Department Manager

The University of Texas at Austin; Utah; On-site; USD 68,000 - 92,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Texas at Austin is seeking a Department Manager for the Department of Linguistics on UT Main Campus. This role partners with the chair to oversee administrative, financial, and human resources operations, including budgeting, purchasing, travel, grants, recruitment, and events.

Responsibilities include supervising staff, ensuring compliance with university policies, and providing support for faculty reviews, recruitment, and graduate appointments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and at least five years of advanced administrative experience.
• Supervisory experience and ability to lead teams.
• Experience managing department finances and budgets.
• Proficiency with Workday and MS Office.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Familiarity with UT policies and procedures.

Responsibilities

• Oversee accounting and financial services for the department.
• Reconcile accounts and manage budget documents for departmental accounts.
• Supervise department office and staff.
• Coordinate HR activities and visa processing with international office.
• Assist with grant proposals and reporting.

Skills

Budgeting

Workday

Attention to detail

Multitasking

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree & 5+ years admin experience

Supervisory experience

Tools

MS Office

UT policies

Job description

Job Posting Title: Department Manager

---- Hiring Department: Department of Linguistics ---- 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: 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. 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

The Department Manager oversees the administrative, financial, and Human Resources operations of the Department of Linguistics and the Linguistics Research Center, including budgeting, purchasing, and travel, personnel matters, grant support, and supervision of office staff. The position serves as the chair's primary administrative partner, supporting faculty reviews, recruitment, graduate student appointments, and departmental events while ensuring compliance with university, college, and state policies.

Responsibilities

• Manage accounting and financial services for the Department of Linguistics (including the Linguistic Research Center)
• Reconcile accounts, track expenditures, process account transfers, submit special funding requests, and manage budget documents for departmental accounts
• Track commitments and ensure expenditures are in line with available funding
• Serve as manager for department office
• Supervise and assign tasks for classified support staff, ensuring that all administrative needs of the departmental are met
• Provide training and organize training plans for new classified staff, as well as ongoing training for existing staff as needed
• Coordinate electronic office resources to ensure employees have proper access to online systems and documents are routed properly
• Assure departmental records are maintained in keeping with state and university retention policies
• Manage facilities space allocation
• Provide oversight and management of the department's inventory, ensuring accurate tracking of equipment purchases, timely asset tagging and reporting, completion of annual inventory reviews, appropriate disposition of surplus equipment, and preparing annual inventory documentation and reports.
• Function as ITS contact for approval of services and payments made by LAITS/ITS
• Manage electronic door access to departmental entrances and labs
• Coordinate submission and payment of expenditures and authorizations with department staff and COLA’s Central Business Services
• Process requests for travel authorization, faculty travel grants, cash advances, and travel reimbursements
• Process requests for consultant and professional service payments
• Create contracts for payments to non-employees and outside vendors
• Ensure that the department’s administrative assistant processes entertainment payments/reimbursements and purchasing requests
• Advise department faculty, staff, and students on travel, purchasing, and reimbursement procedures
• Coordinate communication between CBS and departmental faculty and students
• Serve as Human Resources representative for the department
• Provide human resources information for department faculty, staff, and students; direct individuals to other departments and resources as needed to address individual needs
• Work with the international office to ensure visa requests are processed for international faculty, students, and visitors
• Process Workday assignments for faculty, staff, and students
• Process time sheets and payroll documents for hourly positions
• Maintain personnel files for all department employees
• Create performance evaluations for classified staff and maintain records on faculty and staff salary and merit recommendations
• Provide support for grant-funded projects
• Assist in the preparation of grant proposals as necessary
• Provide account support for existing grants, including educating faculty and graduate students on relevant university, grant agency, and COLA procedures and processes
• Assist faculty with effort reporting by pre-certifying accounts, training faculty on certification processes, and ensuring all projects are certified
• Provide faculty support for reviews, recruitment, and other needs
• Assist chair in the development of promotion dossiers and other required faculty reviews, including Comprehensive Post-Tenure Reviews, Mid-Probationary Reviews, and Promotion & Tenure Reviews.
• Work with prospective promotees on the preparation of their dossiers.
• Assist chair with faculty recruitment: post job ads, assist search committee with applicant files, provide travel and scheduling support for candidates, and process reimbursement requests for recruitment travel expenses
• Complete PARs for new faculty hires
• Maintain faculty files used in the creation of annual evaluations and other reviews and reports as needed
• Provide documentation, policy information, and administrative support for meetings, reports, and decision-making needs of chair
• Provide graduate student support
• Process tuition reimbursements, fellowship payments, and grant‑awarded stipend payments
• Process assignments for teaching assistants and assistant instructors
• Direct and oversee staff and graduate student support for departmental events, including assigning responsibilities, monitoring performance, and ensuring all event logistics, support functions, and cleanup activities are completed effectively.
• General duties
• Attend department manager and other college-level staff meetings
• Provide administrative support and guidance to chair as needed to support a wide variety of departmental activities
• Research and disseminate policy and procedure information to members of the department
• Ensure that the department continues to fulfill its mission while maintaining effective, thoughtful processes in keeping with the legal, procedural, and ethical guidance of the various bodies that govern us
• Other duties as needed or 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

$80,000 + 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