Departmental Overview

The Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) Dean's Office provides dedicated support and resources to the MPS community at UC Berkeley to advance access, achievement, and success. The office supports undergraduate and graduate students, prospective students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, staff, department managers, and Chairs across the mathematical and physical sciences.

The MPS Dean's Office develops and implements divisional initiatives, programs, educational activities, and services; conducts program assessment and research; develops new funding opportunities; and supports collaborative efforts across the MPS departments. The office works closely with faculty, students, staff, and administrators at UC Berkeley, as well as partners in academia, industry, nonprofit organizations, government, and the philanthropic community.

Programs and initiatives supported by the office include Shining Lights, a fellowship program focused on community building, professional networking, leadership development, and career success for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, and Berkeley Quantum, a hub and convener for quantum research and application at UC Berkeley and beyond.

The Events Specialist is responsible for the planning, implementation, and management of events and activities for the MPS Dean's Office and division-wide programs, including Shining Lights and Berkeley Quantum. The position plans and manages a variety of professional development, academic, research, partner engagement, and donor-related events involving students, postdoctoral scholars, faculty, staff, alumni, industry partners, government representatives, funders, and other external partners.

The Events Specialist manages event logistics from planning through implementation, including venues, vendors, registration, participant communications, facilities, catering, equipment, staffing, travel, and other operational needs. The position serves as a primary point of contact for event partners and vendors and is responsible for identifying and resolving logistical issues to ensure successful events. The position also supports event-related budgets, purchasing and reimbursements, participant and event data, reporting and evaluation, communications, and other administrative activities associated with MPS Dean's Office programs and events.

Working under the direction of the Assistant Dean and program leadership, the Events Specialist independently manages assigned events and activities, applies campus policies and procedures, and exercises sound judgment in addressing event-related logistical, operational, and administrative issues.

Application Review Date

The First Review Date for this job is: October 2, 2026 - Open Until Filled

Responsibilities

Event Coordination and Logistics - 40%

• Plans, organizes, and identifies real and potential event locations and vendors for events of approximately 10-1000 people at venues primarily at UC Berkeley, but also occasionally at national laboratories (for example, LBL, SLAC, JPL), partner universities, or other sites in California or nationally.
• Manages event logistics such as selecting and reserving facilities; monitoring facility setup; determining how access will be afforded to participants, including through tickets or registration systems; establishing and managing registration systems; and coordinating participant management.
• Identifies and selects concessionaires, caterers, and vendors; coordinates and negotiates contracts; monitors vendor performance; and facilitates communication and services with participants, speakers, vendors, and facility maintenance staff.
• Responsible for troubleshooting and resolving logistical and other event-related problems in advance and as they arise to ensure effective implementation of events.
• Implements defined MPS Dean's Office, Shining Lights, and Berkeley Quantum events and activities under the supervision of the Assistant Dean and direction of the leadership of these projects. Examples include Launch Day, Annual Research Fair, Industrial Forum and Annual Retreat for MPS Scholars; annual conferences for postdoctoral fellows across multiple institutions for the Postdoc Study; workshops and graduation celebrations for Shining Lights; and donor events and industry-academic relations conferences and meetings for Berkeley Quantum.
• Collaborates with planning programs and events and generating and maintaining relationships with internal and external partners and vendors at UC Berkeley and partner institutions.
• Identifies sites and venues for events; works with campus units to ensure timely and responsible contracts with sites and venues; serves as primary contact for venues and sites; and arranges use of facilities, catering, amenities, equipment, setup, cleanup, and other logistics related to venues for events and activities.
• Organizes housing, meals, staff and volunteers at events and registration. Schedules meetings, maintains agendas, arranges travel, keeps meeting minutes, and engages in communications with participants and partners as needed.

Event and Program Data, Reporting, and Evaluation - 20%

• Sets up and maintains records and databases of participants and guests; develops and implements registration systems for events and activities; invites and tracks participation and partner engagement.
• Gathers, organizes, and prepares event and program data for reporting and evaluation. These include financial, student, program participant, partner contact, research, performance, and other data.
• Develops and presents reports on events and annual reports to supervisor and leadership. Prepares information about events needed for reports to funders, including private donors, philanthropic foundations, and federal government agencies, at the request of supervisor and program leaders.
• Maintains lists of prospective participants for outreach and communication, including incoming students who are eligible for MPS Dean's Office events and programs.
• Gathers, compiles, and reviews graduate, postdoctoral, and undergraduate data from University databases to support the Associate Director, researchers, and Assistant Dean in developing reports and program assessments, and maintains existing databases.
• Supports the development and maintenance of recruitment databases.
• Assists with data collection and analysis for grant writing; logistics of grant-funded program implementation; data collection, analysis, and reporting to funders and stakeholders; logistics planning for site visits and other leadership events; preparation of data for evaluation; analysis of data; and report writing and submission.

