Job Description
Position Summary:
The Associate Administrative Officer is an integral part of the Vanderbilt School of Engineering Deans Office
(VUSE). This position will serve as a liaison between the School's Work Units and the School Dean's Office as well
as support for those in administrative lead positions. As an Associate Administrative Officer, this position reviews
and processes all Human Capital Management transactions for various work units within the School of
Engineering.
Duties require a strong exercise of independent judgment, attention to detail, initiative, and the ability to make
decisions relative to the school's operations and academic mission. The position will function with a high degree
of understanding of university life, policies, and procedures.
About the Work Unit:
The Vanderbilt School of Engineering is internationally recognized for the superior quality of its research and
education programs in selected fields of engineering. The school prepares students to become leaders and
innovators in solving increasingly challenging and significant problems.
The school strives to meet the undergraduate education portion of its mission by offering these degree programs
in fields of engineering relevant to the needs of society. An objective of these programs is to provide a technical
education integrated with strong humanities, fine arts, and social sciences subject matter to provide the requisite
foundation for life-long learning. The availability of second majors and minors in subject areas in other schools
and colleges of the university increases opportunities for engineering students to enhance their education by
pursuing studies in the non-technical disciplines.
Key Functions and Expected Performance:
VUSE Hiring, Recruitment and Onboarding:
• Resource and Point person for new work unit positions and replacements for assigned work units. Duties
to include:
o Candidate review and response in timely manner
o Strategy Sessions and social media posts
o Work with talent central on references, verbal, and formal offers
• Onboarding for faculty, staff, postdocs, and interns/visitors
Develop and manage personnel administration:
• Serves in Human Capital Management (HCM) specialist role for assigned work units
• Display an awareness of and urgency around meeting hard deadlines
• Maintain confidential personnel records for professional and non-professional staff
• Works with lead administrative staff to update HR information in Oracle
o Reviews staff and student payroll on a monthly basis to confirm accuracy
o Reviews faculty titles and payroll on a quarterly basis to confirm accuracy
• Possesses and develops expertise in faculty and staff HR life cycle, from onboarding to retirement
• Advises faculty and staff on routine HR processes and identifies more complex situations that require the
involvement of the business officer or HR administrator for the school
• Assists employees with self-service transactions, as needed
• Identifies and understands the connections between policies and procedures and the resulting impact on
employees and communicates in advance of any impact
• Maintains an extensive understanding of Oracle HR functions and related connections with Oracle
financial functions
• Enters routine and additional payroll elements
• Serves as the area resource on absence reporting
• Interpret and communicate policies and procedures established at School and University levels to
departmental staff
• Understands and processes:
o Paid and unpaid leaves for both faculty and staff
o Award compensations for faculty, staff, and students
o Non-employment/stipend assignments
o Expense assignments
• Prepare reports as needed for review
• Assist with annual performance reviews and staff raises for VUSE
• Assists FMLA transactions
• Backup for HCM transactions
• Assist with payroll issues
Resource Departmental administrator positions (graduate program coordinators, administrative managers, and
similar roles):
• Develop VUSE procedures with departmental input
• Hold Open Office Hours/Labs
• Have a thorough understanding of the systems, processing, and procedures
• Train personnel in departmental systems and procedures
Communication and collaboration
• Build and maintain strong working relationships both within the school and with centralized Human
Resources team members
• Develop, interpret, and implement procedures for general departmental function, assuring that all
policies conform to university guidelines
• Provide support for other HCM's within VUSE
• Work independently on projects
• Initiate and lead efforts to achieve effective communication with VUSE work units
• Participate in recurring meetings and trainings to keep up to date on all school and institutional
policies/procedures and to disseminate new information to work units
• Adapt easily to changes in technology and process
• Have a "get the job done" attitude; accept responsibility; address problems rather than allowing
unresolved issues to linger; model willingness to contribute above and beyond the call of duty
• Display self-awareness and feel comfortable asking for help/guidance when needed
• Self-driven, work independently with minimal oversight/instruction
• Assist with VUSE Staff Resource/Faculty Resource webpage, One notebook, teams
• Supports HR/People Operations initiatives (employee morale events, staff gatherings, etc.
• Other tasks as assigned
Supervisory Relationships:
This position does not have supervisory responsibility; this position reports administratively and
functionally to the Assistant Director of Administration - Human Resources.
Education and Certifications:
• Bachelor's degree is necessary, Human Resources or Management is preferred
• Master's degree is preferred
Experience and Skills:
• 3 years' experience in deadline driven position is necessary
• Meticulous attention to detail and auditing skills is necessary
• Strong organization and communication skills is necessary
• Strong data processing skills, with minimal errors is necessary
• Strong typing and 10-key skills is preferred
• Vanderbilt experience and Oracle experience is preferred
• Finance knowledge/experience is preferred
• Intermediate Excel skills is preferred
About Us
At Vanderbilt University , our work - regardless of title or role - is in service to an important and noble mission in which every member of our community serves in advancing knowledge and transforming lives on a daily basis. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, on a 330+ acre campus and arboretum dating back to 1873, Vanderbilt is proud to have been named as one of "America's Best Large Employers" as well as a top employer in Tennessee and the Nashville metropolitan area by Forbes for several years running. We welcome those who are interested in learning and growing professionally with an employer that strives to create, foster and sustain opportunities as an employer of choice.
We understand you have a choice when choosing where to work and pursue a career. We understand you are unique and have a story. We want to hear it. We encourage you to apply today so that you might become a part of our story.
Vanderbilt University is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.
