Administrative Assistant I

The Department of Surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC (KSOM) is committed to advancing patient care, education, and research in support of USC’s mission to improve the health and quality of life of individuals and communities. Our department supports a large and diverse faculty, staff, trainees, and learners across multiple clinical divisions and programs.

We are seeking a full-time Administrative Assistant I to provide comprehensive administrative and clerical support to the Department of Surgery. This role is essential to the smooth daily operation of the department and supports leadership, faculty, and staff through effective coordination, organization, and customer service.

The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, dependable, service-minded, and thrives in a fast-paced academic and healthcare environment.

Job Accountabilities

Administrative & Clerical Support

• Provides general administrative support.
• Maintains calendars, schedules meetings, and coordinates logistics including conference rooms, equipment, and refreshments.
• Attends meetings as assigned, records minutes, and prepares materials for distribution.
• Maintains organized electronic and physical filing systems.
• Maintains call schedule database via online apps.

Office Operations & Coordination

• Supports day-to-day office operations, including ordering supplies, tracking inventory, and submitting service or facilities requests.
• Performs routine clerical duties such as photocopying, scanning, filing, mailing, and handling deliveries.
• Assists with basic data gathering, tracking, and recordkeeping related to departmental operations and budgets.
• Creates and maintains simple spreadsheets, logs, charts, and databases.

Customer Service & Communication

• Serves as a primary point of contact for faculty, staff, students, and visitors.
• Answers phones, routes inquiries, researches information, and responds to requests in a timely and professional manner.
• Provides general information related to departmental procedures and university policies, escalating issues as appropriate.

Event & Project Support

• Assists with coordination of meetings, interviews, orientations, and departmental events.
• Helps prepare agendas and materials and ensures smooth execution of events.
• Provides administrative support for special projects as assigned.

Performs other duties as assigned. The university reserves the right to modify duties and responsibilities as business needs change.

Required Qualifications

• Strong work ethic; dependable and reliable.
• Experience in a complex medical or academic development setting encouraged.
• Excellent communication skills – both written and verbal.
• Comfortable interfacing with highest level of university leadership and university supporters/volunteers.
• Demonstrated affinity for diplomacy and the ability to cultivate and maintain relationships at all levels.
• Practices a high level of integrity and honesty in maintaining confidentiality.
• Ability to multi-task effectively and demonstrate strong organizational skills.
• Sound judgment and decision making
• A cooperative and team-oriented attitude

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree with administrative support experience, preferably supporting leadership.
• Experience working in an academic, research, or healthcare setting.

Work Schedule & Location

• Scheduled hours: 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
• This position is hybrid, with required on-site presence at the USC Health Sciences Campus in Los Angeles, CA on scheduled days.
• Occasional overtime may be required based on departmental needs.
• Work hours and on-site requirements are subject to change.

The hourly rate range for this position is $23.89 - $25.00. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state, and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.

USC is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law or USC policy. USC observes affirmative action obligations consistent with state and federal law. USC will consider for employment all qualified applicants with criminal records in a manner consistent with applicable laws and regulations, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for employers and the Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, and with due consideration for patient and student safety. Please refer to the Background Screening Policy Appendix D for specific employment screen implications for the position for which you are applying. 

We provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. Applicants with questions about access or requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process should contact USC Human Resources by phone at (213) 821-8100, or by email at [email protected]. Inquiries will be treated as confidential to the extent permitted by law.

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