Department Manager

Department Manager

To provide executive level, professional support for the Chair of an academic department in the College of Liberal Arts. To assist with a large volume of highly complex administrative matters with a university wide scope. Assist with long range strategic planning and meeting goals.

Department Management: Review internal processes to ensure they are in keeping with university, state, and federal procedures and laws. Set departmental policies and procedures to ensure compliance with relevant guidelines and to achieve maximum efficiency. Supervise department staff, including recruiting, hiring, and training; perform annual staff appraisals; and, oversee and assign job duties to ensure all department support needs are being met. Serve as point of contact for general questions or information requests. Prepare and/or supervise the preparation of contracts for the department and coordinate projects with the Population Research Center. Work with staff and faculty leadership to ensure course management and teaching assistant needs are met. Oversee graduate program, including admissions, recruiting, budgeting, TA assignments, and fellowship assignments.

Faculty Affairs: Manage faculty HR and faculty affairs. Coordinate faculty recruitment process, including job postings, Interfolio postings, and applicant management, recruitment committee meetings, and external advertisements. Oversee faculty recruit visits to UT Austin campus. Process new faculty PARs and oversee new hire tenure reviews. Manage faculty leave processes, including FDLs, CSEFs, SFAs, RIAs, RFIBs/buyouts, and other leaves. Manage faculty summer appointments, faculty allowances, and fellow appointments to endowments. Track and process instruction and research faculty and post-docs, and oversee visiting scholar appointments. Create annual offer letters for all non-tenure track faculty. Maintain faculty personnel records, faculty meeting agendas and notes, and governance documents. Coordinate faculty reviews, including faculty annual reports and faculty merit reviews. Oversee promotion and tenure reviews, comprehensive periodic reviews, third-year reviews, teaching observations, and teaching award nominations.

Financial: Manage departmental accounting and budgeting in coordination with department chair and financial analyst. Prepare and/or oversee account setup requests, transfers, reconciliations, and costing allocations. Prepare and/or supervise the preparation of various department reports, annual operational budgets, and endowment reporting. Manage teaching budgets, including nontenure positions, assistant instructors, and teaching assistants. Oversee financial analyst and set priorities for reporting of startup and other research accounts. Review endowments for updated criteria, prepare departmental budget and ensure usage is in alignment. Assist faculty with account balance and account management questions. Prepare and/or oversee processing of undergraduate scholarships and graduate student fellowships.

HR Support: Provide HR support for all staff, students, and faculty. Answer questions, provide guidance, and direct employees to resources to resolve HR concerns. Serve as liaison to Central HR, Payroll, and other centralized HR services to assist with onboarding, post-hire issues, and separation. Serve as timekeeper for all department employees and manage all timekeeping processes, including vacation, sick leave, FMLA, and payouts at termination. Manage staff meetings, promote staff morale and training, promote effective staff service to faculty and students, and provide effective staff management. Manage merit review processes for faculty and staff. Provide guidance for international employees and their supervisors.

Physical Space / Event Planning: Oversee physical offices, including faculty, student, staff, and visiting scholar space assignments and repairs. Submit or delegate submission of work orders, including service, construction, moving, surplus, and event requests. Oversee assignment of cubicle space and lockers for graduate students. Oversee emergency and safety procedures for the department. Coordinate with RLP building manager to provide building access for all employees and visiting scholars. Oversee kitchen and work room supply inventory. Oversee all event planning for department, including workshops, faculty meetings, faculty recruiting, student recruiting, conferences, receptions, and other events.

Communications: Oversee department listservs and directory. Oversee departmental website and social media platforms to ensure content is kept up to date, including faculty and staff lists. Oversee news and event content on departmental website and posts on social media. Ensure timely communications of policies and procedures relevant to their positions to all department faculty, students, and staff.

Department Liaison: Act as liaison with the Dean's Office and other central business areas at the University to ensure adherence to policies and procedures. Attend COLA staff meetings and trainings. Provide leadership as a member Liberal Arts Senior Staff Organization (LASSO) and collaborate with COLA administration.

Other related functions as assigned.

Bachelor's degree and at least five years of experience performing advanced administrative functions. Supervisory experience, including the ability to foster and maintain a positive, collaborative, and team-oriented environment. Demonstrated ability to manage office or departmental finances, including creating and maintaining budgets and fiscal oversight. Experience with Workday. High level of attention to detail. Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced, high-volume environment. Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to work independently, exercise sound judgment, and take initiative. Excellent interpersonal, organizational, and oral and written communication skills. Professional demeanor with demonstrated ability to handle sensitive and confidential information. High level of proficiency with Microsoft Office programs, including Outlook, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.

Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Master's degree in higher education or related field. Additional experience beyond required qualifications. Experience with UT systems, including DEFINE, FRMS, and UT-RMS. Familiarity with UT policies and procedures. Experience with Smartsheets, DocuSign, Adobe, Microsoft Office suite, Interfolio, Tableau, and other related external systems. Project management experience, including planning, creating, and monitoring budgets.

$85,000 + depending on qualifications

Typical office environment

Resume/CV

3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor

Letter of interest