General Summary: 

The Business and Operations Manager of the Economics Department will provide financial, administrative, operational, and personnel support for the Economics Department. The incumbent will have responsibility over all aspects of financial management and operations of the Economics Department, including but not limited to the general operating budget, startup accounts, endowed accounts, development accounts, and sub-accounts and be responsible for the accounting functions for the unit. The incumbent will collaborate with the Dean’s Office and the Department Chair on all matters related to the budget, operations, and personnel that concern the Department at large as well as the MA program, and when appropriate, other units on campus with which the Economics Department shares teaching or administrative responsibilities.

The incumbent will also be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Department, including supervision of related staff, and will assume responsibility for the overall management of the Department’s accounting and personnel interactions with the CLA Deans Office and other University administrative units, including account maintenance, processing personnel actions, forecasting and budgeting, expense reporting, purchasing, and working with faculty and Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) to help maintain records in compliance with university and research sponsor policies, where necessary.

The Business and Operations Manager is responsible for the administrative and operational management and efficiency of the Economics Department. The incumbent will be responsible for supervising all administrative support staff within the department. They serve as the signatory and approval authority for all departmental accounts, alongside the Chair; approves all departmental purchase orders and Bankcard expenses; and makes recommendations to the Dean’s Office alongside the Department Chair on efforts to be taken in order to maintain and ensure a balanced budget and efficient department management. The incumbent will also coordinate and compile personnel dossiers for tenure and faculty fourth-year and promotional reviews, as well as all NTT promotion reviews, adhering to strict formatting guidelines and deadlines.

Examples of Duties: 

• Participate in departmental planning for all administrative areas, including budget, personnel, outreach, advising, recruitment and space alongside the Department Chair and Dean’s Office.
• Serve as departmental liaison with administrative offices and the Dean’s Office with reference to personnel, scheduling and budget.

Financial:

• Provide overall leadership, direction and advice on budgetary formulation, analysis of and the management and monitoring of budgets of the Economics Department. Monitor budget allocations, expenditures, fund balances and related financial activities for the purpose of ensuring that allocations are accurate, revenues are recorded, expenses are within budget limits and/or fiscal practices are followed.
• Analyze a variety of financial information; provide direction and support in making yearly spending recommendations; maintain all financial records.
• Oversee and direct faculty regarding university policies and procedures regarding expenditures and various accounts.
• Provide supplemental grants support, in addition to that already provided by ORSP, where necessary. This may include helping to ensure grants are spent according to budget and in accordance with university institutional practices. Generate necessary transactions for spending of awards (ePAFs, requisitions, journal entries, etc.); and provide department-level support for personnel processes.
• Manage startup accounts for Economics Department faculty: Ensure that startup funds are spent according to budget and in accordance with university institutional policies and practices. Generate necessary transactions for spending of startup (ePAFs, requisitions, journal entries, etc.); manage account balances throughout the life of startup and ensure that expenses do not exceed revenues.
• Manage all departmental accounts; transfer funds from one account to another and determine which account departmental expenditures such as supplies, equipment, lecturers and student employees are to be charged to.
• Prepares, delegates and oversees memos, journal entries, disbursement vouchers, corrections and adjustments to accounts.
• Oversees the MA student funding related to student assistantships, in conjunction with the Graduate Program Director and Department Chair.
• Prepare budget planning and financial reports for college assistant deans as requested.
• Establish and supervise the process for tracking faculty PIA grants; FSU funds, RES funds; startup accounts, etc.
• Using BuyWays, create purchase orders, and invite suppliers to register as necessary. Send invoices for payment and assure all invoices are paid.
• Generate and process travel expense reports and preapprovals for faculty, staff, and graduate students.
• Serve as main Bank Card holder and administrator for the Economics Department following all university policies and procedures and overseeing approvals for administrative staff. Review, approve and sign-off on all monthly Bank Card statements for all users; approve increase of Bank Card purchase limits for designated staff; approve all departmental purchase orders and oversee all Bank Card expenses for all users; reconcile all Bank Card expenses for all users on a monthly basis.
• Stay up-to-date on all University and UPST policies and procedures to ensure that the unit’s administrative operations are in compliance.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Operations:

