Overview
MISSION
Children need to spend their most critical years with dedicated, educated, trained, and well-compensated individuals in order to thrive. The New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute leads the work to establish and implement an early childhood workforce system to ensure funding, standards and competencies, career development resources, qualifications and credentials, professional development (training and strengths-based coaching), and program quality assurance and improvement for individuals who work with young children throughout New York. Housed at the City University of New York, the Institute is a fast-paced, dynamic public/private partnership that is committed to the early childhood workforce across New York State. The Institute is the implementing agency for QUALITYstarsNY.
QUALITYstarsNY is New York’s early childhood quality rating and improvement system. Since its inception, QUALITYstarsNY has focused its evidence-based practices on closing the achievement gap and ensuring high quality educational opportunities for all of New York’s youngest learners. Through a combination of assessment, coaching, professional development, and a wide range of resources, QUALITYstarsNY supports early childhood programs to provide the best possible care for children from birth to age five.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Project Assistant reports directly to the Director of Systems and Administration and the Senior Project Associate of QUALITYstarsNY. The position carries out the day-to-day purchasing operations for the project across multiple funding streams and with various internal and external stakeholders.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Purchasing
· Receive, place, process, and track purchase and reimbursement requests
· Process invoices, and individual reimbursements for payment
· Accurately track expenditures across multiple funding sources
· Investigate and resolve outstanding items in a timely manner
· Maintain professional and responsive communication with all stakeholders and staff
· Monitor processes and systems for accuracy and work flow consistency
· Report status of assigned budgets to Senior Project Associate on a regular basis
· Maintain electronic documents, files, and records to provide current and/or historical reference to assist with project management
Other
· Coordinate logistics for meetings, events, and conferences
· Manage project’s ticketing system
· Collaborate with other central office staff to coordinate and streamline processes
· Organize and ship resources as requested
· Manage inventory for supplies, equipment, and promotional items
· Attend staff meetings and trainings as required
CORE COMPETENCIES/QUALIFICATIONS
Minimum Qualifications
· Associates Degree with 3-5 years of relevant experience in a fast-paced, high volume, office setting
OR
· Bachelor’s Degree with 2-3 years related experience in a fast-paced, high volume, office setting
· Intermediate level user, Microsoft Excel
· Strong written and oral communication skills
· Ability to work with diverse groups and individuals in a professional and respectful manner
Core Competencies
· Demonstrated strong interpersonal communication skills with a variety of internal and external stakeholders
· Ability to manage and prioritize a high volume of invoices and communications to completion
· Strong critical and analytical thinking skills
· Desire to contribute to project planning and effectively communicate priorities
· Innovative approach to work that shows that this person understands the organization’s missions and the importance of our work at QUALITYstarsNY.
· Strong ability to use technological tools and platforms to effectively manage complex data systems, including Microsoft Office (intermediate skill level using Excel)
Physical Requirements
· This position operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as personal computers, laptops, tablets, smart phone, photocopiers, filing cabinets and other presentation materials.
· While performing these duties, the employee is required to perform physical activities such as, but not limited to, lifting items (up to 40 pounds), bending, reaching, sitting for prolonged periods of time. Reasonable accommodations will be made for employees with disabilities or other needs per RFCUNY policies.
· Ability to travel to other CUNY sites and QUALITYstarsNY locations as needed.
· As of May 27, 2022, all candidates will be required to provide proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 upon commencing employment. Exemption (medical or religious) requests to this requirement will be considered in accordance with applicable law and criteria. Being fully vaccinated is defined for this purpose as two weeks after a final dose in primary series of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine (example: two weeks after the second dose of a two-dose vaccine such as Moderna or Pfizer, or two weeks after a single dose vaccine such as Johnson and Johnson). Final candidates must be fully vaccinated as of their first day of employment. Newly hired employees will be sent an email with instructions on how to upload their vaccine information on the Research Foundation portal.