Event Planning and Management - 10%

• Plans, implements, and manages medium to moderately complex events, each involving different groups of participants, guests, and speakers from multiple sources-primarily UC Berkeley, other UC campuses, other universities, private sector interests, alumni, government officials, and actual or interested sponsors or donors identified by the advancement or development office, government relations office, MPS Dean, faculty, students, staff, or supervisor.
• Consults with supervisor, program leadership and researchers, and, when needed, colleagues and working groups, on all details regarding events and event planning.
• Applies knowledge of event planning and campus policies and procedures to independently coordinate assigned events and identify and resolve event-related issues.

Administrative Operations and Communications - 10%

• Performs administrative duties for the general operations and communications of MPS Dean's Office programs and initiatives across multiple locations.
• Communication functions include supporting programs and events with public communications, outreach and basic website content edits, and responding to email, phone, and in-person inquiries. Assists with media and other forms of public outreach and responses.
• Operational functions include managing MPS Diversity Office and related program files, including Shining Lights and Berkeley Quantum files on Google Drive, internal drives, and paper files; providing and removing access to files; and organizing files.
• Schedules meetings for the office and project-specific meetings. Orders office supplies and provides general office equipment troubleshooting and maintenance.

Financial Administration - 10%

• Completes purchasing, reimbursement, and supply order requests for the MPS Dean's Office, Shining Lights, Berkeley Quantum, and other programs affiliated with the Dean's Office, as needed, especially but not exclusively for events.
• Supports the leadership team in reconciling budgets for all MPS Dean's Office activities and programs.
• Fiscal responsibilities consist of applying knowledge of College and Berkeley Regional Services (BRS) protocols; preparing requisitions and purchase orders; managing encumbrances; and processing travel and entertainment reimbursements and expense reports.
• Applies general understanding of accounts payable, vendor inquiries, ledger expenses, the campus student award system, and compliance with federal and state requirements and internal policies.
• Identifies, researches, and addresses financial discrepancies and errors. Tracks and completes purchase orders, supply order requests, and reimbursements.
• Processes student awards and related financial transactions for MPS Dean's Office programs in accordance with applicable campus procedures.

Administrative Support and Special Projects - 10%

• Provides direct administrative support to the Assistant Dean and a select group of Dean's Office or other staff, including scheduling and calendar management, travel arrangements and reimbursements, technical support as needed, support in preparing presentations and documents, and accessing and sharing documents.
• Attends meetings to provide support with note taking and minutes as needed.
• Performs special projects as requested.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in related area and / or equivalent experience / training.
• Thorough knowledge and understanding of concepts, principles, and practices of event planning, coordination, organization, and production.
• Demonstrated organizational and project management skills to independently coordinate multiple events and activities of varying size and complexity while meeting established deadlines.
• Strong judgment, decision-making, and problem recognition and resolution skills, including the ability to anticipate and resolve logistical, operational, and other event-related issues and determine when issues should be brought to management's attention.
• Strong interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills to effectively work with diverse populations, including students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, industry partners, government representatives, vendors, and other internal and external partners.
• Ability to effectively coordinate with venues, vendors, caterers, facilities staff, speakers, participants, and other event partners to ensure successful implementation of events and activities.
• Ability to work on several tasks and events simultaneously, effectively establish priorities, and maintain a high standard of productivity despite competing demands and frequent interruptions.
• Skill in effectively meeting event budget and time constraints and applying established financial and administrative policies and procedures.
• Knowledge and understanding of event registration, participant management, event communications, and maintenance of event and participant data.
• Ability to gather, organize, and prepare event and program data for reporting, evaluation, grant-funded activities, and other program needs.
• Ability to exercise independent judgment, discretion, tact, and professionalism when working with invited guests, donors, government officials, university representatives, and other external partners.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of University and campus policies, procedures, and practices related to event management, use of facilities, purchasing, travel and entertainment, and other administrative activities.
• Knowledge of appropriate safety, security, emergency, and crowd management considerations related to small- and medium-sized events.

Salary & Benefits

For information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by the University, please visit the University of California's Compensation & Benefits website.

Under California law, the University of California, Berkeley is required to provide a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role and should not offer a salary outside of the range posted in this job announcement. This range takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, education, licensure and certifications, analysis of internal equity, and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be offered a salary at or near the top of the range for a position. Salary offers are determined based on final candidate qualifications and experience.

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