Working at NEBHE
About the New England Board of Higher Education
Established in 1955 by six visionary New England governors, the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) is a regional compact organization that helps leaders assess, develop and implement education practices and policies of regional significance; promotes regional cooperation that encourages efficient sharing of education resources; and strengthens the relationship between higher education and the regional economy.
Located in downtown Boston, NEBHE values a diverse team of individuals and a collaborative workplace that support its goals to address the varying needs of the region’s learners and to provide leadership, programs and services that increase equity in postsecondary education outcomes.
Executive Assistant to the President
Department: Office of the President
Reports To: President & CEO
Salary Range: $65,000 – 77,000
Interested applicants must submit a cover letter and resume or CV on LinkedIn or email to careers@nebhe.org using the subject line: “Executive Assistant Position”.
General Summary:
Under the direction of the President, the Executive Assistant oversees the management and operations of the Office of the President and provides complex secretarial and administrative support. Represents the Office of the President to leaders in the fields of education, government and business, as well as to the board of directors and staff in a professional, intelligent and gracious manner, creating an open-door environment of organization and efficiency.
NEBHE Background:
Established in 1955 by six visionary New England governors, the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) is a regional compact that works across New England to help leaders assess, develop, and implement education practices and policies of regional significance; promote regional cooperation that encourages efficient sharing of education resources; and strengthen the relationship between higher education and the regional economy. Based in downtown Boston, NEBHE is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization.
Essential Job Duties:
Office of the President Administration:
- Oversee the daily management and operation of the Office of the President.
- Provide executive-level administrative support and assistance to the President and other staff.
- Provide reliable calendar management to the President including managing internal and external scheduling requests.
- Serve as the President’s primary liaison to internal staff and external constituencies, scheduling meetings, drafting and managing confidential communications (including phone calls, emails, materials, and documents), prioritizing and determining the appropriate course of action with requests and inquiries.
- Coordinate staff and senior management team meetings, including scheduling and agendas, working with staff to document meetings and follow up actions.
- Exercise good judgment in a variety of complex situations and discretion in confidential matters.
- Balance multiple projects and priorities, working independently and under pressure at times.
- Leverage technology to maintain accurate records of key contacts, support effective communication with stakeholders, and execute special projects.
- Achieve operational excellence and organizational efficiency through effective internal procedures, planning and communications.
- Manages a variety of special projects for the President.
Liaison to the Board of Delegates:
- Perform administrative functions to support the work and effectiveness of the board of delegates and its leadership.
- Supports effective collaboration among the CEO, board of delegates, board committees, and senior management team.
- Track board member appointments and oversee the welcoming, onboarding, and orientation of delegates.
- Track board vacancies and act as liaison to appointing authorities to request appointments and renewals.
- Keep accurate records of board appointments and membership.
- Arrange and support board orientation training, including development of relevant materials.
Manage Board Meetings, Board Committee Meetings, and State Delegation Meetings:
- Oversee the planning, scheduling, communication, registration and execution of all logistics for semi-annual board meetings, board committees and board events.
- Oversee and coordinate the development of agendas and materials for all board-related meetings, utilizing the online board management platform to assemble and disseminate them.
- Assist Board delegates in accessing and utilizing the online board management platform.
- Act as secretary to formal board and board committee meetings, including taking and transcribing minutes and coordinating follow-up actions.
- Locate sites for board and state delegation meetings, negotiating contracts, and working with hotel/event coordinators regarding all meeting arrangements.
Conferences/Events/Retreats:
- Work with the President and other staff on the arrangements for NEBHE conferences and events, including invitations, acknowledgments to sponsors, arranging conference calls with speakers, keynoters and moderators.
- Assist in the identification, solicitation, and securing of event sponsors, managing relationships on behalf of the organization.
- Work with hotel/conference coordinators to confirm all arrangements, including hotel reservations, set up of rooms, catering, audio visual needs, parking, transportation, and other arrangements.
- Serve as the NEBHE site coordinator at each conference and assign roles to other NEBHE staff.
- Complete follow-up work for conferences and events, including thank yous to attendees, speakers and sponsors.
- Manage contracts, invoices and payments related to events, in cooperation with NEBHE finance staff.
Building Management:
- Coordinate and manage NEBHE’s building-related issues in partnership with our contracted facilities management team.
- Act as liaison to tenants at 45 Temple Place and to contracted facilities management staff to ensure that needs and issues are resolved in a timely fashion.
Other Duties & Responsibilities:
- Order supplies for the office as needed.
- Train employees on general NEBHE protocols and building-related procedures.
- Promote and maintain positive relations for NEBHE.
- Arrange travel and accommodations for executives, staff, board members and others as needed.
- Perform other related duties as required.
Qualifications & Skills:
- Education: Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
- Three to five years of experience in administrative roles reporting directly to senior management or comparable experience, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Ability to form strong coalitions with internal and external constituencies, establishing and maintaining positive working relationships.
- Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, time management, and a proven ability to meet deadlines.
- Demonstrate discretion and a high level of professionalism with attention to maintaining sensitive and confidential information.
- Strong organizational skills, ability to function well in a high-paced environment, handling multiple tasks and consistently meeting deadlines.
- Extensive knowledge of office administration, clerical procedures, and recordkeeping systems.
- Proficiency with technology and in learning new software and systems to support organization operations, including but not limited to:
- Microsoft 365 applications (i.e., Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, SharePoint, etc.)
