The Associate Administrative Officer is part of the finance team for Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music and the Vanderbilt Divinity School and is a key individual contributor responsible for the day-to-day operations of human capital management and finance functions serving as a Financial Unit Manager (FUM) and Human Capital Management (HCM) Specialist in the Oracle Cloud administrative system. This position provides financial unit management, administration of payroll and personnel functions, and general guidance and assistance for staff, often performing in a liaison capacity. Reporting to the Senior Administrative Officer of the Schools, the Associate Administrative Officer interacts regularly with the faculty and staff in the Blair School and Divinity School, and with other FUMs and HCMs across campus. Working closely with the Senior Administrative Officer, this position monitors systems and procedures to ensure compliance with accounting principles, University, State, and Federal regulations, and audit requirements, serves as a key departmental contact on Vanderbilt policy and process questions.

The Associate Administrative Officer reviews and approves all financial transactions for the Blair School and Divinity School and ensures that all transactions are recorded accurately and are in compliance with applicable university and departmental policies. This position processes hiring, costing, end of employment, and other transactions for student employees and stipends, as well as monthly adjunct and supplemental payroll, and serves as the areas resource on time and absence reporting. This position serves as the backup HCM Specialist to the Senior Administrative Officer for all other faculty and staff employment transactions. The Associate Administrative Officer also performs essential operational and project management assignments as assigned.

About the Work Unit :

About the Blair School of Music :

Situated on Vanderbilt Campus in the heart of Nashville, TN, the Blair School of Music is a vibrant and fast-paced school at Vanderbilt University, focused on the personal and professional education of highly talented young musicians who demonstrate an exceptional capacity and motivation to shape our increasingly diverse and complex global century—through music, with music, and in music. The school has 140 full and part-time faculty members and industry professionals who teach approximately 220 music majors, 650 Blair Academy students (comprised of pre-college and adult students) and 2,000 non-music Vanderbilt majors.

https://blair.vanderbilt.edu/ .

About the Divinity School :

The Divinity School administrators and staff comprise a team committed to excellence in theological education. From different composite areas: admissions, community life, academics, special programming, communications, theological and religious library resources, and development and alumni relations, each person contributes to an innovative and collegial environment. The unit as a whole is committed to the mission of both the University and the Divinity School. We make equity, diversity, and inclusion a priority from a theological foundation of social justice, and we seek to lead the nation in the care, preparation, and professional qualification of our students to the religious and theological professions.

In a global and multi-religious world, the Divinity school seeks to fulfill the following objectives:

• to engage in theological inquiry;
• to help persons prepare for the practice of Christian ministry and public leadership;
• to encourage personal and spiritual formation;
• to prepare agents of social justice; and to educate future scholars and teachers, locally and globally.

Key Functions and Expected Performance:

Financial Unit Manager (35%)

• Reviews and approves financial transactions for Blair School and Divinity School in the Oracle Cloud system, including procurement requisitions, expense reports (including travel and entertainment), purchases of Library materials, and procurement card expense reports.
• Maintains an extensive understanding of the university’s chart of accounts and departmental use of Project Portfolio Management POET structure as well as travel and procurement policies.
• Maintains extensive understanding of institutional and departmental policies. Uses excellent professional judgment and integrity to evaluate the appropriateness of expenditures and possesses the maturity and confidence to address questionable transactions either directly or by escalating them, if needed.
• Uses high attention to detail to ensure every component of a requisition or expense report is accurate prior to approval. Adopts best practices in the review and management of financial resources addressing any needed changes or adjustments in a timely manner.
• Provides daily guidance and oversight to procurement requesters on purchasing policies and procedures.
• Maintains big picture perspective in order to ensure that all expenditures are evaluated to assess impact on departmental operational needs and financial goals.
• Tracks and reconciles all Blair operating expenditures regularly.
• Reconciles Blair guest artist and faculty travel endowment projects monthly.
• Serves as the key trainer to Blair School and Divinity School faculty, staff, and students on Oracle Cloud systems and processes by creating, implementing, and providing training and ongoing support.
• Processes Blair School Student Prizes/Awards through the Office of Student Financial Aid to ensure the students are awarded for their academic accomplishments.
• Reviews and approves ITS Software Store purchases to ensure the required software is available to our faculty and staff and assigned to the appropriate costing and maintains list of all software purchases for Divinity and Blair, whether from Software Store or purchased outside with VUIT collaboration.
• Communicates with prospective students regarding unpaid accounts for taking sample lessons.
• Oversees COA printing and expenses for Blair School faculty, staff, and students to ensure all copy and printing costs are allocated to the correct chart of accounts. Attends monthly and quarterly Oracle and Procurement meetings/webinars and distributes information as appropriate.

