Temporary Administrative Team Lead: Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development - UTK

This position is the administrative team lead for the Division of Research Administration Shared Administrative Services (DRA-SAS) team in the Office of Research, Innovation, & Economic Development (ORIED), at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UT), reporting to the associate vice chancellor for research administration (AVCRA). DRA-SAS provides operational and financial administrative support for the work of the 75+ people within DRA, and provides on-site support for all ORIED staff based at Cherokee Mills (CM). The team lead provides oversight of the daily activities of DRA-SAS and supervises the other administrative coordinator(s) on the team to ensure efficient, accurate, and timely support. The position will work closely with the AVCRA and DRA leadership and staff to provide excellent customer service, manage the operational and financial administrative tasks of the division, and create and implement processes for workflow management. The position works in person in ORIED’s Cherokee Mills (CM) location. The position has supervisory duties for staff. 

LEADERSHIP: The team lead works with the AVCRA and DRA leadership to create, manage, and update the DRA-SAS shared services framework to meet the operational and financial administrative support needs of the division. 

• Meets regularly with the AVCRA and DRA leadership to discuss objectives for the division and how DRA-SAS can support those objectives. 

• Creates or modifies solutions to meet divisional workflow management needs, reduce redundancies, streamline operations, and adopt the use of new technology. 

• Develops processes and procedures that efficiently and effectively manage team workflow. In particular, the team lead creates and implements new work processes that improve the quality, consistency, and timeliness of DRA-SAS support. 

• Establishes and ensures the regular update of written standard operating procedures for all DRA-SAS work processes, which are often highly detailed, specific, and intricate. 

• Creates and organizes a shared, online repository of guidance documents (e.g., Microsoft Teams) for DRA-SAS to serve as an official reference for all staff, a training resource for new staff, and a permanent archive of critical documents. 

• With the AVCRA, co-leads a weekly DRA-SAS meeting to address issues of shared concern for the team and division. 

• Makes staffing and resource recommendations for DRA-SAS to the AVCRA. 

 

SUPERVISION: The team lead supervises other DRA-SAS administrative coordinator(s), makes work assignments, and collaborates with customers in DRA to discuss service needs, outcomes, and opportunities. 

• Supervises DRA-SAS administrative coordinator(s), with an emphasis on monitoring work outcomes and deadlines to ensure that deliverables are met, and evaluating the accuracy and timeliness of the work product. 

• Makes work assignments to DRA-SAS administrative coordinator(s), exercising independent judgment to assess capacity across the team and assign or reassign work as needed to respond to current and emerging work needs and priorities.

• Trains new and existing staff on how to perform DRA-SAS work functions, following standard operating procedures.

• Working with the AVCRA, develops and implements a cross-training plan for all DRA-SAS administrative coordinator(s) so they are able to fill in for others on the team during a period of absence (e.g., annual leave, sick leave, extended medical/family leave, job vacancy), with the goal of eliminating service gaps or interruptions to mission-critical workflow support provided by DRA-SAS to the rest of the division.

• Establishes and monitors staff work schedules, handles employee relations matters and involves the supervisor when needed, ensures that there is proper coverage for all duties involving DRA-SAS staff, evaluates performance and recommends merit/market increases.

• Exercises independent judgment to identify and solve problems as they arise, elevating issues to the AVCRA when necessary. 

• Interfaces with DRA leadership and staff to resolve outstanding matters related to the work of the DRA-SAS team.

 

OPERATIONAL ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT: Like all of DRA-SAS, the team lead shares the work of managing the operational administrative needs of the division. However, the team lead is the individual who assigns this work to DRA-SAS team members, assessing capacity and shifting responsibilities as needed. DRA-SAS operational support assignments may include but are not limited to the following: 

• Updates proposal information in the DASH Research database.

• Establishes and updates electronic accounts for principal investigators and DRA staff.

• Facilitates re