Director of Human Resources, College of Liberal Arts

The University of Texas at Austin • Austin, UT

11d • Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Human Resources provides strategic leadership and oversight for all human resources functions within the College of Liberal Arts. As a member of the college leadership team and principal HR advisor to the Dean and college leaders, the Director aligns HR strategy, operations, workforce planning, talent management, and compliance with college and university priorities and legal and policy requirements. The role represents the college in partnerships with university offices and provides HR guidance to leaders across a decentralized organization.

The Director oversees HR business processes and staffing across the college, including Workday administration, compliance, employee performance management, recruitment, compensation and classification, faculty and academic personnel processes, and large-scale HR initiatives. The position leads and develops a professional HR team serving faculty, staff, and student employees, while working with college leaders to improve processes and provide responsive HR services.

This is a regular staff position based at the UT Main Campus, with 40 scheduled hours per week. The work takes place in a standard office environment and involves repetitive keyboard use at a workstation. Occasional local, domestic, or international travel and occasional extended evening or weekend hours may be required. The position is expected to continue. The earliest start date is October 19, 2026. Salary starts at $145,000, depending on qualifications.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field; relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.
• Ten years of progressively responsible human resources experience; relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.
• Experience in higher education.
• Experience leading HR operations in a large, complex organization, including managing the full employee lifecycle across multiple employee types.
• Experience leading large-scale organizational design and change initiatives in a complex, multi-departmental institution, including restructuring, workforce and organizational planning, and organizational effectiveness assessments.
• Supervisory or team leadership experience, including coaching and developing HR staff.
• Comprehensive knowledge of employment law and HR compliance relevant to higher education.
• Strong consultative, coaching, and conflict-resolution skills, including the ability to advise leadership on sensitive and escalated matters.
• Ability to interpret complex policies, regulations, and organizational requirements and assess their operational impact.
• Excellent interpersonal, analytical, written, oral, and presentation skills.
• Ability to lead difficult conversations and situations, collaborate with multiple constituencies, and build trust in a decentralized, multi-stakeholder environment.
• Experience supporting faculty and academic personnel processes in a complex higher education environment.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree and six or more years of equivalent experience.
• HR experience within a Tier I or R1 higher education research institution.
• Experience supporting academic and research personnel, classified staff, and student employees across the employee lifecycle.
• SHRM-CP/SCP, PHR/SPHR, or equivalent HR certification.
• Experience leading or contributing to HR standardization efforts across a decentralized organization.
• Experience with Workday or another enterprise HR application and using HR technology to improve operational effectiveness.
• Advanced experience supporting faculty affairs, including academic personnel processes, faculty governance, and institution-specific promotion and review practices.
• Previous experience assembling and presenting faculty promotion dossiers.
• Working knowledge of UT’s administrative structure, policies, procedures, and personnel, including experience collaborating with Human Resources, the Provost’s Office, and other central administrative offices.

Responsibilities

• Oversee human resources for the College of Liberal Arts and serve on the college leadership team as the primary executive HR advisor to the Dean and other college leaders.
• Represent the college as its primary HR liaison with university offices, including Human Resource Services, the President’s Office, the Provost’s Office, University Risk & Compliance Services, and Legal Affairs.
• Represent the college on committees, task forces, and leadership forums, and build partnerships with central offices and HR colleagues.
• Collaborate with college leadership to develop policies and implement best practices.
• Develop workforce strategies, organizational structures, talent management initiatives, and governance practices aligned with college priorities.
• Work with college and university leaders to navigate change and maintain effective HR operations; monitor policy and procedural changes, provide policy-related reporting, and advise chairs, directors, and department managers on unit-level HR matters.
• Provide additional support during leadership and staffing transitions.
• Review and execute university compliance efforts for the college in partnership with the Dean; facilitate compliance with university and college policies, laws, and ethical guidelines, including communication, reporting, and follow-up.
• Ensure timely and accurate responses to internal audit requests and external open-records requests involving HR matters.
• Oversee the college’s HR business processes in Workday, security role assignments, and organization alignments to support compliance and operational efficiency.
• Partner with the Assistant Dean for Finance & Administration to oversee and maintain college operations.
• Help lead faculty promotion review, salary adjustments, student mass processing, and other large-scale HR processes.
• Audit college structures and employee roles, assess processing needs, and recommend functional improvements.
• Serve as the college timekeeping and time-off lead, timekeeper for Dean’s Office staff, and primary liaison with EBiTs.
• Train college staff on HR issues and processes.
• Distribute, interpret, and enforce policies; meet with senior staff to communicate important matters and changes and solicit ideas for improvement.
• Ensure receipt and logging of annual staff appraisals; oversee the merit process and staff awards processes.
• Receive complaints, consult and coach on performance issues, conduct investigations with relevant university offices as needed, and process disciplinary actions.
• Build trusted partnerships with college and unit leaders to support timely management and resolution of personnel matters.
• Oversee college staffing in alignment with its mission, business needs, and funding; ensure appropriate position classification and compensation.
• Conduct staff audits as needed, guide reorganizations, and evaluate opportunities to centralize administrative functions.
• Approve college position reclassifications, additional-duties requests, and recruitments.
• Oversee recruitment of lead personnel in the Dean’s Office and college units, including applicant screening, interviews, and hiring recommendations; oversee retention efforts and provide staffing recommendations to the Dean.
• Lead and supervise professional staff supporting faculty, staff, and student HR functions; establish expectations, coach and develop staff, manage performance, and ensure accountability for accurate, responsive, service-oriented operations.
• Collaborate with the HR team to streamline business processes and eliminate redundancy where possible.
• Perform other related functions as assigned.

Benefits

• The university offers a benefits package; details are provided through the university benefits and total rewards resources.
• Eligible employees may participate in the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the stated hours-per-week and position-duration conditions.
• The position has the option to elect the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) instead of TRS, subject to the stated hours-per-week and position-duration conditions.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director