Assistant Academic HR Analyst - 141421

UC San Diego; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

UC San Diego's School of Biological Sciences seeks an Academic Personnel Specialist to support the Dean's office and department HR functions. You will manage file preparation for varied academic appointees, set up Interfolio cases, and ensure materials meet PPM/APM guidelines.

You will draft letters, track file status, review for accuracy, and coordinate onboarding, visa processes, payroll audits, and benefit tasks across UCPath, Cognos, Interfolio, and related systems.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience with knowledge of academic HR.
• Ability to interpret policies and procedures governing academic HR.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and reporting capabilities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; maintains confidentiality.
• Ability to learn and work independently with various systems (UCPath, Cognos, Interfolio, Ecotime, AP Recruit).
• Experience or familiarity with university HR policies, union contracts, and unit academic culture.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate file preparation for lecturers, adjuncts, faculty, and researchers per PPM/APM requirements.
• Set up Interfolio cases, update bio/bibs, and ensure materials are complete.
• Draft template letters, review files, track status, and follow up on missing items.
• Review, re-file, and tag documents in Dean's AP SharePoint and archive as needed.
• Enter data into trackers/databases; audit payroll records and update UCPath.
• Coordinate onboarding and visa-related tasks with International Center and Benefits.

Skills

Analytical skills

Effective communication

Confidentiality

Independent/initiative

Problem solving

Prioritization

Education

Bachelor's degree in related area

Tools

HRMS

UCPath

Cognos

Interfolio

Ecotime

AP Recruit

MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)

Job description

DESCRIPTION

Learns and applies academic HR concepts, organization, and UC system-wide policies and procedures to provide support to faculty, academic staff, and administrators in resolving a variety of academic human resources issues of limited scope under direction. Confidentially liaise with School staff and faculty, the Academic Personnel Services office, and cross campus departments as needed.

Under the supervision of the AP Manager, this position provides administrative and analytical support for both the Dean's office and Department academic personnel, payroll, and benefits functions within the School of Biological Sciences. Responsibilities include coordinating file preparation for all types of academic appointees - including lecturers, adjuncts, faculty, professional researchers, and academic coordinators - setting up Interfolio cases, updating and annotating bio/bibs, editing bibliographies, and ensuring all materials are accurate and complete in accordance with PPM, APM, or contract requirements. Under direction, the role drafts template letters, conducts initial reviews of file materials, follows up on missing or incomplete items, prepares summary forms and referee ID information, and tracks file status to ensure timely submission. Responsibilities also include reviewing, re-filing, and tagging documents in the Dean's AP SharePoint in accordance with established file type conventions, filing new documents in appropriate folders with proper tags, making data entries into various trackers and databases, cleaning up SharePoint to remove redundant files, archiving older versions of documents, deleting draft versions, auditing payroll records and updating campus systems to ensure accuracy, and cleaning up old Dean's office admin share folders to ensure all relevant documents are uploaded to SharePoint and outdated or draft documents are removed.

The position provides non-complex staff support to faculty review committees by advising faculty, Chairs, and Vice Chairs on appointment and reappointment options within the professional researcher series with consideration to visa implications, informing PIs of benefits implications with new titles, and advising faculty sponsors on RA union contract requirements. Responsibilities include supporting the appointment and reappointment process of Adjunct Professors for both Salk and non-Salk adjuncts, ensuring files follow the MOU between Salk and BioSci, advising the Associate Dean of Education on Unit 18 and Continuing Lecturer requirements per contract, and supporting faculty search committees by assisting with ad placement and uploading ads into AP Recruit.

Working closely with the Department Academic Personnel Manager, the role coordinates appointment files for temporary and continuing lecturers, collaborates with USIS and the Summer Session office to prepare summer lecturer appointment files and enter them into UCPath, and monitors quarter counts of Unit 18 lecturers to determine needs assessment requirements, reappointment durations, first-year assessments, and effectiveness reviews per the IX contract. The position reviews all file documents for accuracy and compliance with campus and system-wide guidelines, assists with tracking activities in UC OATS including annual disclosure and Category I requests, and reviews faculty entries for APM 025 compliance with direction from the AP Analysts and APHR Sr Director.

Onboarding and leave responsibilities include assisting with onboarding for adjuncts, Unit 18s, and researchers once offer letters are issued and accepted, supporting visa applications, advising academics on leave of absence options, and preparing all related documentation - including FMLA, CFRA, PDL, and disability paperwork - in compliance with PPM, APM, contract, and School requirements. The role coordinates with the International Center for visa holders on leave without pay status and interfaces with the Benefits Office for disability claim forms and with UCPC for time reporting and continuation of benefits coverage.

