Program Coordinator, Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI)

Purpose: 

The Program Coordinator and Administrative Assistant support the CLSE Center for Lunar Science and Exploration program and the LPI Science staff. This position is essential for coordinating and implementing program activities, managing administrative tasks, and aiding scientific research initiatives. The ideal candidate will possess a strong program coordination, marketing, and administrative support background, along with excellent organization and communication skills.

Position Summary:  

The CLSE/SSERVI Program Coordinator supports the CLSE program and the LPI Science staff.  This position involves coordinating and implementing program activities, managing administrative tasks, and contributing to scientific research initiatives. The successful candidate will work closely with the CLSE/SSERVI Principal investigator to drive program success through strategic marketing, effective budget management, and event coordination. Candidates should have a proven track record in program coordination and administrative tasks, with excellent skills in organization and communication. 

Program Coordinator:   

• Develop and implement a comprehensive marketing approach for the CLSE program, including press releases, brochures, postcards, multimedia, website development, and social media campaigns.
• Conduct independent research to identify promotional opportunities and create advertising campaigns.
• Serve as a liaison among contracts at LPI, NASA entities, partner institutions, and the science community to effectively coordinate activities. 
• Maintain and monitor programmatic budgets, conduct regular budget assessments, and track all programmatic deliverables. 
• Coordinate and implement the summer student training program and related activities at remote locations, including recruitment and onboarding of participants. 
• Direct the planning, development, and implementation of program activities at annual events such as the SSERVI Exploration Science Forum and Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC). 
• Assess processes for continuous improvement, develop and implement improvement plans, and track success for potential adjustments. 
• Coordinate and ship materials for display at events and collect data for maintaining bibliographic for team publications. 
• Assist with annual reports, briefing materials, and abstracts volumes as required. 
• Provide administrative and logistics support for SSERVI meetings.
• Other duties as assigned 

 Science Administration:

• Provide administrative and logistics support to the LPI science staff and visiting scientists, including reviewing and formatting research papers, proposals, manuscripts, and grants.
• Prepare high-level communications, presentation materials, various reports, and document meetings. 
• Develop and interface with various teams to establish and enforce timelines for production of materials, integrate materials into final comprehensive reports, and monitor milestones. 
• Research and compile background materials, publications, proposals, and customer interactions for scientists. 
• Act as a project coordinator for special projects as requested by the Associate Director of Science, including planning and coordinating presentations, disseminating information, and organizing events. 
• Assist scientist with daily calendar planning and logistical coordination of meetings, appointments, conferences, and visitors.
• Maintain confidentiality in recording-keeping of official documents and correspondence. 
• Update the LPI seminar website with abstracts and science highlights, and coordinate travel arrangements for interviewing candidates, seminar guests, and new employees with HR. 

Stakeholder and Event Coordination: 

• Establish and maintain strong working relationships with key stakeholders across programs, including science co-investigators, interns, and graduates at partnering institutions. 
• Collect and monitor program outcomes for interns, students, and post-docs. 
• Travel several times per year to support program activities and events, with availability for after-hour events as needed. 
• Organize and coordinate domestic and international travel for scientists, including preparing travel expense vouchers and managing relocation travel costs for new employees. 
• Posses in-depth knowledge of the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR) and Federal Travel Regulations (FTR). This role involves supporting and managing travel arrangements for personnel and ensuring full compliance with these regulations. Responsibilities may include: 

• Coordinating and processing travel authorization and vouchers. 
• Advising staff of travel policies and procedures. 
• Ensuring all travel agreements, including per diem rates, transportation, lodging, and reimbursements, align with JTR and FTR guidelines. 
• Manage travel-related documentation and records.
• Providing administrative support related to travel planning and expense reporting.

 Required Qualifications: 

Education:  Preferred Bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university or equivalent experience will be considered                    

Experience:  2-5 years experience with project coordination and administration

Licenses, Certifications:  none required 

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:  

• Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in oral and written formats, including presentations to the scientific research community and government representatives. Extensive writing skills and proficiency in writing reports, bibliographic documentation of team output, press releases, and correspondence
• Ability to interpret data and technical instructions and develop program guidelines and procedure

Attributes:

• High degree of professionalism and diplomacy skills and the ability to work with all levels of management
• Ability to take a project from inception to completion
• Ability to multitask and meet multiple deadlines
• Ability to work extended hours and weekends, as necessary
• Work in a team environment with co-workers, supervisors, and customers with exceptional professionalism and trustworthiness
• Must be a U.S. citizen and able to secure a government security background investigation approval to secure appropriate access to government facilities 

Technology:

• Familiarity with Photoshop, Illustrator, and Adobe Elements - Preferred
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and its applications - Proficient
• Costpoint - Preferred
• Teams - Proficient
• RingCentral - Preferred
• Zoom for Government - Proficient
• Concur - Preferred

Working Conditions: This job operates in a professional office environment. The selected candidate will be required to work in the office Monday-Friday. This is not a hybrid or remote position.

 This largely sedentary role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, etc., and requires extensive online usage.

Travel:  Travel to support several meetings per year is required.