Coordinator, Business Operations (CELS)

University Of Rhode Island; Kingston, Northern (RI, KY); Hybrid; USD 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Rhode Island seeks a Coordinator of Business Operations for the College of the Environment and Life Sciences. This professional will lead personnel processes, oversee staff and graduate assistant administration, and ensure compliant, timely HR workflows across the college.

Responsibilities include coordinating appointments, onboarding/offboarding, leave tracking, and payroll-related documentation, while collaborating with Central HR and Payroll.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, public administration, human resources, management, or a related field.
• Minimum of three years of experience in human resources operations, employee records management, payroll-related HR administration, or related administrative management in a complex organization.
• Demonstrated experience supervising, training, assigning, and evaluating the work of staff.
• Demonstrated experience managing human resources, personnel, employment, or payroll-related administrative processes.
• Demonstrated experience preparing, maintaining, and managing confidential personnel records and employment documentation while following established policies, procedures, and approval workflows.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects, meet deadlines, maintain accurate records.
• Demonstrated verbal and written communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills with strong attention to detail.
• Demonstrated computer skills, including word processing, spreadsheets, databases, email, and web-based administrative systems.
• Demonstrated ability to build collaborative working relationships and provide customer-focused service across multiple stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate personnel-related activities for faculty, staff, graduate assistants, and part-time employees throughout the employment lifecycle.
• Manage College-level administration and processing of personnel transactions, including appointments, employment changes, compensation-related actions, leaves, separations, organizational changes, and other personnel-related activities.
• Develop, implement, and maintain processes, procedures, tracking systems, and operational workflows that support efficient and compliant personnel operations across the College.
• Ensure employment-related transactions, records, and documentation are accurate, timely, confidential, and consistent with University policies, collective bargaining agreements, and applicable laws and regulations.
• Manage and oversee part-time faculty appointment processes, including contract letters, hiring documentation, background-check workflows, appointment tracking, communication with departments, and coordination with central University offices.

Skills

HR operations

Staff supervision

Records management

Project management

Communication

Interpersonal skills

Legal/compliance knowledge

Data analysis

Customer service

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business administration / HR / public administration

Tools

PeopleSoft HR

Workday

Excel

Job description

80 Lower College Road, Kingston, RI 02881

Below you will find the details for the position including any supplementary documentation and questions you should review before applying for the opening.

Please see Special Instructions for more details.

Position Information

Posting Number

Posting Number SF02211

Job Title

Job Title Coordinator, Business Operations (CELS)

Position Number

Position Number Job Code #101947

FTE

FTE 1.00

FLSA

FLSA Exempt

Position Type

Position Type Professional Staff

Union

Union PSA/NEA - Professional Staff Assoc

Pay Grade Range Salary Hiring Range: $70,000 - $80,000

Status

Status Calendar Year, Full-time, Limited

Department Information

Campus Location

Campus Location Kingston

Grant Funded

Grant Funded No

Position is full-time calendar year, limited to 06/26/2027 with anticipated renewal.

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Job Description Summary

Search will be open until filled. First consideration will be given to applications received by 09/29/2026. Applications received after 09/29/2026 may be reviewed depending on search progress and needs but are not guaranteed full consideration.

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About URI : The University of Rhode Island enrolls approximately 17,000 students across its graduate and undergraduate programs and is the State’s flagship public research university, as well as the land grant and sea grant university, for the state of Rhode Island. The main campus is located in the historic village of Kingston, and the Bay Campus is located in Narragansett. Both campuses are near major beaches in a beautiful coastal community. URI is just 30 minutes from Providence, RI and within easy reach of Newport, Boston, and New York City.

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POSITION WILL BE REMOTE ONE DAY PER WEEK AFTER THREE MONTHS .

POSITION SUMMARY :

Responsible for managing the business operations of the College of the Environment and Life Sciences. Provides leadership, supervision, oversight, and direction for College-level personnel administration processes, including faculty, staff, and graduate assistant appointment documentation, employee records management, onboarding and offboarding activities, part-time faculty appointments, summer appointment processing, performance evaluation tracking, leave-related documentation, search and hiring support, timecard and payroll-related documentation, injury and accident reporting, and compliance-related administrative workflows.

