and more fulfilling lives.
The mission of NHLBI’s Division of Intramural Research (DIR) is to perform robust scientific and clinical research leading to a better understanding of biological and clinical pathology. With over 50 Principal Investigators and 11 Core Facilities, the DIR is a substantial research program which requires strong scientific and administrative leadership to advance our ambitious goals.
The Office of the Scientific Director (OSD) is responsible for programmatic oversight, review, and administration of the DIR program at NHLBI. The OSD’s portfolio is broad, encompassing executive support, administrative services, conference management, and the Board of Scientific Counselors annual review.
Position Objective: Under the direct supervision of the Associate Scientific Director, the Administrative Assistant is responsible for providing comprehensive administrative support to the Scientific Director and Associate Scientific Director. This dynamic position will have the opportunity to interact with scientific, clinical and administrative personnel while performing a myriad of critical administrative duties in a fast-paced, executive office.
Duties and Responsibilities:
The Administrative Assistant will primarily perform administrative support services for NHLBI OSD Leadership. Some examples of the duties and responsibilities are listed below:
Scheduling and Calendar Management (60%)
- Provide C-suite level administrative support to the Scientific Director and Associate Scientific Director by managing complex calendars including scheduling meetings, appointments, and recurring events.
- Provide general comprehensive calendar management support for the Office of the Scientific Director (OSD).
- Coordinate availability across multiple stakeholders and send meeting invitations using Outlook and other scheduling platforms.
- Monitor, prioritize, and resolve scheduling conflicts proactively, ensuring timely communication of updates or changes.
- Prepare and distribute meeting agendas, background materials, and minutes as required.
- Coordinate and confirm conference room reservations and meeting logistics.
Event Management and Logistics (20%)
- Coordinate logistics for in-person and virtual meetings, seminars, conferences, and special events, including room reservations, audiovisual setup, and catering arrangements.
- Prepare and distribute event materials such as agendas, briefing packets, handouts, and name badges.
- Assist with participant registration, attendance tracking, and post-event communications.
- Coordinate travel arrangements and accommodations for invited speakers and guests in accordance with NIH policies and procedures.
- Capture DIR-related event content for the DIR picture portfolio using an OSD provided camera.
- Submit and manage VisitNIH requests, as needed.
- Serve as the central point of contact (POC) for AgilQuest requests for the DIR.
Office Management (10%)
- Provide exceptional front office administrative support to the OSD including but not limited to answering the OSD main phone line and providing assistance to callers, greeting all scheduled and unscheduled visitors.
- Monitor and maintain office supplies and equipment; initiate procurement requests as needed.
- Process and track all OSD-related purchasing orders in accordance with NIH guidelines.
- Coordinate office maintenance and service requests.
- Ensure common areas remain organized and professional in appearance.
- Develop, update, and maintain office standard operating procedures (SOPs) and reference materials.
- Manage incoming and outgoing mail, packages, and deliveries.
Other Duties as Assigned (10%)
- Provide administrative support for special projects and priority initiatives within the OSD.
- Maintain confidentiality of sensitive information and exercise discretion in all communications.
- Perform other related administrative duties to support the mission and operational needs of the Office of the Scientific Director.
- Keep current on NIH operational policies and procedures.
- This position does not supervise any employees.
- This position does not manage a budget.
Basic Qualifications:
- A minimum of 2+ years of relevant work experience as an Administrative Assistant or similar role required.
- Strong knowledge and experience with the Microsoft Office suite. Expert proficiency in MS Outlook required.
- U.S. Citizenship or Permanent Residency requirement must be met by closing date.
- Position is subject to a background investigation.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Outstanding attention to detail. Ability to proofread and edit with a laser-focused eye for accuracy and quality.
- Highly dependable, proactive individual with a positive “can do” attitude.
- Excellent interpersonal skills. Strong writing, creative problem-solving, and critical thinking skills.
- Strong time-management and organizational skills to coordinate multiple projects at once.
- Flexibility to handle a variety of tasks across a broad range of areas, learn new areas quickly, and adjust to changing priorities.
- Ability to prioritize workload while considering changing needs, set deadlines independently and complete projects effectively.
- Must be a team player and must be able to provide examples of this in either a prior professional setting or elsewhere.
- Flexible team player willing to do what it takes to get the job done; adaptable and enjoys a challenge.
- Understands, supports and adheres to NHLBI’s policies, philosophy and procedures.
- Adherence to the highest ethical standards and working with sensitive information with absolute discretion.
- This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required by this position.
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
GAP Solutions provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. If you need an accommodation to apply for a job, email us at recruiting@gapsi.com. You will need to reference the requisition number of the position in which you are interested. Your message will be routed to the appropriate recruiter who will assist you. Please note, this email address is only to be used for those individuals who need an accommodation to apply for a job. Emails for any other reason or those that do not include a requisition number will not be returned.
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.