- Relationship management databases (e.g., FileMaker, MS Dynamics, HubSpot, Salesforce, etc.)
- Project management software (e.g., Hive, Asana, ClickUp, etc.)
- Graphic design software (e.g., Canva, Adobe InDesign, etc.)
- Communications applications (e.g., Constant Contact, MailChimp, etc.)
- Knowledge of the organization’s policies and procedures and a strong commitment to NEBHE’s goals and mission.
- Leadership, planning, financial management, and strong organizational skills.
- Ability to recognize and support organization-wide priorities.
- Ability to negotiate prices with sales managers and vendors.
- Forward looking thinker, who actively seeks opportunities and proposes solutions.
Contact:
Interested applicants must submit a cover letter and resume or CV on LinkedIn or email to careers@nebhe.org using the subject line: “Executive Assistant Position”.
Senior Research Associate
Department: Policy & Research
Reports To: Director of Policy & Research
Salary Range: $70,000 – 90,000 (Compensation commensurate with experience and qualifications)
Interested applicants must submit a cover letter and curriculum vitae (CV) on LinkedIn or email to careers@nebhe.org using the subject line: “NEBHE Research Role.”
General Summary:
NEBHE’s Department of Policy & Research is embarking on an exciting phase of strategic growth. The Senior Research Associate will work to support and grow NEBHE’s grants and strategic initiatives. The individual who secures this position will play a central role in executing the organization’s policy & research agenda and building NEBHE’s national brand through the Policy & Research team’s output of original research and expert analysis.
The Senior Research Associate will collaborate with the team’s Systems & Data Engineer to plan and execute high-impact original research and analysis related to higher education policy and workforce development in the six New England states. Topics will derive from strategic priorities and stakeholder requests. Under the direction of the Director of Policy & Research, the Senior Research Associate will help guide and train the Policy Analyst and student interns in research methodology and grant writing.
NEBHE Background:
Established in 1955 by six visionary New England governors, the New England Board of Higher Education is a regional compact that works across New England to help leaders assess, develop, and implement education practices and policies of regional significance; promote regional cooperation that encourages efficient sharing of education resources; and strengthen the relationship between higher education and the regional economy. Based in downtown Boston, NEBHE is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization.
Essential Job Duties:
Research:
- Identify, conceptualize, and help to fund and execute original research and analysis using rigorous methods for generating findings with validity and significance
- Lead high quality quantitative and qualitative research projects including surveys, focus groups and complex, comparative data analyses
- Develop literature reviews, reports, memos, briefs, and factsheets to communicate findings and make policy recommendations
- Provide expertise in the areas of data collection, analysis, and visualization
- Propose research projects and relevant analysis to secure grant funding for execution
Policy Analysis:
- Convene and engage with key stakeholder groups to understand key questions and hypotheses to deliver statistical analyses and useful products
- Conduct analysis of publicly available datasets to surface trends and patterns and provide support to the Systems & Data Engineer in the development of the research infrastructure
- Oversee the dissemination of policy reports geared to institution leaders, state policymakers and the public
- Participate in establishing policies and standards in assessing high-quality data through uniform, repeatable methodologies
- Develop technical documentation and data definitions
Qualifications & Skills:
Required:
- Master’s degree
- Knowledge of experimental design and research methodology (can be acquired through graduate coursework)
- Experience conducting statistical analyses of large datasets using statistical software
- Ability to conduct and interpret original survey research (including how to structure sampling)
- Experience translating data, complex results, and findings to a diverse array of audiences including higher education leaders, policymakers and the general public
- Excellent public speaking and written communication skills
- Experience working on grant-funded research (or an interest in developing grant-writing skills)
- Ability to work collaboratively in order to meet deadlines while handling multiple projects simultaneously
Preferred:
- Earned doctorate degree
- Strong understanding of the top issues in higher education policy at the state and federal level
- Strong computer and technology skills, including working knowledge of Office 365, SQL, visualization software (e.g., Power BI), statistical software (e.g., SPSS, R)
- Detail-oriented and able to work both independently and collaboratively
Benefits:
- Medical and dental insurance
- Life and disability insurance
- Paid holidays and vacation
- Retirement plan
- Flexible work environment
- Overnight travel in the New England area is occasionally required
Contact:
Interested applicants must submit a cover letter and curriculum vitae (CV) on LinkedIn or email to careers@nebhe.org using the subject line: “NEBHE Research Role.”
Working in Higher Education in New England (HERC Joblink)
As part of its mission to tie higher education to the economic well being of New England, NEBHE has partnered with the New England Higher Education Recruitment Consortium (NE HERC) to provide access to recruitment and employment resources to address faculty and staff hiring needs. The mission of the NE HERC, which was founded in 2006, is to advance the efforts of member institutions to recruit and retain outstanding and diverse faculty and staff and to assist dual-career couples. Moreover, together with NEBHE, NE HERC seeks to raise the profile of the higher education industry in New England as an employer of choice for diverse and highly qualified professionals across all disciplines and functions.
With nearly 18,000 registered job-seekers, 3,000 faculty and staff jobs, and 2.5 million unique website visits per year, NE HERC provides the largest higher education job board in New England, as well as a community of 62 member institutions sharing best practices and participating in strategic networking events and an assortment of targeted professional development opportunities every year.
Click here to view other NE HERC Resources.
Equal Employment Opportunity Policy
NEBHE actively seeks to achieve a diverse workforce. It provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, ancestry, disability status, genetics, protected military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.