Indigeneity in and out of place Admin Support

Job Category
CUPE 2950

Job Profile
CUPE 2950 Hourly - Administrative Support 3 (Gr6)

Job Title
Indigeneity in and out of place Admin Support

Department
Research Centre Support | Research Facilitation Support| Dean of Arts Office

Compensation Range
$29.27 - $30.76 CAD Hourly

Posting End Date
July 22, 2025

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Job End Date

This is an hourly, term position with an end date of March 31, 2027

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career. 

Job Summary

The Indigeneity in and out of place cluster has been recently established with support from the Vice President Research and Innovation’s Grants for Catalyzing Research Clusters (GCRC) program. This research cluster explores the complex meanings, responsibilities, and potentialities of being Indigenous and “out of place,” or living beyond one’s traditional ancestral lands. Drawing upon the field of trans-Indigenous methodologies as a means for co-creation of knowledge, Indigenous faculty who have recently arrived at UBC, recruited with the development of UBC’s commitment to UNDRIP and the creation of the ISP, will work together and with First Nations and Indigenous partners, including xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, səlilwətaɬ and urban communities, to develop trans-Indigenous partnership, direct research potentials, and establish and meet responsibilities to our Nations and to each other.

The Administrative Coordinator is responsible for coordinating complex administrative duties that support the establishment and growth of the cluster. This work includes providing administrative support across multiple programming and initiative areas including a general cluster administration, event coordination, finance, communications and research activities central to the cluster.  This role is sometimes required to provide support to community engagement events that occur outside of regular business hours.

Organizational Status
The incumbent reports to the Faculty of Arts Research Centres Administrator and works closely with and takes direction from the cluster leadership. This position works closely with staff, faculty, and students, especially within the Faculty of Arts and with Indigenous community members and organizations.
Work Performed

General Administration

• Under the direction of Research Centres Administrator and cluster leadership, supports the development and implementation of cluster administration, communication, finance, and event coordination procedures and processes.

• Provides complex administrative support for cluster programs and events.

• Maintains positive, reciprocal relationships with Indigenous communities, on-campus partners, and off-campus organizations to facilitate collaboration and exploring new partnerships.

• Responds to in-person, email and telephone inquiries about cluster research programs, events, and initiatives.

• Provides calendar coordination to the cluster faculty co-leads; this includes consulting with relevant managers; screening and assessing requests for appointments and determining priorities based on co-leads individual, multiple competing priorities.

• Coordinates regular cluster faculty and staff meetings as well as meetings for multiple cluster affiliated groups and committees; under the direction of cluster leadership, prepares and circulates meeting agendas, drafts/tracks invitations, reviews and distributes detailed and concise minutes; prepares reports and presentation materials.

• Coordinates cost-conscious travel, accommodation and transportation for faculty and staff.

Events and Communications

• Under the direction of cluster leadership, supports the planning and coordination of events and off-campus community building/academic initiatives, which may include meetings, symposia, panel discussions, workshops, and community-based engagements.

• Works with leadership to ensure that cluster event programming is culturally appropriate and accessible for equity-deserving groups by coordinating room bookings, culturally appropriate catering, technical support, communications, logistics, translation services, accommodation needs and budgets for events.

• Working with Arts ISIT as required, coordinates and monitors basic set-up and support of A/V equipment, including event live-streaming/recording as well as AR/VR hardware and software, to support hybrid events.

• Assists in the administration, maintenance and updating of website and social media presences.

• Supports the production of culturally appropriate, well-written and accurate communications for a variety of faculty, staff, student, and community member stakeholders.

• In consultation with cluster leadership, drafts documents to communicate the purpose and goals of events, research initiatives and other engagements.

Finance

• Coordinates, tracks, and reconciles all centre finances and expenses; submits requests to Arts Finance team to process financial transactions.

• Works with internal partners and community partners to resolve issues including expediting payment and resolving transactional issues.

• Coordinates with the Arts Finance to process honoraria payments to community stakeholders contributing to program events, initiatives and committees to ensure equitable and timely compensation for community members’ knowledge and expertise.

Consequence of Error/Judgement
This position is critical to the establishment and growth of the new Indigeneity in and out of place research cluster. The ability to exercise diplomacy, discretion, and cultural awareness in working with all partners (students, staff, faculty, and community engagement partners) is essential to uphold our values of creating transformative student learning experiences and ethical community-based research initiatives for university and community partners. Administrative errors may negatively impact new and existing relationships with University and community partners. Miscommunication may lead to lost opportunities for community engaged research In consultation with leadership, the incumbent may be responsible for training and overseeing Work Learn student(s) and project assistant(s).

Supervision Received

Works independently with direction from cluster leadership and the Research Centres Administrator. Work is performed in accordance with broadly established procedures and practices requiring initiative to plan and complete recurring assignments independently, and judgement to determine which of many methods are applicable in any given situation.

Supervision Given

In consultation with leadership, the incumbent may be responsible for training and overseeing Work Learn student(s) and project assistant(s).

Minimum Qualifications
High School graduation, plus one year of post-secondary education, plus four years of related experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own

- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

• Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline and knowledge of and experience navigating Indigenous community traditions and protocols are preferred. Demonstrated commitment to or experience in advancing a culture of equity and inclusion is required. Related experience working with equity-deserving groups, particularly IBPOC seniors and youth is strongly preferred.

• Demonstrated experience working with Indigenous communities or in Indigenous-focused contexts in a culturally sensitive and culturally aware way is strongly preferred

• Ability to navigate complex and diverse Indigenous community organizations and politics preferred. Experience in and knowledge of conducting community-based research with Indigenous communities through participation in research and/or research implementation is preferred.

• Ability to exercise significant tact and discretion when handling culturally sensitive issues and interacting with staff, faculty, students, and community members

• Proven ability to work and thrive in a diversity of work contexts. Ability to multi-task, prioritize, and handle complex and non-routine tasks in order to meet demands of building a new cluster are essential.  Demonstrated details oriented administrative experience inclusive of event coordination (in person and virtual/hybrid, reconciling financial transactions, and creating communications materials required.

• Ability to demonstrate initiative, good judgment, and understanding of developing ethical, culturally appropriate and productive collaborations with university and community partners essential. Ability to deal with a diversity of people and work with a variety of stakeholders in a calm, courteous, and effective manner.

• Exceptional interpersonal skills; strong oral and written communication and organizational skills; experience composing correspondence and other communication materials as well as editing and proofreading. Working knowledge of multimedia such as social media and websites.

• Prior knowledge and understanding of UBC policies, procedures, and instructions is an asset.

• Ability to accurately gather, organize, summarize and process information. Ability to take and transcribe accurate meeting minutes.

• Strong competency in standard Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Outlook). Experience with WordPress, Canvas, MailChimp, and Zoom preferred, or strong competency in similar tools and a willingness to learn these. Willingness and ability to learn other new software tools as needed such as Notion, Qualtrics, Arts Internal Resources (AIR).

• Demonstrated commitment to or experience in advancing a culture of equity and inclusion.