Payroll responsibilities include tracking faculty compensation actions such as summer salary, FSEP, NSP, and stipends, performing UCPath entry for all types of academics, troubleshooting to facilitate timely corrections or updates, and conducting initial reviews of UCPath reports for range adjustments - such as confirming whether UCPath correctly updated researcher salaries to the new scale. Back-up support responsibilities encompass appointment and reappointment processing for postdoctoral scholars, visiting scholars, and visiting graduate students via RSAS, conducting new hire orientations, and providing back-up support for staff HR functions including onboarding, Ecotime troubleshooting, and performance evaluation tracking.

Administrative duties include creating reports, tables, and charts, designing spreadsheets, extracting and analyzing data from Sybase (SQL) databases, AP Data, and Cognos reports, maintaining all paper and digital personnel and payroll records, and assisting in the design and management of personnel databases.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in related area and / or equivalent experience / training.
• Acquiring knowledge of and ability to apply / interpret organization and college policies and procedures which govern academic HR.
• Acquiring knowledge of organization, college, and departmental formal and informal policies and procedures, and understanding of variances to stated policies.
• Acquiring knowledge of organization's human resource management system (HRMS) and other related business software programs and systems.
• Acquiring knowledge of unit academic culture and educational goals of discipline(s) served.
• Analytical skills to conduct analysis and develop recommendations, demonstrating organizational and problem-solving skills.
• Skills to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
• Willingness and demonstrated ability to embrace and consistently uphold the principles of community for a collaborative work environment.
• Demonstrated ability to learn and work independently with a variety of computer applications and University information systems (UCPath, Cognos, Interfolio, Ecotime, AP Recruit, etc.).
• Ability to maintain confidentiality, to work independently and exercise good judgment to identify problems and recommend reasonable course of action for problem resolution.
• Ability to prioritize, follow through on tasks, handle multiple tasks simultaneously, and meet deadlines independently; respond to urgent requests with the demonstrated ability to function well in a high-volume environment with frequent interruptions
• Demonstrated ability to learn new methods for computer aided data reporting/retrieval, new computer applications, data and word processing software and relational database systems. Demonstrated skill to extract, compile and analyze data to write clear and concise reports.
• Acquiring knowledge of organization's human resource management system (HRMS) and other related business software programs and systems. In-depth knowledge of computer environments, including a variety of standard web and business- and research-related software such as MS Office Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, and Excel, Adobe products, and internet search engines. Knowledge of and ability to use Web-based applications, with the ability and willingness to increase skills as needed to meet the demands of business.
• Acquiring knowledge of and ability to apply / interpret organization and college policies and procedures which govern academic HR. Familiarity with human resources administration.
• General knowledge of state and federal law as they pertain to human resources administration, with the ability to interpret policies and procedures relevant to represented and non-represented employees.
• Demonstrated ability to learn, understand, and apply university academic personnel policies, union contracts, and departmental procedures to process routine employment actions.
• Acquiring knowledge of unit academic culture and educational goals of discipline(s) served. Ability to read and comprehend college-level material (biological/medical terminology).
• Familiarity with leave administration (e.g. FMLA, CFRA, PDL).
• Demonstrated experience in researching and evaluating information, preparing concise, well-organized reports, summaries and policy documents.
• Skills to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing. Demonstrated excellence in writing and composition skills to concisely, persuasively, and clearly produce reports, write procedures, correspondence, and documentation. Excellent proofreading skills to check accuracy, clarity, grammatical and syntactical correctness and continuity.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to interact with a diverse group of individuals, using tact, diplomacy, and sensitivity; ability to develop and maintain good working relationships with employees, faculty, managers, supervisors and campus administrators.
• Analytical skills to conduct analysis and develop recommendations, demonstrating organizational and problem-solving skills. Excellent organizational, analytical and problem-solving skills to independently coordinate all details of a project ensuring that all deadlines have been met. Skill to organize and prioritize large volumes of material to meet established deadlines.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS

• Job offer is contingent upon satisfactory clearance based on Background Check results.
• Occasional evenings and weekends may be required.

Pay Transparency Act

Annual Full Pay Range: Unclassified - No data available (will be prorated if the appointment percentage is less than 100%)

Hourly Equivalent: Unclassified - No data available

Factors in determining the appropriate compensation for a role include experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, education, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs. The Hiring Pay Scale referenced in the job posting is the budgeted salary or hourly range that the University reasonably expects to pay for this position. The Annual Full Pay Range may be broader than what the University anticipates to pay for this position, based on internal equity, budget, and collective bargaining agreements (when applicable).