R&D Executive Assistant Details

R&D Executive Assistant

Biogen - Cambridge, MA

Employment Type : Full-Time

Job Description

The Research organization is responsible for leading Biogen’s early R&D work to discover new medicines for the treatment of devastating brain diseases. It comprises 6 Research Units that support different disease areas and specialized technologies; these interact closely with the Biotherapeutics and Medicinal Sciences group, which creates the drug candidates, and the Development Units, which run clinical trials for the candidate molecules developed by Research. We are seeking an admin to support the Head of Research, who is accountable for all aspects of Research, and is a member of the R&D Leadership Team.

The Administrative Assistant will be an individual able to provide administrative support across multiple active research groups within Research, interacting frequently with many other structures across R&D. The right candidate must be flexible, organized, proactive and self-motivated, collaborative, and comfortable in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. Excellent communication, interpersonal and collaboration skills are essential for this role due to interactions with colleagues across all levels of the organization, including R&D leadership and external collaboration partners. This position also requires a professional demeanor, sense of urgency, attention to detail and the ability to prioritize and in-depth knowledge and experience in department administration and project management.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Provide administrative support to the Head of Research and his team including: calendar management (scheduling, prioritizing, resolving conflicts, etc.), coordination of Research Leadership Team meetings, new hire on-boarding, training activities, etc.
• Working with Research partners from Business Operations and Business Strategy, establish and coordinate action plans at the level of the Research organization.
• Build strong working relationship with teams by organizing efficient communication and following up with deadlines and pertinent information.
• Create, compose, and edit written material as needed; Handle correspondences of confidential nature.
• Propose and implement departmental process improvements to increase efficiency.
• Maintain departmental and/or company document and knowledge repositories, websites, and business systems (e.g. SharePoint, Synapse, Watchdox), as needed. Expedite flow of work items and initiate follow-up when necessary.
• Manage travel arrangements and monitor travel progress to resolve issues as they arise.
• Prepare and manage monthly expense reports and organize and maintain files.
• Large-scale meeting and forums/off-site support including logistics coordination (secure venue, A/V support, catering etc), pre-event material preparation, day-of set up, contract/payment processing as needed, management of minutes and other related activities; Oversight of coordination process when using resources.
• Coordinate and manage documentation for external collaborator meetings, advisory boards and speaker seminars
• Enhance the business model by institutionalizing business processes, implementing best practices and templates, and seeking ways to work more efficiently.

• Demonstrated ability to work efficiently and to perform tasks simultaneously with minimum supervision in a fast-paced environment.
• Hands-on department and project management experience (e.g. use of finance and compliance tools)
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal and writing skills, energy and enthusiasm with a positive outlook required.
• Exceptional organizational skills with a demonstrated ability to work in an accurate manner.
• Must be technically skilled in MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, PPT, Outlook). Proficiency in SharePoint preferred.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment and determine priorities; Proactively anticipate and identify issues and propose solutions or takes steps to resolve.

Education: Bachelor’s degree required; experience in life sciences and/or biopharma preferred

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.