Position Title: Administrative Assistant
Salary range: $53,000-56,000 per year
Benefits: Competitive health and dental package and optional RSP match program
Location: Waterloo, ON
Reports to: Director, BSIA
Experience level: Junior level – two + years of experience
Education: Post-secondary degree/diploma preferred
Posting closes: January 30, 2026
The Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA) is an institute for advanced research, education, and outreach in the fields of global governance and international public policy. Founded in 2007 by philanthropist Jim Balsillie, the BSIA is an equal collaboration among the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), the University of Waterloo (UW), and Wilfrid Laurier University (Laurier). Home to approximately 100 graduate students, the School offers four programs through its partner institutions: a PhD in Global Governance, a Master of International Public Policy, a Master of Arts in Global Governance, and a Master of Development Practice.
The BSIA has grown significantly since its inception, doubling its enrollment, adding a journal (the Balsillie Papers), certificate-based professional development courses (Balsillie Executive Institute), and a $5-million Technology Governance Initiative to its portfolio, while continuing to offer 75+ public events at the School each year. To sustain and build on this momentum, the BSIA is seeking an Administrative Assistant to join its busy team.
Position Summary
The Administrative Assistant will be joining a small but mighty team, where each day looks a little different than the last. The Administrative Assistant will provide confidential administrative support to the BSIA Director, ensuring efficiency and professionalism in everything they do. The Director of the BSIA attends and/or speaks at multiple meetings and conferences nearly every day, with frequent requests from media outlets for interviews, and travels internationally and throughout Canada several times a month. The Administrative Assistant will need to stay on top of all requests and prioritize demands when booking engagements. The Administrative Assistant will also help support the general needs of the School, as required.
This position interacts daily with the School’s staff, faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, government officials, industry leaders, and members of our partners’ communities. This is primarily an in-person position with potential for one work-at-home day per week, depending on the demands of the Director’s schedule.
Accountabilities
- Manages the Director’s calendar, including scheduling meetings and speaking engagements, while prioritizing urgent and high-level requests.
- Coordinates the Director’s travel arrangements and organizes expense reimbursements for finance staff, and emissions reporting for the Global Climate Action Committee.
- Greets guests and visiting delegations for the Director, prepares documentation (where required), and arranges refreshments as needed.
- Serves as the first point of contact for internal staff, faculty, and students, addressing inquiries/requests, or redirecting as needed.
- Coordinates media requests for domestic and international media outlets.
- Prepares agendas, briefings, reports, presentations, and materials for the Director’s internal and external meetings.
- Attends high-level meetings with the Director (as needed) to take minutes, and/or track ongoing strategic initiatives, ensuring deadlines and deliverables are met.
- Monitors quarterly milestones in the BSIA Results Framework to help support alignment between the Director’s schedule and forthcoming milestones.
- Supports the administrative function of research grants in which the Director is involved as PI or co-PI.
- Serves as secretary for monthly BSIA Council meetings, including preparation and circulation of the agenda and minutes.
- Performs general office duties including sorting the mail, maintaining organized digital and physical files, ordering office supplies, maintaining orderly kitchens, coordinating newspaper subscriptions, and creating business cards for staff, faculty and students.
- Maintains the internal BSIA Community Board.
- Other duties as needed in an effort to support the team in achieving the School’s objectives and priorities.
Qualifications
- Undergraduate degree and 2+ years of demonstrated experience delivering comprehensive administrative support to senior-level leadership
- Discretion, good judgment, and excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Proven ability to handle multiple tasks, prioritize workload, and manage frequent interruptions with a high level of professionalism
- Ability to be resourceful and proactive when issues arise
- Demonstrated ability to work independently and take initiative
- Demonstrated expertise with Zoom, Canva, Outlook, Microsoft Office and SharePoint
- Experience working within a post-secondary environment or with Monday.com would be considered assets.
If this position interests you, we encourage you to submit a cover letter and resume in one PDF file to the attention of Tiffany Bradley at info@balsillieschool.ca by Friday, January 30, 2026.
We encourage applications from candidates who have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including applicants who identify as First Nations, Métis and/or Inuk (Inuit), Black, racialized, a person with a disability, women and/or 2SLGBTQ+. The Balsillie School is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. If you have any application or interview accommodation requests, please contact info@balsillieschool.ca.
**Due to the anticipated number of applications we will receive, we will only be contacting those candidates selected for an interview. Please note that AI tools are not used in our application review process. To ensure a fair and authentic review, all submissions will be assessed by our hiring team**