ADMINISTRATOR
Req #: | 171408 |
Department: | MECHANICAL ENGINEERING |
Job Location: | Seattle Campus |
Posting Date: | 09/06/2019 |
Closing Info: | Open Until Filled |
Salary: | Salary is commensurate with experience and education |
Shift: | First Shift |
Notes: | As a UW employee, you will enjoy generous benefits and work/life programs. For detailed information on Benefits for this position, click here. |
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. All of which has allowed the UW to be nationally recognized as a “Great College to Work For” for five consecutive years.
The University of Washington Department of Mechanical Engineering (UW ME) is a premier academic and research department. With over 30 core faculty, the department of Mechanical Engineering has one of the largest faculty bases in the College of Engineering. The department’s research focus pertains to nearly anything that moves, from the tiniest micro-particle to the largest spacecraft, and even the human body. ME is the broadest of all engineering disciplines, and interdisciplinary work is key to the department’s success. With annual expenditures exceeding $25M, the department has a diverse funding stream that includes state funding, gifts and endowments, income from professional masters programs, and grants. The department has experienced significant growth in recent years, graduating 260 degrees this past year.
Mechanical Engineering has an outstanding opportunity for an Administrator.
The Administrator is part of a dynamic leadership team that plays a key role in the operation and success of the ME department. As the administrative and operational leader of the department, the Administrator contributes to the growth of the department’s mission. This position reports directly to the Chair.
Position Purpose:
The Administrator for the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering is responsible for managing the administrative and academic services of the department. Reporting directly to the department chair with oversight provided by the College of Engineering Dean’s Office, the Administrator serves as the business manager and senior administrative support representative for the department, providing leadership and management of the department’s fiscal, human resources, and operational responsibilities. This includes expenditure and revenue forecasting, evaluating department operational needs, and hiring staff. The administrator is the chief liaison between the Chair, faculty, staff, and students of the Department and other campus and non-campus offices. The administrator is responsible for ensuring the department is in compliance with federal, state, local, and university rules and regulations.
As the Administrator in the Department of Mechanical Engineering you will be looked to increase diversity, inclusion, and foster excellence. Build interdisciplinary collaborations that inspire innovation. Help ensure that Mechanical Engineering provides an educational experience like no other that prepares students to become leaders.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 35%
The department of Mechanical Engineering is an academic department with over $22M in annual expenditures. The department serves approximately 700 students annually, and grants bachelors, masters, and PhD degrees. This represents an increase of 53% since 2010. As of October 2017, the department has approximately 32 tenured/tenure track faculty, along with large number of research faculty. The department has a large portfolio of programs, including multiple online programs, a growing number of programs and cost centers, and multiple professional master’s program. New centers that have been created over the past two years include: the Boeing Advanced Research Center, the Center for Limb Loss and Mobility, the Center for Advanced Materials in Transport Aircraft Structures, the Center for Intelligent Materials and Systems, and the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center. The administrator position must ensure compliance and administrative responsibility for all of these individual centers. The department has multiple research and testing laboratories spread across # of different buildings. Over the past five years, the department averaged over $14 million in awards and expenditures per year – all of which are overseen by the administrator. This past year, the unit created a new cost center to oversee costs and usage associated with its machine shop, this effort was led by the administrator, and the position will continue to have a leadership role in ensuring compliance and timely billing.
• 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 25%
• 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, grant management, and marketing and communications. Eleven direct reports including: Lab Engineer, Fiscal Specialist I, Payroll Coordinator, four Program Operations Specialists, Office Support Supervisor, Senior Computer Specialist, Fiscal Specialist II and a Temp Worker.
• 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.
STRATEGIC PLANNING 20%
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 pro-actively 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.
SPACE AND FACILITY ADMINISTRATION 10%
• 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 surplussed or selling existing equipment.
• Work closely with any research group located outside the Mechanical Engineering building addressing their special needs (i.e. Ben Hall and various labs across campus) and its relationship to the department.
DEVELOPMENT AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 5%
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 entities.
GENERAL ADMINISTRATION 5%
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.
The Administrator will 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.
The Administrator is expected to 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.
In addition, the Administrator oversees the development and implementation of all new department-wide educational and research initiatives.
REQUIREMENTS:
This position requires a minimum of a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Public Administration or related field; PLUS at least five years of relevant experience. Other required qualifications are listed below:
• 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.
• Proven leadership, communication, team building and problem solving skills.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively address complex and sensitive administrative issues.
• Manage competing projects and multiple deadlines and priorities.
• Display initiative, anticipate problems, make recommendations for appropriate response and take action.
• Work both independently and cooperatively with faculty, staff, students, managers, supervisors, and academic peers and partners.
• Effectively supervise, coach and mentor staff.
• Make reasonable judgements in complex organizational environment.
• Communicate effectively and exercise diplomatic and professional interpersonal skills.
• Build and maintain relationships with faculty, staff, students and academic partners; modeling and mentoring professional interactions.
• Handle confidential information responsibly.
• Maintain and use tracking and monitoring systems.
• Instill process and organizational improvement and commitment to customer service.
• Experience with Word and Excel software as well as an understanding of budgeting processes which include, payroll, purchasing, accounting and administrative systems (FIN, PAS, BGT, MyFinancialDesktop, UW Profiles, EDW, SAGE, Workday, Ariba,etc.).
Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.
DESIRED EXPERIENCE
• A Master's Degree is highly desirable
• Experience working in an academic unit, college of engineering, research institute, or university setting.
• Experience in performing sophisticated financial analyses and projections using software tools.
• Functional understanding of research grant administration.
• Experience with UW Professional Master’s Program (PMP) and Continuing Education Programs
• Experience with University of Washington academic policies and procedures, as well as budget, payroll/human resources, purchasing, and accounting systems. Experience with state, federal and agency standards and regulations.
Application Process:
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 Workforce 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.
Committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff, the University of Washington will honor your experiences, perspectives and unique identity. Together, our community strives to create and maintain working and learning environments that are inclusive, equitable and welcoming.
The University of Washington is a leader in environmental stewardship & sustainability, and committed to becoming climate neutral.
The University of Washington is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 / 206-543-6452 (tty) or dso@uw.edu.