• Oversee general operating procedures and guidelines to ensure the effective administration of all operational aspects of the Economics Department.
• Supports Chair and Graduate Program Director with scheduling and enrollment processes.
• Work with Department Chair and committees on scheduling, recruitment, outreach, and advising.
• Work directly with the Chair to make sure the department is in line with College’s short and long term goals.
• Serve as departmental liaison for all other departments and units of the University, including but not limited to the College of Liberal Arts Dean's Office: and the Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs.
• Is the property custodian for all IT equipment.
• Involved in all phases of departmental planning for physical facilities.
• Supervise work performed by other administrative assistants; monitor time for other administrative assistants and all hourly employees in the department; coordinate coverage for the office at all times.
• Works closely with Economics graduate programs. Advises as to department, college, and university policies and procedures;
• Assist and support the Chair’s and Dean’s strategic planning via analysis and presentation of department data, pertaining to enrollment, retention, graduation, faculty.
• Serve as departmental point person in responding to routine inquiries from potential graduate applicants, as well as current students, alumni/ae and constituents regarding the Economics program; assist new and continuing students with information and other needs; Serve as key point of contact for graduate assistants and other university offices (Human Resources, Bursar, Controller, etc); work with Graduate Program Director on all outreach and recruitment activities.
• Work with the graduate program director in processing graduate admissions applications; prepare and send out letters of acceptance and rejection; work with the Graduate Program Director and Graduate Studies to ensure the accurate and timely processing of assistantship contracts.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Personnel:

• Devise, implement and oversee systems for personnel cases for TT and NTT faculty, including but not limited to AFRs, 4th year review, PMYR, tenure, full promotion, senior lecturer, SLII and SLIII.
• Serve as main point of contact for all outside reviewer and stakeholders concerning faculty promotions and reviews.
• Oversee and coordinate all staff and faculty recruitment and hiring for the department; manage the faculty/staff search and hiring process to ensure that the department is following university policies and procedures; oversee the processing of all human resources paperwork, supervise and troubleshoot payroll activities, as needed; and submit personnel action and additional compensation forms for all faculty and staff within the department; Facilitate all benefited job searches and hires using the PageUp portal.
• Serve on various staff search committees and make recommendations for hire with the Chair.
• Acts as archival custodian to department grant, schedule, and personnel files.
• Interviews, hires, and assigns specific duties to college work-study student employees.
• Generate ePAFs to hire and re-hire non-benefited employees as requested. Work with Student Employment Services to post jobs and hire student employees.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications: 

Bachelor’s Degree and a minimum of 3-5 years of progressively responsible financial and or operational management experience in a complex organization, public agency or higher education institution required. At the sole discretion of the University, an additional 4 years working in a related field could be substituted for the Bachelor’s Degree. Knowledge of academic programming, scheduling and technology is preferred. Proficiency with general budgeting, accounting and procurement procedures is preferred. Demonstrated supervisory experience is preferred. Working experience with HR Direct, Buyways, PeopleSoft production and financials, Concur, Summit, OneDrive, and Wiser system is preferred. Ability to work occasional evening and/or weekend hours as the department requires.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, as well as financial accounting systems.
• Extensive knowledge and skill using and reporting from an enterprise-wide management and administration system, e.g., PeopleSoft. Concur.
• Knowledge and application of university policies and procedures.
• Demonstrated ability to work under pressure and to deal concurrently with numerous projects all with competing deadlines.
• Knowledge of and demonstrated experience in the management of payroll and project budgets.
• Demonstrated ability to perform work with a high degree of professionalism, initiative, and independence.
• Ability to establish and maintain professional working relationships with colleagues, departmental staff, and key organizational units.
• Ability to act with discretion and judgement and maintenance of confidentiality.
• Ability to explain financial concepts to non-financial audiences.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy.
• Strong analytical and creative problem-solving skills.
• Strong oral and written communications skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills, including the capacity to work cooperatively with a wide range of individuals.
• Strong analytical, organizational, problem solving and decision-making skills.
• Strong project planning skills.

Application Instructions: 

Please apply online with your resume, cover letter and list of three professional references.

Review of candidates will begin following the application closing date. 

Only Internal candidates in the Professional Staff Bargaining Unit will be considered during the first 10 business days of the posting.  All other candidates will be considered after that period. 

Salary Ranges for the appropriate Pay Grade can be found at the following link: 

Grade: 30              

Salary Ranges

This is an exempt union position. 

All official salary offers must be approved by Human Resources.