Job description

The Department of History & Philosophy offers undergraduate majors in history and philosophy as well as a variety of teaching and non-teaching minors. Graduate students can pursue innovative MA and PhD degrees in the history of science and technology, environmental history, and the history of Montana and the American west. At all levels of the curriculum, the Department provides students with the tools to think rigorously, to research and thereby generate knowledge empirically, and to articulate their thoughts coherently. The Department serves approximately 200 undergraduate majors, and 20-30 MA and PhD students. There are currently 18 tenure-track faculty, and 8 non-tenure-track faculty.

The Business Operations Manager provides a high level of administrative and management support to the operation of the History & Philosophy Department. This includes serving as the executive assistant for the Department Head; providing fiscal oversight and budget management for all departmental funds, including monitoring expenditures, managing purchasing card activity, performing analyses, providing budget projections, and reallocation of resources when necessary; coordinating events; supervising staff in the office; and administering the day-to-day operations of the department.

Duties and Responsibilities

Executive Assistant to the Department Head:
Works closely with the Department Head to facilitate overall operations
Provides department and program data and implements decisions
Researches and prepares data on budgetary and academic issues, such as course offerings, enrollments, and course loads to provide supporting documentation to manage curricula

Fiscal Manager:
Performs fiscal and budgeting functions for the Department
Budgets and oversees department budgets including main salaries and operations
Prepares budgets for graduate student programs
Processes student scholarships
Serves as the department liaison with Fiscal Shared Services, CLS Information Technology, and the Dean’s office

Conference and Event Organizer:
Makes arrangements for events, conferences, and lectures, including securing facilities, preparing schedules, promoting events, and, where appropriate, arranging for food, lodging, and transportation
This may include participating in events as on-site support.

HR Liaison:
Serves as the primary departmental contact person for hiring and payroll processes
Creates and processes appointments, including faculty (tenure-track and non-tenure-track), staff, graduate, and undergraduate students
Processes personnel paperwork, reconciles payroll, and approves staff timesheets

Operations Manager:
Oversees the daily functions, workloads, and services of the department
Provides support for curriculum assessment activities, and for Retention, Promotion, and Tenure processes
Supervises department staff

Required Qualifications – Experience, Education, Knowledge & Skills
A Bachelor’s Degree or progressively responsible administrative/office management experience with an emphasis on fiscal or operations management, or an equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
Demonstrated competence managing fiscal and budget records, generating multiple reports and communicating complex information effectively to various constituents (student, staff, faculty, executives).
Demonstrated competence organizing and managing events.
Demonstrated excellent customer service skills.
Demonstrated competence using personal computers and various software such as word processing, spreadsheets, database, presentation, email and internet. Microsoft Office software preferred.

Preferred Qualifications – Experience, Education, Knowledge & Skills
Knowledge of MSU procedures and policies or previous experience working in an academic department in a higher education setting.
Progressively responsible supervisory or management experience.

The Successful Candidate Will
Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with various constituencies, including students, administrators, co-workers, and faculty
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Strong organizational and time management skills
Attention to detail, to meeting deadlines, and to prioritizing competing demands
Aptitude for problem solving and facilitating the work of others
Good judgment and self-motivation
Skill at prioritizing, organizing, and working on multiple projects
Demonstrated capacity for leadership
Successful experience hiring, training, supervising, and mentoring employees
Represent the Department of History & Philosophy, College of Letters and Science, and MSU to others in a professional and courteous manner

Position Special Requirements/Additional Information
This job description should not be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities or requirements, but a general description of the job. Nothing contained herein restricts Montana State University’s rights to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time.

Physical Demands
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily with or without reasonable accommodations. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

This position has supervisory duties? Yes
Posting Detail Information

Number of Vacancies 1
Desired Start Date Upon completion of a successful search.
Position End Date (if temporary)
Open Date
Close Date

Applications will be:
Screening of applications will begin on April 12, 2023; however, applications will continue to be accepted until an adequate applicant pool has been established.

Special Instructions
Diversity Statement

Montana State University values diverse perspectives and is committed to continually supporting, promoting and building an inclusive and culturally diverse campus environment. MSU recognizes the importance of work-life integration and strives to be responsive to the needs of dual career couples.

In compliance with the Montana Veteran’s Employment Preference Act, MSU provides preference in employment to veterans, disabled veterans, and certain eligible relatives of veterans. To claim veteran’s preference please complete the veteran’s preference information located in the Demographics section of your profile.

MSU’s Non-Discrimination Policy and Discrimination Grievance Procedures can be located on the MSU Website: https://www.montana.edu/hr/recruitment/dualcareer.html

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