ADMINISTRATOR

As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.

UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty.

The Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering is an academic department within the College of Engineering with over $30M in annual expenditures. The department maintains an internationally recognized research program with six research areas, numerous academic programs, and multiple research and testing laboratories spread across five different buildings. Civil and Environmental Engineering continues to be recognized as one of the world's premier programs in our field, with both undergraduate and graduate programs of the department ranking in the top 20 in polls such as US News & World Report, National Research Council, and Gorman Report. The department serves over 800 students annually, and grants bachelors, masters, and PhD degrees. As of June 2022, the department has 46 faculty, 16 postdoctoral scholars, and 48 staff. The department averages approximately $17m in research expenditures per year, and submits over 125 proposals per year, all of which are managed by the grants managers.

Diversity is a core value of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. We believe the power of diversity enriches all of us by exposing us to a range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design, and deliver solutions.

The Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering has an outstanding opportunity for an Administrator.

Reporting to the Chair of the department, the Administrator acts as liaison between the Chair, faculty, staff and students of the department and other campus and non-campus offices. They serve as the Chief Financial Officer and the Chief Operating Officer for the Department.  The Administrator must be able to act independently and strategically, given general direction from the Chair and the constraints of the University policies and procedures. The Administrator has a comprehensive range of responsibilities including business planning, financial management, budget development, direct and indirect supervision of the Department's classified and professional staff, personnel appointments, payroll, purchasing, facilities management and support, research and special project support, and other administrative functions.

The Administrator serves in a variety of administrative roles and must demonstrate effective business acumen, administrative judgment, and innovative ability.  The Administrator acts in an advisory capacity to the Chair and various department committees, providing financial guidance and management advice.  In addition, the Administrator is the Department's primary senior representative in interactions with the College of Engineering Dean’s Office and other departments at the University regarding administrative initiatives.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Financial Management:
- Supervise the fiscal management of financial resources (e.g., state funds, grants and contracts, endowments, current use gift accounts, auxiliary and self-sustaining funds).  The Administrator has decision-making authority, and must exercise independent judgment to facilitate the maximum use of the departmental resources.
- Serve as the initial contact person for matching commitments needed from the department for new initiatives. In working with the departmental chair, provide advice and strategic planning to the faculty for the development of commitment packages.
- Interpret and monitor compliance with institutional policies and applicable laws and regulations of the federal government, state or other research project sponsors.  Demonstrate high level of expertise in developing and maintaining processes that ensure compliance within the department, minimizing risk and non-compliance.
- Establish financial management policies, coordinate and/or provide regular financial reporting to the Chair, faculty (PIs), and the Dean’s Office.  Provide financial analyses and/or cost projections as requested.  Review and approve budget status, income/expense and statistical reports; analyze problem areas and make recommendations or take corrective action.
- Organize, direct and coordinate the department's financial support operation including the planning, budgeting, and accounting functions.  Coordinate on-going development/improvement to computer-based bookkeeping system.
- Ensure that payroll documents are completed correctly and in a timely manner, as well as travel requests and reimbursements.  Monitor the purchasing function; ensure that appropriate University policies and procedures are followed.  Develop and maintain appropriate internal controls.

Personnel Administration:
- Counsel and coordinate appropriate procedures for all personnel appointments, re-appointments and promotions in compliance with institutional policies, including preparation of all payroll and personnel documents for faculty, staff, students and visitors (international as well as domestic). Ensure that salary increases are calculated in strict accordance with the University's policies and procedures.  Administer the preparation of confidential material, coordinate and carry out special assignments that vary in complexity and frequency depending on the needs of the department.  Work in partnership with the College of Engineering Dean’s office.
- Supervise, coach and mentor staff in the areas of finance, technology, facilities, safety, and grant management. Eight direct reports including: Grants Managers, Budget Manager, HR & Payroll Specialist, Fiscal Specialists, Senior Computer Specialist, and Lab Manager.
- Oversee the hiring of all professional and classified staffing for labs, centers and offices in the department.  Counsel employees and supervisors to resolve personnel issues; initiate and follow through with progressive disciplinary actions when appropriate.  Initiate, review and recommend personnel actions including promotions, salary increases, employee performance evaluations and staff training for professional and classified staff.
- Ensure that the department's employment practices are in compliance with the personnel policies and procedures of the University, and the department.
- Maintain personnel files.  Ensure appropriate confidentiality for all records.