Serves as the lead for personnel-related business processes the primary resource for department administrators, supervisors, faculty, staff, and College leadership on documentation requirements, appointment and employment workflows, deadlines, and University approval processes.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Coordinate personnel-related activities for faculty, staff, graduate assistants, and part-time employees throughout the employment lifecycle.
• Manage College-level administration and processing of personnel transactions, including appointments, employment changes, compensation-related actions, leaves, separations, organizational changes, and other personnel-related activities
• Develop, implement, and maintain processes, procedures, tracking systems, and operational workflows that support efficient and compliant personnel operations across the College.
• Ensure employment-related transactions, records, and documentation are accurate, timely, confidential, and consistent with University policies, collective bargaining agreements, and applicable laws and regulations.
• Manage and oversee part-time faculty appointment processes, including contract letters, hiring documentation, background-check workflows, appointment tracking, communication with departments, and coordination with central University offices.
• Manage College processes for summer appointment and recontracting documentation, including tracking, communication with departments and faculty, preparation and routing of required forms, quality review of documentation, and follow-up with appropriate University offices to support timely processing.
• Manage onboarding and offboarding processes for faculty and staff within the College, including coordination of appointment documentation, access needs, orientation materials, separation documentation, and communication with supervisors and central University offices.
• Collaborate with College leadership, Research and Land Grant teams, and other University departments regarding salary administration, grant funding, effort reporting, and payroll-related activities.
• Oversee processes related to time reporting and payroll documentation and coordinate with appropriate University offices to resolve issues and support timely processing.
• Supervise assigned staff, including assigning and prioritizing work, providing training and guidance, monitoring workload and performance, and promoting effective service delivery across the College.
• Serve as a resource to College leadership, department administrators, supervisors, faculty, and staff regarding personnel processes, employment transactions, University policies, and operational requirements.
• Analyze operational processes and recommend improvements to enhance efficiency, consistency, service delivery, compliance, and operational effectiveness.
• Prepare reports, analyses, and personnel-related information to support planning, decision-making, and operational needs.
• Serve as the primary liaison with Central Human Resources, Central Payroll, and other University offices regarding personnel operations, employment transactions, and related administrative matters.
• Coordinate the resolution of complex or sensitive personnel matters with appropriate University offices and ensure appropriate documentation and follow-up.
• Maintain confidentiality of employment, payroll, medical, performance, disciplinary, recruitment, and other sensitive information.
• Follow the University’s best practices to build and/or support student academic success and retention and assist in meeting strategic objectives for persistence and timely graduation of all the student population.

Other Duties and Responsibilities

• Work collaboratively with College leadership, staff, department chairs, supervisors, department administrators, Central Human Resources, Central Payroll, and other University offices to support effective and compliant personnel operations and employment-related processes.
• Participate in relevant University trainings, meetings, and professional development activities related to personnel operations, employment systems, payroll processes, compliance requirements, and administrative practices.
• Perform additional duties as required.

Licenses , TOOLS , AND EQUIPMENT

Personal computers, printers, word processing, spreadsheet, database, email, and web-based systems. PeopleSoft HR and other University personnel, payroll-related HR, recruitment, onboarding, and reporting systems as applicable.

Required Qualifications

1. 1. Bachelor’s degree in business administration, public administration, human resources, management, or a related field.
2. 2. Minimum of three years of experience in human resources operations, employee records management, payroll-related HR administration, or related administrative management in a complex organization.
3. 3. Demonstrated experience supervising, training, assigning, and evaluating the work of staff.
4. 4. Demonstrated experience managing human resources, personnel, employment, or payroll-related administrative processes.
5. 5. Demonstrated experience preparing, maintaining, and managing confidential personnel records and employment documentation while following established policies, procedures, and approval workflows.
6. 6. Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects, meet deadlines, maintain accurate records.
7. 7. Demonstrated verbal and written communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills with strong attention to detail.
8. 8. Demonstrated computer skills, including word processing, spreadsheets, databases, email, and web-based administrative systems.
9. 9. Demonstrated ability to build collaborative working relationships and provide customer-focused service across multiple stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

1. 1. Demonstrated experience in human resources / personnel operations, or payroll-related HR administration in a higher education environment.
2. 2. Demonstrated experience with PeopleSoft HR/Workday, onboarding processes, payroll-related HR systems, or other University administrative systems.
3. 3. Demonstrated experience applying or supporting procedures related to collective bargaining agreements, University personnel policies, employment documentation, or HR compliance workflows.
4. 4. Demonstrated advanced Excel skills.

EEO Statement

URI is unwavering in its commitment to equal opportunity, community, equity, and diversity. In furtherance of its mission to serve and support all learners as the state’s public flagship university, URI continues to expand efforts to recruit and retain a broadly representative workforce as well as to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of those efforts. All employment decisions, including hiring, are made without regard to protected status. Qualified individuals with disabilities may request reasonable accommodation by contacting the URI benefits office at 401-874-2416. For TTY assistance, contact R.I. Relay Services at 711.

Environmental Conditions

This position is not substantially exposed to adverse environmental conditions.

Posting Date

09/15/2026