Operations (30%)

• Serves as an area resource for faculty, staff, and student questions about finance and business policies, systems, and processes including completing timesheets, purchase requisitions, and expense reports.
• Serves as primary day-to-day point of contact for the Blair School and Divinity School for policy, procedure, and process related to financial and human capital management topics, elevating issues to the Senior Administrative Manager and/or CBO as appropriate.
• Develops and/or updates finance-related day-to-day processes within Blair and Divinity, in partnership with Chief Business Officer and Senior Administrative Officer. Communicates these processes to faculty, staff, and students as appropriate, including quarterly reminders of processes.
• Manages the One Card activities for Divinity and Blair to ensure all One Card transactions are aligned with the Vanderbilt policies and expenses within the required time limit.
• Notifies faculty and staff as needed regarding travel credits from Unused Ticket Report.
• Regularly reviews other CBO Toolbox reports and notifies staff as needed to take action.
• Assists with reminders to new faculty and staff who have not completed their COI.
• Plans, executes, and manages projects as assigned.
• Leads training and onboarding for procurement requestors and One Card holders.
• Approaches questions and concerns from faculty, staff, and students with courtesy and an emphasis on customer service ensuring inquiries are handled quickly, with an emphasis on teaching, and resolution is communicated timely. Other responsibilities as assigned.

Human Capital Management (HCM) Specialist (20%)

• Serves as a Human Capital Specialist (HCM) for the Blair School and Divinity School by processing student hires (Blair), costing assignment changes and terminations.
• Processes monthly payroll changes for Blair adjunct faculty and monthly supplemental payroll for all Blair and Divinity faculty and staff as needed. Provides monthly payroll reports to Blair faculty.
• Advises faculty and staff on HR processes that require their attention.
• Advises on routine HR processes and identifies more complex situations that require the involvement of others.
• Assists employees with self-service transactions, as needed.
• Maintains an extensive understanding of HR functions in Oracle and related connections with Oracle Financials.
• Analyzes and processes complex transactions with forethought to implications and required communications.
• Monitors, reviews, and analyzes Oracle HCM reports monthly to ensure accuracy and compliance.
• Maintains an awareness of HR deadlines and related employee impact.
• Advertises for student positions on HireADore as needed.
• Attends monthly and quarterly Oracle meetings/webinar and distributes information as appropriate.
• Assists Blair faculty with hiring temporary staff Graders each semester and processes hires/terminations for temporary staff.
• Acts as liaison with Blair accompanists. Ensures monthly timesheets are properly reported and payments are processed by Administrative Specialist.
• Exhibits absolute discretion with highly sensitive and confidential HR and payroll information. Performs other duties on the HR spectrum as assigned.

Student Worker Liaison (40-50 students annually) – Blair School (15%)

• Coordinates student workforce during academic year, compiling and synthesizing faculty requests for hires and terminations and acting as HR liaison to student hires for completion of required paperwork.
• Provides timesheet submission training to students and approval training to faculty and staff. Monitors timecards bi-weekly to ensure process is working smoothly and supports Graduate Department of Religion Administrative Manager on Divinity student assignments as needed.
• Works with Student Employment as needed to maintain accurate records and compliance with University policy and Federal regulations.
• Applies costing for all assignments, including federal work study as appropriate. Serves as back-up to the Divinity School Administrative Manager, Student Support for Divinity School student HCM transactions.

Supervisory Relationships :

Education and Certifications:

• A bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education is necessary . A master’s degree in Business Administration from an accredited institution of higher education is preferred .

Experience and Skills :

• 2-3 years of relevant professional experience is necessary .
• 4+ years of relevant professional experience is preferred .
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community is necessary .
• Strong organizational skills are necessary .
• Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills are necessary .
• Ability to make administrative/procedural decisions and judgments is necessary .
• Ability to perform complex tasks and to prioritize multiple projects is necessary .
• Dependable, motivated, and willing to learn is necessary .
• Ability to provide technical advice and information to staff in area of expertise is necessary .
• Ability to analyze budgetary line items for compliance with budget guidelines is necessary .
• Ability to communicate effectively and professionally, both orally and in writing is necessary .
• Expert in Microsoft Office Suite and Adobe is necessary . Proficient in Oracle, RedCap, and HireADore is preferred .

Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

At Vanderbilt University, we are intentional about and assume accountability for fostering advancement and respect for equity, diversity, and inclusion for all students, faculty, and staff. Our commitment to diversity makes us who we are. We have created a community that celebrates differences and lets individuality thrive. As part of this commitment, we actively value diversity in our workplace and learning environments as we seek to take advantage of the rich backgrounds and abilities of everyone. The diverse voices of Vanderbilt represent an invaluable resource for the University in its efforts to fulfill its mission and strive to be an example of excellence in higher education.

Vanderbilt University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action 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.

Please note, all candidates selected for an offer of employment are subject to pre-employment background checks, which may include but are not limited to, based on the role for which they have been selected: criminal history, education verification, social media review, motor vehicle records, credit history, and professional license verification.

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 through:

• Working and growing together as a community of communities... we are One Vanderbilt .
• Providing a work environment where every staff and faculty member can be their authentic and best self , while providing the resources and opportunities to learn and grow.
• Encouraging development, collaboration, and partnership both internally and externally while fostering the value that every member of the Vanderbilt community can lead and grow regardless of title or position.

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.

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Vanderbilt University has made the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff and our surrounding communities a top priority. As part of that commitment, the University may require employees to comply with any testing or health and safety measures which the University may require.