Student Life Assistant - NYU Madrid

NYU is a global academic community dedicated to advancing academic excellence through rigorous inquiry, creative exploration, and sustained intellectual exchange across cultures and contexts. At NYU Madrid, this mission is realized through a deeply engaged campus environment that connects academic rigor with lived experience, fostering meaningful engagement with the city, its institutions, and its cultural life as an integral part of student learning. To support this mission, NYU Madrid seeks employees with demonstrated cultural fluency, strong cross-cultural communication skills, and the ability to work effectively within international and multilingual environments.

This is a full-time position. The Student Life Assistant provides administrative, logistical, and on-the-ground support to the Student Life unit, with a primary focus on student engagement activities, trips, and events. The role supports the effective implementation of Student Life programming and daily operations under the direction of the Assistant Director for Student Life (ADSL) with shared oversight by the Residential Life Coordinator and the Student Engagement Coordinator, who each supervise approximately 40% of the work.

The Student Life Assistant maintains a front-of-house presence for students, serving as a first point of contact for routine questions related to Student Life activities and services, providing information, and directing inquiries to appropriate staff or offices as needed.

The position assists with the preparation and implementation of Student Life activities, including managing sign-up lists, preparing materials, sending reminders, supporting reservations and payments, and providing on-site support during events, trips, and excursions. The role also supports cultural programming and student leadership activities by assisting with communications, logistics, and event-day needs, in collaboration with Academics, residential life, and local partners.

The Student Life Assistant works under close supervision, does not carry independent coordination or oversight responsibilities, and requires flexibility, including regular evening and weekend work in support of student activities.

Principal Accountabilities

1. Front-of-House Student Support and Engagement (30%)
   • Serve as a front-of-house point of contact for students, responding to routine questions related to Student Life activities, events, and services; providing accurate information; and directing students to appropriate staff or offices as needed.
   • Support a welcoming and accessible Student Life presence, assisting students in navigating resources and maintaining a positive, student-centered environment during regular office hours and student activities.
   • Escalate questions or concerns beyond the scope of the role to Student Life Coordinators or appropriate offices, following established procedures.
   • Programming Support for Student Engagement and Residential Life (30%)
   • Assist with the implementation of student engagement activities, including workshops, excursions, volunteering opportunities, and cultural events, under the direction of the Student Engagement Coordinator.
   • Provide support for Residential Life activities, including assisting with residential events and helping distribute information to students.
   • Assist the Residential Life Coordinator with the coordination of RIAs’ and Peer Mentors’ events and activities, supporting logistical and administrative needs under coordinator guidance.
   • Support trips and excursions, including preparing participant lists, assisting with logistics, accompanying groups when required, and supporting on-site coordination.
   • Prepare materials and resources for student activities (e.g., sign-in sheets, schedules, information packets).
   • Provide on-the-ground support during events and activities, assisting students and staff as needed.
2. Administrative and Logistical Support (20%)
   • Support administrative tasks related to Student Life programming, including managing sign-up lists, tracking attendance, sending reminders, and organizing documentation.
   • Assist with reservations, bookings, and payments, coordinating with Administration as directed by supervisors.
   • Maintain organized records related to activities, trips, and student participation.
3. Communications Support (10%)
   • Assist the Communications Coordinator with student-facing communications by drafting basic content, preparing announcements, and supporting distribution of information.
   • Support social media and content collection, including assisting with photos, short videos, or written reflections during student activities and trips.
   • Help monitor shared email inboxes or communication channels as assigned, escalating messages when appropriate.
4. General Student Life Support (10%)
   • Assist with welcoming visitors or groups when relevant to Student Life activities.
   • Perform other related duties as assigned, commensurate with an entry-level support role.

Position Qualifications

Required Education

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field such as Education, Social Sciences, Tourism, Cultural Management, Public Relations, or a related area.

Required Experience

• Experience within American higher education, preferably in a study abroad or international education context (e.g., Erasmus, teaching assistant abroad, study abroad participation, or similar).
• Experience supporting or assisting with event planning, coordination, or delivery

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Fluency in English and Spanish, written and oral.
• Strong cross-cultural and interpersonal communication skills, particularly in student-facing settings.
• Basic understanding of student development in post-secondary education and common challenges of study abroad contexts.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize tasks, multitask effectively, and follow established procedures.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Google Workspace (Word, Excel, shared documents, email).
• Familiarity with media and content production tools (e.g., Canva; working knowledge of Premiere, Photoshop, Illustrator, or similar programs preferred).
• Ability to photograph, film, and assist with basic editing during events and activities.
• Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team, while also contributing ideas and completing tasks independently under supervision.
• Experience assisting with the organization and delivery of cultural or academic events, including support for groups of up to approximately 100 participants.
• Ability to draft and edit basic student-facing written materials in English (e.g., emails, short guides, newsletters).

Additional Preferred Knowledge, Skills and Abilities 

• Must be well versed in quality data collection to ensure adequacy, accuracy and legitimacy of data in NYU systems and be able to strictly follow data privacy and security procedures for data handling and analysis to ensure adherence to legal and institutional standards.

Please consult NYU’s data processing policies based on the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) that can be found here: www.nyu.edu/it/gdpr/prospective-employee.

Candidates must have the unrestricted right to work and live in Spain prior to appointment.

The University is an equal opportunity employer committed to equity, diversity and social inclusion.