Job Summary:
The Department Coordinator for Events and Property Operations plays a vital role in coordinating Harvard Forest’s external conference center activities, internal events and community-building, and property management for fourteen residential and administrative buildings. This role serves as the first point of contact for visitors to the Forest and is the “face” of Harvard Forest to a wide variety of constituents, including staff, students, postdoctoral fellows, international scholars, research collaborators, vendors, and the general public. This role encompasses a wide variety of tasks and responsibilities, and success in the role depends on prioritizing and triaging ever-changing and ever-evolving requests. Flexibility, customer service orientation, a sense of humor, and impeccable organization are essential. This position reports to the Director of Administration and Finance and plays a key role in communicating and sharing information across teams at the Forest, and meets regularly with members of the facilities, administration, education/outreach, and science teams.
Job-Specific Responsibilities:
Front Desk Reception Duties
- Serve as the first point of contact for all visitors, providing a warm, professional, and welcoming presence
- Triage and respond to inquiries from visitors, guest or internal community
- Answer and route incoming phone calls and respond promptly to general inquiries
- Manages phone system including training, voicemail and staff changes
- Maintains an up-to-date department-wide email list
- Manage all mailroom operations, including receiving and signing for packages, sorting and distributing incoming mail, coordinating with delivery carriers as needed, and promptly notifying community members of arrived items
- Order, track, and maintain inventory of office supplies
- Provides general office support as needed as part of the admin team
- Support special projects as assigned, which may include creating mail merges and communication strategies, researching transportation options for community travel between Cambridge and Petersham, benchmarking governance structures at peer field stations, and other projects as assigned
- Sell books and merchandise related to on-site museum
- Other related front desk duties as needed
Conference Center Activities
- Responds to all incoming inquiries for space reservation and housing requests
- Maintains and approves online reservation requests and oversees usage of conference/seminar/museum space in close coordination with the Education and Outreach team; assists with booking space when needed
- Organizes overnight accommodations for visitors (i.e. coordinates Housekeeping, prepares room keys, necessary forms & information)
- Coordinates catering, logistics and sometimes travel for all campus conferences and workshops
- Provides on-site troubleshooting services during events
- Prepares invoices for all billable services related to the conference center as well as manages the tracking and collections of past due invoices
- Ensures conference center dining and meeting spaces are appropriately stocked for events
Internal Events and Community Building
- Coordinates Harvard College First Year Seminar course logistics with Senior Research Staff (transportation, lodging and food supplies/catering options).
- Provides general support as needed to roughly 25 students and summer residential advisor which may include arranging air travel and transportation
- Organizes multiple annual community-building events (Giving Thanks luncheon; Volunteer Dinner; Curling outing; retirement/departure parties, etc.)
- Manages all aspects of event planning and coordination for Harvard Forest-sponsored conferences, programming and symposia (Eg. Annual Bullard Lecture, Winter Internship programming, Annual Ecology Symposium, Quarterly All-Staff meetings, etc)
- Provides regular information to community members on local events to increase community engagement and to provide resources for international and residential scholars, staff, students, and visitors staying at the Forest
Property Management
- Assigns space for offices, short and long-term housing, and conferences
- Responsible for key management including distributing, tracking and ordering new keys for offices, gates, towers, and housing
- Maintains reservation database, which includes housing assignments, tenant relations, and lease agreements
- Orders linens, disposable items and cleaning supplies as requested by housekeeping contractor and custodian.
- Identifies priorities for housing upgrades and communicates those to the Land and Facilities Manager (including painting, furniture replacement, and routine maintenance, etc.). This involves aesthetic considerations as well as practical use
Working Conditions:
Work is typically performed on-site in Petersham, MA. Occasional remote work may be possible after the 90 day Orientation and Review period is over, but this position is primarily an on-site, in-office position.