Director, Finance and Administration Knowledge and Support Center

Department

F&A Customer Resolution

About the Department

Finance and Administration represents a committed group of people who serve the University in a variety of areas including Financial Services, Information Technology Services, Risk Management, Internal Audit, Compliance, and Shared Services. The goal of our division is to provide the services and support needed to foster an environment of academic and research excellence at the University of Chicago. Our team is dedicated to collaborative partnerships with our colleagues and clients that lay the foundation for an exemplary service delivery process. Finance and Administration is fully aligned with the strategic and academic priorities of the University, and each of the units within our division is tasked with implementing the processes necessary to achieve lasting excellence.

Job Summary

Under the leadership of the Executive Director, the Director ensures that the Support Center provides seamless, integrated cross-functional service in the areas of procure-to-pay, payroll, human resources (HR), budgeting, research administration, general accounting, and other financial and HR transactions to all University constituents. The Director will collaborate with the Executive Director and colleagues, leading the development of a knowledge repository, along with development and implementation of service delivery mechanisms, such as knowledge base articles, service scripts, chatbots, and other artificial intelligence tools, to optimize employee knowledge sets and service delivery. The Director is responsible for tracking and reporting the effectiveness of all services provided by the Tier 1 Support Center and Tier 2 and 3 functional and technical teams that report under other central process and IT teams, as well as ensuring continuous improvement of policies, procedures, and practices.

The Director for the F&A Support Center is a member of the Finance and Administration Division’s cross-functional services team reporting to the Executive Director for Client Service Management and Service Optimization. The Director manages the relationship between the Support Center, F&A Division leaders, central process owners, campus partners, subject matter experts, and its clients, including third party vendors, applicants, staff, and faculty. This position is responsible for identifying and implementing continuous improvements across the Support Center in order to respond to client needs and requests.

Responsibilities

• Embraces, advocates for, and establishes a foundation for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.
• Works across the team to provide the necessary tools, training, and resources to perform their jobs efficiently and effectively. Coaches, counsels, mentors, and motivates.
• Encourages professional development and provides performance management, supervision, and training for all team members with a keen focus on client service and continuous quality improvement.
• Monitors and tracks Support Center performance; provides Support Center performance reports to F&A Division Leadership and central process owners.
• Assists Operational Excellence staff in implementing system to manage and sustain continuous improvement initiatives requiring ongoing review of business processes and metrics.
• Maintains and tracks against key performance indicator (KPI) metrics to identify trends and coordinates with Support Center team members to identify, implement, and track actions to address.
• Works closely with the Executive Director and Operational Excellence leader to communicate KPIs for potential continuous improvement efforts.
• Works closely with the Executive Director and Training and Change Center of Expertise leader to coordinate training for new and continuing Support Center employees and promote training to the wider University community.
• Ensures the Support Center’s operational procedure documentation guides the team's work, decisions, and interactions with the campus community and remains up-to-date with scope of services.
• Reports on continuous improvement efforts, including training opportunities to appropriate groups, such as the Executive Director, Training and Change CoE, and Operational Excellence CoE.
• Develops partnerships and feedback mechanisms with key functional leadership, including those within the central offices supporting University-wide finance, procure-to-pay, human resources, payroll, budgeting and planning, and grants management, to support successful delivery and client satisfaction.
• Ensures accountability for meeting Tier 1 service level agreements and quality performance.
• Develops and executes gathering and responding to opportunities for improvement through feedback surveys and discussions from campus clients.
• Develops partnerships with clients and other key stakeholders to position the Support Center as the go to University first point-of-contact resource for financial and HR administrative services.
• Manages and tracks operational, performance, and compliance reporting.
• Recommends systems of sustained continuous improvement. Reviews and updates established business processes and metrics.
• Monitors and ensures organization wide, team, and individual employee metrics to identify trends and coordinates with team leaders to implement and track changes.
• Manages professional staff who assist with knowledge management, document management, performance management, and quality management. Creates a learning and development environment for staff.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 7+ years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

---

Preferred Qualifications

Experience:

• Demonstrated ability to define, deliver, and measure improvement in a primary administrative or operational support function.
• Demonstrated leadership of service organizations.
• Demonstrated supervisory/team leadership experience of transactional staff.
• Background working with multiple administrative or support functions within a complex organization.
• Background collaborating with various stakeholders in an academic or academic health setting.

Preferred Competencies

• Strong management, leadership, and communication skills.
• Foster collaboration and partner with others.
• Proven record of acting on guidance or recommendations to improve service quality.
• Clear focus on client service.
• Excellent written and oral communications skills.
• Proficiency with analysis of financial, human capital, and business process data.
• Successfully complete initiatives supported by rigorous analytics.
• Proven record of working independently, exercising sound judgment, and taking ownership and initiative with minimal direction when needed.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)

Job Family

Customer Service & Sales

Role Impact

People Manager

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

​
FLSA Status

Exempt

​
Pay Range

$90,500.00 - $99,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

 

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

 

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history.  A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment.  Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

 

The University of Chicago's Annual Security & Fire Safety Report (Report) provides information about University offices and programs that provide safety support, crime and fire statistics, emergency response and communications plans, and other policies and information. The Report can be accessed online at: http://securityreport.uchicago.edu. Paper copies of the Report are available, upon request, from the University of Chicago Police Department, 850 E. 61st Street, Chicago, IL 60637.