Program Operations Specialist (HR Title: Program Specialist)

Program Operations Specialist (HR Title: Program Specialist) Salary commensurate with experience and qualifications. About the Department SMU Continuing and Professional Education (SMU CAPE) offers a wide range of noncredit, work‑integrated learning programs to help adult students advance in their careers or transition successfully to new ones. The CAPE portfolio includes courses and programs in on‑campus and online formats with focus areas such as emerging technologies, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, analytics, project management, design, marketing, legal, finance and many more. About the Position This is an on‑campus, in‑person role that serves as a key contact for instructors, colleagues and CAPE partners during preparation, delivery and evaluation of all CAPE programs. The Program Operations Specialist supports the operational and administrative functions of instructional delivery across CAPE programs, emphasizing coordination, systems administration, process development and improvement, and project tracking. Essential Functions Systems Administration and Training – Oversee, update and evaluate effective use of primary and proprietary systems, including the Learning Management System (LMS). Support course setup and readiness activities, configuration in Canvas LMS, instructor and partner access provisioning, and supplemental tool configuration. Develop and maintain documentation for training purposes. Day‑to‑Day Program Administration – Manage routine aspects of program delivery and act as a contact for CAPE instructors, partners and colleagues regarding procedural questions and best practices. Build and maintain process documentation, including checklists and timelines to support team workflows and consistency. Coordinate troubleshooting of CAPE instructional technology issues. Business Administration – Support SMU Business Administration by following SOPs related to accounts payable, purchasing and payroll tasks and documentation for CAPE’s third‑party vendors, partners and instructors. Collaborate with SMU colleagues to develop procedures for collecting, tracking and reconciling third‑party funding sources for student fees and tuition. Reporting and Tracking – Document noncredit program completion, credential attainment, qualitative assessment and other measurements in standardized reports aligned with institutional and workforce reporting requirements. Deliver requested data, analysis and summaries to support CAPE strategic planning and compliance activities. Communications Collaborate with colleagues, instructors and partners to distribute information via multiple channels and to various stakeholder audiences. Serve as a primary contact for instructors, student success team members, graduate student assistants and other support staff. Represent CAPE on committees, task forces, working groups and other internal and external forums. Qualifications Education and Experience – Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s preferred. Minimum of three (3) years of experience in continuing education, corporate learning and development, and/or workforce programming. Experience with higher education and project management preferred. A Quality Matters (QM) certification and/or Project Management Institute (PMI) certification is preferred. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities – Strong interpersonal and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate broadly across the University and develop effective relationships with diverse constituencies. Strong written communication, customer service orientation, problem‑solving, organizational, planning and time‑management abilities. Strong project management skills and attention to detail. Knowledge of online teaching and learning pedagogy preferred; adult education methods and principles desired. Working knowledge of Canvas, Panopto, Microsoft Office Suite, Asana, and other project management systems. Experience with student management systems (e.g., Modern Campus Lifelong Learning), ERP systems and AI tools (e.g., Claude, ChatGPT) preferred. Physical and Environmental Demands Work environment requires sitting for long periods of time. Deadline to Apply Priority consideration may be granted to applications received by July 31 2026. Deadline to apply is August 21 2026. EEO Statement SMU is an equal‑opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, sexual orientation or gender identity and expression. #J-18808-Ljbffr Southern Methodist University