Department: Music Administration
Salary/Grade: EXS/7

Job Summary:

The Manager of Academic Operations is an integral part of the Bienen academic support team, providing primary administrative oversight and leadership of the two academic departments: Music Performance and Music Studies. This position is the senior administrator of academic operations for the programs and departments, supervising administrative staff and serving as central liaison to the department chairs, program coordinators, faculty, and students, in order to build cross-departmental expertise, surface and implement best practices, and enhance operational excellence in financial stewardship, course planning and logistics, and academic support. Develops performance metrics to measure and refine operations, maintaining a high level of satisfaction across all areas. Represents the departments in internal and external administrative affairs by exchanging information and making recommendations.

Please note: Evening or weekend support may be necessary to support the dynamic performance needs within the school.

Specific Responsibilities:

Administrative Management & Support

* Supervise program staff in supporting and fostering high levels of customer service in the operational, financial, and business functions of department

* Co-lead a team of administrators focused on implementing cross-departmental practices to enhance the customer service and support for academic events across the School.

* Act as key liaison for department chair(s) and program coordinators with key administrative offices.

* Manages day-to-day operations in areas of financial management, human resources management, faculty support, compliance and strategic guidance;

* Supports and oversees program/departmental temporary payroll needs in coordination with the Business Office; manages employee timesheet approvals for regular and temporary program staff;

* Administers and maintains existing strategic operation plans; sets department administrative objectives; works collaboratively with other managers to unify and optimize administrative operations;

* Makes observations to identify consistency, identify best practices and make recommends action plans to improve administrative operations and align staffing structures and department services to relieve faculty of administrative tasks to form a nimble, flexible administrative organization;

* Hire and train full-time employees in areas of NU financials, course logistics, and academic event support.

* Supervises 4-7 staff

Budget & Financial

* Oversees all financial transactions, including faculty reimbursement and program/department purchases. Works with Business Office to create annual department and program budget forecast, reconcile monthly budget reports, and provide metrics related to administrative and operational productivity

* Works with the program staff to ensure prompt payment of invoices, researching errors/delayed transactions, monitoring open encumbrances & deficit chart strings.

* Participates with Department Chair(s) and faculty program coordinators in budget planning process under the general direction of the Associate Dean for Administration, Finance, and Planning.

Events Support (Communications & Outreach)

* Coordinates and directs staff in the planning, development, and on-site operations of department and program sponsored and hosted events, including: departmental meetings, master classes, seminars, colloquia, and other recruiting or engagement events.

* Coordinates staff operations team in execution of annual school curricular events, including ensemble auditions and competitions.

* Oversees departmental communications; ensures proper coordination and socialization of scheduled events across administrative teams to ensure strategic engagement of critical stakeholders, including: dean's office, concert management office, and advancement.

* Provides metrics on success and makes recommendations for improvement

Faculty Support

* Supervises the on-boarding and orientation for new faculty and PhD students including but not limited to: facilities, budget policies, practices and regulations, technology purchases. Supports program staff in the integration of full- and part-time faculty within the Bienen academic community.

* Coordinates colloquia & seminar and faculty travel planning across all programs, ensuring communication with all administrative and academic stakeholders.

Course Support (Student Support)

* Oversees all operational aspects of teaching and course support logistics for performance and academic courses.

* Collaborates with Associate and Assistant Dean, program coordinators, and department chairs to set yearly departmental course schedule across all programs;

* Supervises staff in coordination with the Office of Registrar to build and maintain the course schedule, manage changes, and effectively communicate with faculty and students;

* Ensures the accuracy of all quarterly registration course data; supports faculty technology needs, including online course materials, Canvas, and other digital assets.

* Oversees course space assignments, managing the logistical curricular needs with appropriate space resources; coordinates with Facilities, Concert Management Office, and ensemble programs to ensure optimized staffing to meet space and facilities logistical requirements

* Implements school, department, and program curricular strategy regarding structure, process, & staffing support in compliance with NU policy.

IT Services

* Acts as liaison to IT to ensure technology systems are properly installed & maintained & meet the informational, analytical & computing needs of users.

* Ensures necessary hardware, software & network infrastructure services are appropriated from central or internal IT.

* Issues work order requests for maintenance, repairs & upgrades.

Miscellaneous

Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

* Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a major such as business, accounting or related; OR appropriate combination of education and experience.

* 4 years' administrative experience including budgets, finance, grants, facilities, &/or human resources; or other relevant experience.

Minimum Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities.)

This position requires ability to analyze and assess, with strong attention to detail, and flexibility to provide support across multiple programs where needed. Strong written communication and visual design skills required for internal messaging.

* Excellent interpersonal, time and project management skills

* Diligent and capable of working both collaboratively and independently as needed

* Experience collecting, sorting and analyzing data, and leveraging such data for purposes of planning and decision making

* Excellent customer focus and professionalism

* Staff supervision, or proven success leading small teams

* Problem-solving skills and ability to think critically

* Ability to work in a highly collaborative manner with faculty and staff, as well as across the University;

* Ability to exercise high degree of judgment and discretion in handling confidential and sensitive information

Preferred Qualifications:

* 5 years of administrative support experience and managing projects and people in an academic or non-profit environment; experience in an academic music setting preferred

* Experience supporting the curricular, performance, and research needs of artist-scholars in a conservatory or university music setting

Preferred Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities)

* Experience in project management; with the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.

* Track-record of developing and leading high-performing teams

Target hiring range for this position will be between $65,000 - $78,000 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data

Benefits:
At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful, competitive, high-quality health care plans, retirement benefits, tuition discounts and more! Visit us at to learn more.

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Professional Growth & Development:
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