Chief Administrative Officer

Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process. Job Category: Limited Employment Type: Regular Job Profile: Business Affairs Director I Job Summary: The inaugural Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for SMPH Information Technology serves as the senior administrative and financial leader for a large, complex, and rapidly evolving enterprise IT organization supporting all missions across the School of Medicine and Public Health’s departments, institutes, and centers. The CAO directs business operations, finance, and administrative functions that currently absorb significant technical‑leadership capacity, enabling IT leaders to focus more fully on strategic and technical priorities. In this role, the CAO delivers critical financial and operational leadership, including the development and oversight of budgeting practices, chargeback modeling, and the implementation of a major annual chargeback center. The position partners closely with SMPH administration and departmental leaders to strengthen administrative infrastructure, streamline workflows, enhance fiscal reporting, and ensure IT services remain aligned with the needs of academic and research units. This position is essential to advancing strong financial stewardship and supporting major organizational transitions—such as the recent migration to Workday and ongoing application conversions—while modernizing service agreements and promoting operational excellence across SMPH IT. The CAO will directly supervise several positions supporting the administration of IT. This position requires most work to be performed in-person, onsite, at a designated campus work location. Some work may be performed remotely, at an offsite, non-campus work location. Key Job Responsibilities: Assesses processes, staffing, and systems to identify opportunities for improvement and streamlining on a regular basis Serves as the primary business advisor, liaison, and partner to divisional leadership and key stakeholder groups Serves as a major point of contact and catalyst for problem resolution. Provides insightful and diplomatic communications Oversees the implementation of all operational and administrative activities Exercises supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees Leads communication efforts for IT, through partnership with and utilizing the communication tools administered by the Dean’s communications department. Ensure faculty and staff are aware of IT initiatives, policies and procedures and performance measures and plans to improve and innovate Serves as the subject matter expert and oversees "chargeback" operations where IT services and informatics are billed to SMPH departments or extramural funds. Develops the division's financial strategy including planning, forecasts, budgets, and cash management that focus on attaining and sustaining long-term financial equilibrium in collaboration with university leadership Works with senior administrative and academic leadership to design, establish, and maintain an administrative organizational structure to effectively and efficiently accomplish goals and objectives while appropriately defining duties and mitigating risk Department: School of Medicine and Public Health, Information Technology. Compensation: The starting salary for this position is $125,000 annually, but is negotiable based on experience and qualifications. Employees in this position can expect to receive benefits such as generous vacation, holidays, and sick leave; competitive insurances and savings accounts; retirement benefits. For more information, refer to the campus benefits webpage. SMPH Faculty /Academic Staff Benefits Flyer 2026 Required Qualifications: 5+ years of progressively responsible experience in administrative leadership, including oversight of business operations, finance, HR, or organizational process improvement. Experience developing and managing financial strategy, budgets, forecasts, and cash management for a complex organization. Experience supervising staff, including hiring, performance management, and workload planning. Demonstrated experience improving, assessing, or streamlining administrative or operational processes. Excellent communication skills, with demonstrated ability to facilitate problem resolution and communicate diplomatically. Preferred Qualifications: Prior experience in higher education, academic medicine, research administration, or large, matrixed organizations. Experience managing or implementing chargeback models, cost centers, or service‑based billing, especially at multimillion‑dollar scale. Experience supporting IT organizations, research computing, or technical service units with complex financial and operational structures. Experience developing or modernizing service agreements, MOUs, or departmental contracts. Education: Bachelor's degree preferred; focus in business administration, public administration, finance, accounting, or a related field is preferred How to Apply: For the best experience completing your application, we recommend using Chrome or Firefox as your web browser. To apply for this position, select either “I am a current employee” or “I am not a current employee” under Apply Now. You will then be prompted to upload your application materials. Important: The application has only one attachment field. Upload the following documents in that field, either as a single combined file or as multiple files in the same upload area. • Cover letter (required) • Resume Your cover letter should address how your training and experience aligns with the required and preferred qualifications listed above. Application reviewers will rely on these written materials to determine which applicants move forward in the process. References will be requested from final candidates. All applicants will be notified once the search concludes and a candidate is selected. University sponsorship is not available for this position, including transfers of sponsorship and TN visas. The selected applicant will be responsible for ensuring their continuous eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without the need of an employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment. This position is an ongoing position that will require continuous work eligibility. If you are selected for this position you must provide proof of work authorization and eligibility to work. Contact Information: Cody Roekle, View email address on click.appcast.io, View phone number on click.appcast.io Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information. Institutional Statement on Diversity: Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals. The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgrounds and encourage all qualified individuals to apply. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website. To request a disability or pregnancy-related accommodation for any step in the hiring process (e.g., application, interview, pre-employment testing, etc.), please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) in the division you are applying to. Please make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you. Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment. The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7). The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report contains current campus safety and disciplinary policies, crime statistics for the previous 3 calendar years, and on-campus student housing fire safety policies and fire statistics for the previous 3 calendar years. UW-Madison will provide a paper copy upon request; please contact the University of Wisconsin Police Department. Work with purpose, make an impact, and grow your career. The University of Wisconsin–Madison is committed to equity, inclusion and employee well-being as we proudly work to improve the lives of people in Wisconsin and beyond. UW–Madison offers a wide range of professions that cover various interests and skill levels. We employ everything from accountants to arborists, chefs to custodians, editors to electricians, graphic designers to groundskeepers, HR associates to HVAC technicians, librarians to locksmiths, mechanics to medical assistants, painters to police officers, web designers to welders, and absolutely everything in between! No matter what you are looking for professionally, chances are you will not only find it but will thrive at it while working at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.