Space And Facility Administration:
- Assist the Chair in developing a functional space plan for the department and coordinate the support services necessary to ensure the operation of the department's facilities.
- In conjunction with the Chair and Infrastructure Committee, review, develop, and assign space to staff and faculty, including research lab areas and offices.
- Develop and coordinate projects involving Physical Plant for maintenance and special projects, working with the appropriate Dean's Office.
- Facilitate departmental participation in Space Inventory Management System (SIMS) and serve as primary point person for ongoing updates to SIMS. Manage all departmental lab and office remodel projects. Provide annual and on-demand reports to Dean’s offices on renovation projects. Act as department representative on College of Engineering Space Council.
- Implement telecommunication and computer network systems.
- Assist in long-range space planning, major renovation projects or new facilities.  Work with architects and the Dean's Office on space design.
- Coordinate moves and/or relocations of offices, laboratories, and personnel.
- Oversee the department's equipment inventory system; ensure that University policies and procedures are observed; determine appropriateness of item to be surplused or selling existing equipment.
- Work closely with any research group located outside More Hall addressing their special needs (i.e. Wilson, Wilcox, Ben Hall, etc) and its relationship to the department.

Strategic Planning:
As the Department's senior financial manager, the Administrator is responsible for developing and maintaining a strategic plan for the Department's programs. This includes preparation of business analyses, proposals, and implementation plans for new programs, analyses of changes to existing programs, planning for the recruitment and phasing in of new/replacement faculty, etc. In addition to being directly accountable to the Chair for direction in this task, the Administrator is responsible for coordinating presentations of the Department's plans to the Department faculty and outside entities (e.g., Dean's Office), as appropriate. The Administrator must also proactively seek out issues before they become problems of significance. The Administrator is expected to navigate between big-picture, strategic issues, along with more tactical and procedural issues.

Development And International Relations:
The Administrator works closely with the Chair and the departmental Development Officer and the College of Engineering to continually foster positive relations with various domestic and international stakeholders.

General Administration
- The Administrator is the Health and Safety officer for the department and as such is responsible for the safety and security of all employees. The Administrator is responsible for compliance to Environmental Health and Safety regulations in all laboratories and offices, and with fire and safety codes, including adherence to policies and procedures governing chemical inventories.
- Coordinate regularly scheduled meetings with the research staff in the department. In addition, the Administrator holds regularly scheduled meetings of the central office staff and works closely with the IT staff and web developer to ensure proper levels of security and information.
- Attend all Administrator meetings in the College of Engineering as well as other University-wide administrative meetings as appropriate. The Administrator is also expected to attend most if not all departmental functions throughout the year, including graduation.
- Oversees the development and implementation of all new department-wide educational and research initiatives.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Public Administration or related field
- 5+ years of relevant experience
- Management-level administrative experience, preferably in a research institution environment or academic center
- Demonstrated competence in financial operations, human resources, business planning, financial analysis, and/or strategic planning
- Supervisory and office management experience; demonstrated experience working with large, highly structured personnel systems
- Experience working with and serving a diverse community of staff and constituents
- Proven leadership, communication, team building and problem solving skills
- Demonstrated ability to effectively address complex and sensitive administrative issues
- Experience in performing sophisticated financial analyses and projections using software tools
- Functional understanding of research grant administration

Equivalent education and/or experience may substitute for minimum requirements.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience with a Professional Master’s Program (PMP) and Continuing Education Programs
- Experience with state, federal and agency standards and regulations

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT
The application process for UW positions may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment, you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.