Temporary Department Manager, PHRCR

American University•Washington, DC

15d•$70,000 - $75,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Departments within the School of International Service (SIS) serve as academic, organizational and community homes for our faculty, department staff, and students (undergraduate and graduate), while also facilitating interdisciplinary work within and across the school's programs and initiatives. These are ‘non-traditional’ departments: they fill core traditional departmental functions for faculty affairs and curricular development and delivery, but they are also specifically designed to be ‘incubators’ of SIS innovation: developing new ‘thought leadership’ initiatives, driving more outwardly-facing engagement on translational work and issues; strengthening engagement with alumni and donors; and investing in pilots and partnerships that ensure SIS remains a Top 10 school of international studies and is viewed as cutting-edge on interdisciplinary approaches to solving challenges at the intersection of key global issues. The Department Manager creates and leverages opportunities to enable departments to serve as incubators for strategic innovation, brings expertise in the business and operational requirements and trade-offs of specific investments and priorities, and serves as a strategic partner alongside other department leadership positions. The Department Manager is the key staff member responsible for the department’s thriving, and as part of that collaborates with the other members of the department leadership team to create, cultivate, and ensure a community within the department for students, faculty, and staff. Under the supervision of the Department Chair, the Department Manager is an experienced manager who is responsible for developing, managing, and implementing the administration and operational policies, guidance, and processes of the department and contributes to long-term planning, the development of strategy, and the process of assessment/improvement for the department. The Department Manager must bring strong diplomatic and relationship-building skills to manage productive relationships with other leaders across SIS and AU. The department manager is comfortable with data collection and analysis and has experience with developing processes for data-driven decision making. The Department Manager supervises one Academic Program Coordinator and may also supervise part-time or student employees. The Department Manager models and promotes inclusive excellence. Together with the Department Chair, the Department Manager develops actionable diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, helps advance progress on these goals, and reports outcomes as they relate to SIS and AU diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy. This position is responsible for administering the department’s course offerings and designated faculty affairs processes and has financial oversight of the department’s $50K operational budget in addition to other budget streams such as IRCs and endowments where applicable. The Department Manager ensures effective graduate admissions processes, standards and engagement, oversees the delivery of high impact student experiences to support graduate and undergraduate retention, and designs the department’s knowledge management systems. The Department Manager also liaises and collaborates with other SIS departments and offices to identify, coordinate and implement strategic systems, processes, and procedures. The Department Manager establishes a plan, gathers resources, mobilizes and carries out actual delivery of the department’s day-to-day and strategic objectives.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree
3 - 5 years of relevant experience
Excellent written and oral communication skills
Experience with financial administration
Experience with data analysis, business intelligence and other data system and data-driven decision making
Office management skills
Strong interpersonal skills
Must be dependable and exhibit sound judgment and professionalism
Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite, especially Microsoft Outlook; facility with technology and familiarity with email distribution lists
Organizational skills
Experience in event management
Strong interpersonal skills
Must be dependable and exhibit sound judgment and professionalism
Must be able to function independently with attention to detail and minimal supervision