Working Title: Assistant Director, Academic Resources

State Role Title: N/A

Position Type: Administrative & Professional (Non-teaching Faculty)

Position Status: Full-Time

FLSA Status: Exempt: Not Eligible for Overtime

College/Division: Academic Affairs Unit

Department: 100199 - Academic Resources

Pay Band: N/A

Pay Rate: Commensurate with Experience

Specify Range or Amount:  

Is this a JMU only position? No

Is this a grant-funded position? No

Is this a Conflict of Interest designated position? No

Beginning Review Date: 10/1/2026

About JMU:

Mission
We are a community committed to preparing students to be educated and enlightened citizens who lead productive and meaningful lives.

Vision
To be the national model for the engaged university: engaged with ideas and the world.

Who We Are
Situated in the heart of Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley, the city of Harrisonburg is a vibrant community with a population of approximately 52,000. Harrisonburg is conveniently located approximately 120 miles from Washington, D.C. and Richmond, VA.

JMU is a selective, public institution with a growing national reputation for offering experiences that lead to an outstanding education and supportive environment for students, faculty and staff. The student body includes approximately 21,000 undergraduate and 1,800 graduate students, with over 1,000 full-time instructional faculty.

JMU offers thriving programs in the liberal arts, science and technology, and professional disciplines at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels. JMU has achieved national recognition for the high quality of its academic programs, focus on maintaining strong student/faculty interaction, and innovative faculty research.

General Information:

The Assistant Director of Academic Resources provides leadership, coordination, and oversight of administrative and operational functions supporting Academic Affairs. Working closely with the Director of Academic Resources, this position manages personnel administration, recruitment and hiring processes, salary analysis, budget coordination, payroll administration, data reporting, and strategic initiatives. The role serves as a primary liaison among Academic Affairs, Human Resources, Finance, Payroll, and university leadership to ensure efficient operations and informed decision making. The Assistant Director also leads Academic Affairs' participation in Oracle HCM/ERP initiatives, business process improvement efforts, and change management activities while supporting divisional priorities and university goals.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Provides managerial support and oversight of operational and administrative functions within Academic Resources (AR) --in partnership with the Director of Academic Resources, supervises the activities of the department to include personnel action approvals/workflow, data management/analytics, budget support, AR HUB maintenance and oversees all Reengineering Madison/Oracle HCM & ERP activities for the department and represents Academic Affairs' (AA) interests (as needed).

Personnel action approval and workflow management - serves as primary manager of personnel actions for all positions in AA, supervises Academic Resources Personnel Operations Coordinator, administrator and primary coordinator of recruiting process for all full-time positions in Academic Affairs to include salary review for all new full-time position hires, manages the tracking and approval of all full-time AP/Instructional faculty lines and Classified positions with operational support from Academic Resources Analysts; manages the vacant position review process; oversees compression/inversion salary adjustment process; oversees tracking of all newly established full time positions and related information working with HR/Budget Office on position number and funding source and oversees review/approvals for ePAR transactions; primary contact for all personnel related reports/verifications and salary studies (i.e. promotion and tenure reporting, retention analysis, position allocation history, etc.); establishes salary metrics/analysis (i.e. CUPA, peer review, inversion/compression alerts, etc.) in support of salary negotiations, provides personnel budget/financial analysis as requested; participates in ad hoc personnel related survey studies and/or reporting requirements as requested. Serves as approving authority and liaison between AA deans, Academic Unit Heads (AUHs), admins and HR to facilitate position movement, recruiting and hiring actions within the division.

Budget Coordination – assists with managing the coordination of division-wide budget development process and manages related financial reporting/data collection efforts

Summer/Winter Payroll – oversees the summer and winter payroll process and provides direction for Academic Resources personnel who review and process the payroll calculations and paperwork for the summer/winter sessions and serves as primary reviewer/approver of payroll forms to be entered by HR/Payroll. Coordinates the process for allocating departmental/college incentives based on session enrollment, credit hour production, etc.

Enrollment Management & Reporting – Provides support for producing internal/external financial studies, surveys, space utilization activity, ad-hoc projects and provides various data reports in support of academic systems (i.e. spatialization reporting, accreditation documentation, and efficiency studies). In support of the Director of Academic Resources, partners with Planning, Analytics, and Institutional Research (PAIR) and other university offices to provide AUHs and AA leadership with the data they need for decision making.

Reengineering Madison Project and Prosci Change Management Lead for Academic Affairs in partnership with the Director, serves as primary contact for the Reengineering Madison project implementation and post-implementation Oracle HCM & ERP representative for Academic Affairs, responsible to re-design and integrate existing business processes and approval workflows into/across the HR, Finance and Student systems to ensure functionality is maintained, efficiencies are gained and minimum disruption to services. Also serves on the implementation team for the AA Prosci change management effort and represents Academic Resources interests as part of the broader university-wide Oracle HCM & ERP implementation team.

Other duties as assigned – perform in-depth analysis of operating budget issues and ad-hoc reporting projects. Supports development and updates of AR Teams/HUB environment and technology infrastructure/resources/tools specific to AR. Participates on university committees as AA representative to communicate AA interests.

Qualifications:

Minimum qualifications for this position include a bachelor's degree (with preference given to those who have a master's degree), ability to understand, write and prepare budgets, monitor fiscal transactions, can work independently, complete complex tasks efficiently and prioritize work assignments. Works well in a team environment and must have excellent interpersonal, writing and communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications:
Advanced Microsoft Office, PeopleSoft/Oracle HCM & ERP, Power BI skills
Experience supervising personnel operations, recruitment, workforce planning, and compensation administration
Experience managing complex budgets, financial forecasting, analysis, and reporting
Demonstrated expertise in data analytics, dashboard development, and strategic reporting
Experience with business process redesign and workflow optimization
Experience leading organizational change initiatives and stakeholder engagement efforts
Knowledge of higher education administration, budgeting, and personnel practices
Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and partner with a broad range of stakeholders to support institutional priorities

Additional Posting Information:

JMU’s Dual Career and Community Resources Program is available for candidates that will be relocating to the area. For more information, please visit https://bit.ly/2OTF1NG.

Conditions of Employment:  

Employment is contingent upon the successful completion of a criminal background check.

E-Verify Notice: After accepting employment, new hires are required to complete an I-9 form and present documentation of their identity and eligibility to work in the United States. James Madison University uses the E-Verify system to confirm identity and work authorization.

EEO Statement:

James Madison University is committed to creating and supporting a diverse and inclusive work and educational community that is free of all forms of discrimination. This institution does not tolerate discrimination or harassment on the basis of age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, genetic information, national origin, parental status, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or veteran status.

We promote access, inclusion and diversity for all students, faculty, staff, constituents and programs, believing that these qualities are foundational components of an outstanding education in keeping with our mission. The university is interested in candidates whose experience and qualifications support an ongoing commitment to this core quality.

Anyone having questions concerning discrimination should contact the Office for Equal Opportunity: (540) 568-6991.

Reasonable Accommodation:

If you are an individual with a disability and need assistance searching or applying for jobs please contact us at (540) 568-3597 or jobs@jmu.edu. You may also visit the JMU Human Resource Office, located at 752 Ott Street, Harrisonburg, VA 22807 and we will be happy to assist you.