Department Manager

The University of Texas at Austin; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Liberal Arts seeks a Department Manager in the Department of Sociology to provide executive level, professional support for the Chair. You will manage a wide range of administrative functions with a university-wide scope and assist with long-range strategic planning.

Responsibilities include department policy development, staff supervision, budget oversight, HR processes, space and event planning, and coordination with central offices to ensure

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and at least five years of advanced administrative experience.
• Supervisory experience and ability to manage budgets/financial oversight.
• Experience with Workday; strong attention to detail; ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Manage department staff, hiring, and training; supervise contracts and coordinate projects with the Population Research Center.
• Oversee graduate program admissions, TA assignments, and fellowship management.
• Oversee faculty HR, recruitment, leave processes, and promotions; coordinate faculty reviews and tenure considerations.
• Oversee department communications, events, and liaison with central offices to ensure policy compliance.
• Ensure compliance with university policies and strategic planning aligned with department goals.

Skills

Staff supervision

Budget management

Attention to detail

Multitasking

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree (preferred)

Tools

Workday

Smartsheets

DocuSign

Adobe

Microsoft Office

Interfolio

Tableau

Job description

General Notes

What benefits do I receive with UT? The university offers an impressive benefits package. For more details on benefits, please see: https://hr.utexas.edu/prospective/benefits and https://hr.utexas.edu/current/services/my-total-rewards

Job Posting Title

Department Manager

Hiring Department

Department of Sociology

Position Open To

All Applicants

Weekly Scheduled Hours

40

FLSA Status

Exempt from FLSA

Earliest Start Date

Immediately

Position Duration

Expected to Continue

Location

UT MAIN CAMPUS

Job Details

What benefits do I receive with UT? The university offers an impressive benefits package. For more details on benefits, please see: https://hr.utexas.edu/prospective/benefits and https://hr.utexas.edu/current/services/my-total-rewards

For more information about the College of Liberal Arts, please visit: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/

Our college seeks to build a supportive, growth-minded community and cultivate outstanding and courageous leaders. For more information on the college staff leadership academy, please visit: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/resources-for-faculty-staff/staff-leadership-academy/.

For more information on college staff professional development, please visit: https://wikis.utexas.edu/display/larc/Staff+Professional+Development+Fund.

Purpose

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.

Responsibilities

• 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.

Required Qualifications

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.

Preferred Qualifications

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.

Salary Range

$85,000 + depending on qualifications

Working Conditions

Typical office environment

Required Materials

• Resume/CV
• 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor
• Letter of interest

Employment Eligibility

Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers. Staff who are promotion/transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.

Retirement Plan Eligibility

The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.

Background Checks

A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

Pay Transparency

The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.

Employment Eligibility Verification

If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form. You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States. Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment. Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.

E-Verify

• E-Verify Poster (English and Spanish) [PDF]
• Right to Work Poster (English) [PDF]
• Right to Work Poster (Spanish) [PDF]

Compliance

Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) the position may be identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031.

The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.