Director, Academic HR (CEHD)

Department: Col of Ed and Human Development

Classification: Administrative Faculty

Job Category: Administrative or Professional Faculty

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)

Location: Fairfax, VA

Workplace Type: Hybrid Eligible

Sponsorship Eligibility: Not eligible for visa sponsorship

Salary: Salary commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

About the Department:

The College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) is one of Mason’s largest and most complex academic units, encompassing faculty, staff, and graduate researchers across programs in education, counseling, social work, and human development. CEHD is committed to equity-minded academic and workforce excellence, and operates as a community deeply invested in the success of every individual the college employs.

About the Position:

The Director, Academic HR is the senior HR leader for the College of Education and Human Development. This role carries full ownership of the college’s people function — sitting alongside CEHD’s executive leadership team as a strategic partner, managing the college-based HR team to deliver integrated operational HR and strategic support, and serving as the primary point of accountability for all HR matters within the college.

The Director partners closely with the Chief Business Officer and the Dean to understand, prioritize, and address critical business and workforce challenges facing CEHD — translating those priorities into HR strategies, operational plans, and people solutions that advance the college’s mission. This is a leadership role with direct responsibility for outcomes across the full range of HR functions that support CEHD faculty, staff, and academic operations.

While primary accountability is to CEHD and the role reports to the college’s Chief Business Officer, the Director will have a dotted line relationship to the Associate Director, Employee and Workforce Relations and HR partnerships within central HR, maintaining active integration with Mason’s HR Centers of Excellence (COE). The Director deploys appropriate HR interventions in collaboration with these COEs — escalating effectively, surfacing college-level needs, and ensuring CEHD practices remain consistent with enterprise standards while meeting the operational realities of an academic environment.

The work of this role is oriented around three dimensions: local operational delivery of HR services (50%), strategic workforce partnership with college leadership (30%), and consultative support to supervisors, faculty, and staff (20%).

Reporting Structure and Leadership Scope:

The Director, Academic HR is embedded in CEHD and serves as a full member of the college’s leadership community. Primary ownership of and accountability for the college’s HR function rests with the Director, Academic HR.

• Reports to the Chief Business Officer, CEHD — the primary relationship governing college priorities, workforce strategy, and operational direction — and has a dotted line relationship to the Associate Director, Employee and Workforce Relations and HR Partnerships, central HR, which governs enterprise alignment, compliance, and HR practice standards;
• Leads and manages the college-based HR team, including selection, development, performance management, and day-to-day team operations, ensuring the team delivers high-quality strategic and operational HR support to CEHD faculty, staff, and leadership;
• Partners with CEHD executive leadership to understand the college’s critical business challenges and people priorities, and translates those into coordinated HR strategies and workforce plans;
• Serves as an engaged member of Mason’s enterprise HR community — participating in CHRO-convened HR leadership forums and cross-institutional communities of practice as a representative of CEHD and a contributing voice in Mason’s broader HR function;
• Brings the college’s workforce experience and operational insight into enterprise HR conversations, and carries enterprise HR standards and frameworks back to CEHD leadership with clarity and context.

Responsibilities:

HR Operations and Service Delivery:

Owns and manages the full range of college-level HR operations — executing with accuracy, timeliness, and alignment to university systems, policies, and approval frameworks.

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