Senior Program Director of Administration

University of Houston; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits package

Job summary

The University of Houston Moores School of Music invites applications for the Senior Program Director of Administration. This senior leadership role coordinates administrative planning, budgeting, program support, academic administration, and vendor relationships for the school.

Reporting to the School Director, this hands-on position oversees contracts, purchasing, travel, and financial controls, collaborates with faculty and staff, and ensures resources are used effectively to advance school

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required and relevant financial management experience.
• Ability to lead teams, manage budgets, and communicate with stakeholders.
• Knowledge of regulatory and legal requirements for financial operations.
• Strategic thinking and problem-solving to support school priorities.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality when handling sensitive information.

Responsibilities

• Advise on administrative priorities, resource allocation, and staffing needs.
• Translate priorities into coordinated plans with timelines and follow-up.
• Develop and monitor the School’s annual budget with financial analyses.
• Support budgets for major programs and events, including productions.
• Collaborate with directors and production staff to ensure viable seasons.
• Manage vendor relationships and full contract lifecycle for services.
• Coordinate purchases, requisitions, invoicing, and travel transactions.
• Oversee Monday.com boards to track requests, contracts, and workflows.
• Coordinate academic processes including scheduling and accreditation.
• Build relationships with faculty, staff, donors, and offices while improving processes.

Skills

Budget management

Leadership

Communication

Strategic thinking

Regulatory knowledge

Confidentiality

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Department: Music Salary: Commensurate with Experience/Education

Description

Responsible for the operations of a complex center or multiple departments at the university. Oversees staff and budgets, and projects.

• Administers a complex center or multiple departments.
• Manages budget and engages in strategic planning to ensure all goals are met.
• Hires and directs the activities of staff.
• Resolves personnel issues as they arise.
• Engages in budget-planning, grant oversight, and policy development.
• Implements new programs and projects and monitors ongoing activities of department or center.
• Reviews department policies and processes and implements improvements as needed.
• Represents department or center to internal and external constituents.
• Performs other job-related duties as required.

Position Overview

The Senior Program Director of Administration is a senior administrative leader and key member of the Moores School of Music leadership team. Reporting to the School Director, this position coordinates administrative planning, budgeting, program and production support, academic administration, and implementation of school priorities. This hands‑on leadership role combines financial planning and oversight with primary responsibility for the School’s vendor relationships, contract administration, purchasing, travel, workflow management, and related administrative processes. The Executive Director works closely with faculty and staff leaders, College Business Operations, Advancement, and University offices to ensure resources are used effectively, requirements are met, and complex initiatives move forward successfully.

Responsibilities

• Advise the School Director on administrative priorities, resource allocation, personnel needs, operational concerns, and implementation of school initiatives.
• Translate school priorities into coordinated plans, responsibilities, timelines, and follow‑up while assessing staffing capacity, workload, vacancies, resource constraints, and continuity risks.
• Coordinate development and monitoring of the School’s annual budget and provide financial analysis, projections, and reports to support leadership decisions.
• Support the development and monitoring of budgets for major programs, productions, and summer activities, including the Moores Opera Center and Texas Music Festival.
• Collaborate with program directors and production personnel to develop financially viable seasons and track expenses, ticket revenue, restricted funds, and other financial activity.
• Serve as the School’s primary point of contact for vendors and manage the full contract lifecycle for productions, programs, guest artists, independent contractors, rights, rentals, and other services, including preparation, collection, routing, tracking, and completion of required documentation and approvals.
• Coordinate and process purchases, requisitions, invoices, vouchers, travel, expense reports, human resources actions, and related administrative transactions.
• Manage the School’s Monday.com administrative and financial boards, ensuring requests and contracts are assigned, documented, updated, and advanced through the appropriate workflows.
• Coordinate academic administrative processes, including class scheduling, accreditation reporting, academic deadlines, and implementation of program and curriculum changes.
• Build effective relationships with faculty, staff, guest artists, donors, community partners, and University offices while improving procedures, resolving workflow issues, and ensuring compliance with applicable policies and financial controls

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree.
• Experience in financial management.
• Strong leadership skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to think strategically and provide innovative solutions to complex challenges.
• Knowledge of regulatory and legal requirements related to financial and business operations.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information with discretion.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced degree preferred
• Experience within a performing arts field, with strong production background and knowledge.
• Experience working in higher education.

This is a full-time position with a competitive salary and benefits package. This Program Director role for the Moores School of Music is a key member of the School of Music's leadership team and plays a critical role in supporting the School's mission and strategic goals.

MQ: Education: Requires a thorough understanding of both theoretical and practical aspects of an analytical, technical or professional discipline; or the basic knowledge of more than one professional discipline. Knowledge of the discipline is normally obtained through a formal, directly job-related 4 year degree from a college or university or an equivalent in-depth specialized training program that is directly related to the type of work being performed. Experience: Requires a minimum of seven (7) years of directly job‑related experience. Certification/Licensing: None.

All positions at the University of Houston-System are security sensitive and will require a criminal history check.

The University of Houston System and its universities are Equal Opportunity Institutions. Everyone is encouraged to apply.