Assistant – Academic Programs - Operations and Administration

Overview

Team Overview

The Academic Programs department at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) aims to renew healthy civic engagement on college campuses—and in America’s public square—by informing, equipping, and developing thoughtful and principled student leaders who will elevate the tone and substance of policy discourse with the ideas and scholars of AEI. The team facilitates educational and professional opportunities that provide students with the skills of civil and substantive discourse, strengthen their commitment to classical liberal ideas and institutions, and motivate them with AEI scholarship and principles. Reflected in all its programs and resources are AEI’s beliefs in democracy, free enterprise, American strength and global leadership, solidarity with those at the periphery of our society, and a pluralistic, entrepreneurial culture.

Role Overview

The Academic Programs assistant will help maximize AEI’s higher education outreach by organizing and supporting the team’s operations, and assisting the director with travel and developing partnerships. Other responsibilities include creating web and social content and hosting AEI’s annual Honors Program. This position is expected to travel for the department’s major conferences and seminars. The anticipated start date for this position is as soon as possible. Soon-to-be graduates are welcome to apply.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Disclaimer for Candidates: To maintain transparency and integrity in the interview process for this position, the use of AI is prohibited. Candidates who use AI to generate application materials, assessments, or interview responses will be disqualified from further consideration. AEI reserves the right to use tools that assess whether AI was used by candidates to produce written application or interview materials and consider the results as a part of the interview process. 

Responsibilities

• Director Support and Communications
  • Facilitate director’s engagement with university leadership and academic partners, including email drafting, book mailing, and administration of partner events and programs
  • Support interdepartmental projects, assisting the director with constituent research, program marketing, and other institute-wide initiatives and leadership requests
  • Assist the director in framing and communicating the department’s work to development staff and other internal and external audiences
  • Process program reports for each of the department’s major conferences and seminars, detailing participant and scholar engagement, exit survey results, and other metrics for institute leadership
  • Assist the Academic Programs manager to produce and schedule content for program webpages and social media platforms to market AEI to students and faculty
  • Maintain shared drives and project management tools to track team projects and annual goals
• Administrative and Financial
  • Manage the director’s calendar and coordinate meetings and travel arrangements
  • Maintain and update student, faculty, and academic partner information within AEI’s CRM databases
  • Perform recurring financial tasks such as maintaining monthly expense reports, processing event honoraria, travel reimbursements, and other department expenses
  • Assist the director in building annual department budgets and monitoring monthly operating expenses
• Honors Programs
  • Recruit student applicants and review nominations for AEI’s annual flagship program for undergraduates, offered during both the winter and summer
  • Work directly with AEI scholars and partner instructors to coordinate individual program seminars
  • Support the annual planning, weekly preparation, and daily execution of the program through plenary and professional development sessions and site visits to partner organizations
• General Team Responsibilities
  • Support the planning and execution of conferences and seminars in Washington, DC, regionally, and online
  • Host student group visits at AEI’s building in DC for events with scholars and staff
  • Regularly read and engage with AEI scholarship to develop new and creative ways to communicate AEI’s mission and research to students and the broader higher education community.
  • Perform other duties as assigned to support the team

Physical Requirements and Working Conditions at AEI

• The employee is expected to regularly stand, sit, talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer, telephone, and keyboard. This job requires close-up vision for computer work.
• The employee must be able to lift up to 30 pounds.
• The employee must be able to work in a confined area.
• Moderate noise (e.g., from computers, phones, printers, and light traffic) is expected.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential responsibilities associated with this position.

Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree at the start date is required
• 0-2 years of previous, applicable work experience preferred for a(n) coordinator/operations assistant
• Self-starter, strong work ethic
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
• Excellent time management skills, with proven ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines in fast-paced environment
• Strong interpersonal skills, with demonstrated verbal and written communication skills
• Familiarity with AEI scholarship, think tanks, public policy, and academia; specifically with current debates related to at least one of AEI's major policy areas (Economic Policy Studies; Domestic Policy Studies; Foreign and Defense Policy Studies; and Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies).
• Other preferred experiences include event-planning experience, campus student group or other volunteer organization leadership experience, and a knowledge of Microsoft 365, Salesforce, HubSpot, and Monday Project Management.

Travel Requirements

• Semi-regular travel for major programs, conference, and campus events
• Some local work on evenings and weekends during student conferences and major programs in DC

BenefitsAEI offers generous benefits, including 18 days of paid leave (15 days of paid annual leave and 3 personal/floating holidays); 12 days of paid sick leave; paid family leave; medical and dental coverage, in addition to a health savings account; medical and dependent care FSA; a tuition assistance program of up to $5,200; life and disability insurance at no cost to employees; and a 403b retirement plan with a contribution from AEI, among other benefits. For more information, you can see a full summary of our benefits at https://www.aei.org/jobs/benefits/.

Compensation is based on a number of factors, including but not limited to: scope and responsibilities of the position; a candidate's full-time, applicable work experience; key skills and qualifications; as well as internal and external market considerations. The salary range for this full-time, exempt position is $50,000 - $54,000. Salary is just one component of AEI’s total compensation package for employees.