Careers

The University of Washington Tacoma is an anchor institution that is deeply invested in its local communities and in student success. As one of three campuses of a world-class university, UW Tacoma is dedicated to interdisciplinary and innovative teaching and scholarship and to engaging the community in mutually beneficial partnerships. UW Tacoma’s commitment to access and diversity is central to an environment where students, staff, faculty and South Sound residents find abundant opportunities for intellectual, personal and professional growth. More information about UW Tacoma and its strategic plan can be found here.

The Managing Director (MGD) of the Institute for Innovation and Global Engagement (IIGE) offers a tremendous opportunity for an individual who is excited about promoting global engagement through innovative program building and collaborative coordination with academic units across campus. The IIGE promotes a globally engaged campus and is a central campus serving unit, bringing together faculty and students across majors into an interdisciplinary and inclusive problem-solving framework connected to real-world projects. Through its active community engagement, the IIGE delivers on the urban serving mission of UW Tacoma.

The MGD is the senior finance, operations, and administrative executive for the IIGE. They oversee the operations of the Global Honors (GH) Program and the Global Innovation and Design (GID) Lab. Global Honors, established in 2004, is UW Tacoma’s nationally recognized interdisciplinary honors program, overseeing campus honors and offering a Minor in Global Engagement as well as certificates in Global Leadership and Global Citizenship. The GID Lab, established in 2018, offers community workshops and micro credentials in innovation and design thinking, as well a Minor in Innovation and Design. The GID Lab is undergoing a growth phase in microcredentials and executive education, which, together with its community projects, generate revenue. As demand for academic pathways, community services, and tri campus partnerships grow from the IIGE, faculty leadership and staff will require the leadership and technical skills of an experienced Director to create the infrastructure that will support the academic programs, faculty, staff and urban serving mission of the University.  The Director will be expected to provide thorough and wide-ranging recommendations for strategies for process improvement and structural organizations to successfully bring the unit through this important change, implementing new processes, staff positions, training, and operational structures.

The MGD fulfills a critical staff role in providing professional administrative, operational, and executive management services to the Associate Vice Chancellor (AVC) and unit. As such, the MGD has a comprehensive range of administrative and operational responsibilities, including but not limited to: strategic and financial planning; institute and research budget development and management including gifts and revenue; supervision of the program’s classified and professional staff; compliance and risk management; educational program administration oversight; and building campus and community partner relationships.

A primary role of the MGD is to develop a highly capable administrative team to:

carry out the administrative operations of the academic unit, as well as the mission of the IIGE and University,

advise the Associate Vice Chancellor and other unit and UWT leadership on strategic and tactical direction,

build credible relationships with faculty, staff and students that will facilitate an effective organization, and

support members of the IIGE leadership team as well as its Community Advisory Board.
   
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

COMMUNITY PROJECTS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
For community projects, the MGD will be directly responsible for end-to-end client support including:

Advising on the range of workshops, microcredentials and executive education, including pricing and lab booking

Creating draft scope of work including invoices

Overseeing logistics of workshops and design sprints

Creating reports and assessment and analysis

Support externally funded faculty projects

Presenting and facilitating in community workshops, information and career fairs, and in core seminars as needed.

For community engagement, the MGD will be directly responsible for:

Overseeing the partner-in-residence program, including but not limited to, lecturer appointments, onboarding, and partner project management.

Overseeing logistics of all events, both internal (orientation, research workshops, graduation reception) as well as external facing such the annual global engagement conference, networking socials, and distinguished speaker series.

Overseeing creation and distribution of products for publication such as promotional posters and fliers, community reports, the quarterly newsletter, as well as online materials such as unit webpages and social media.

Overseeing career outreach events, community organizations and college/university fairs. This role maintains close professional contact with UW Tacoma and community college advisers.

Creating international, national, and inter/intra campus MOUs and agreements..

Supporting high level community and campus relationships for fundraising, networking, and building internship and professional mentoring opportunities for students.

Representing the IIGE at campus and community forums including at leadership venues.

Negotiating or building new relationships, partnerships, or coalitions to advance the unit’s vision or mission.

OPERATIONS ADMINISTRATION

Coordinating a variety of general administrative activities necessary to the unit’s day-to-day operations, with particular emphasis on understanding the administrative needs of individual faculty members as well as unit programmatic operations in designing cost effective and efficient solutions.

Understanding and integrating the cyclic operational responsibilities of UW Tacoma into unit planning, policies, and procedures.

Understanding and implementing change management processes that include not only organizational dynamics, but also the policies and procedures of various University offices or other approving agencies.

Recruiting, hiring, onboarding, supervising, and conducting performance evaluations, and take corrective action as needed for classified, professional, and temporary staff (currently 2.0 regular FTE)

Assessing the need for additional resources and identifying the source of additional resources to fit with a unit initiative or vision.

Assisting in the collection of data and evaluating data to initiate or collaborate in the initiation of a proposed new program or activity.

Ensuring a process is in place to comply with UW records management directives.

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

Supporting the AVC and unit leadership, faculty, and staff in the management of educational programs and the development and execution of mission-critical requirements:

Assisting in identifying financial/resource support for educational programs.

Managing various educational program budgets, as required.

Supporting faculty needs for curriculum development.

FINANCE ADMINISTRATION

Understanding and appropriately utilizing the IIGE's multiple budgets including state budgets, gifts, endowed accounts, revenues, scholarship funds, and sponsored contracts and agreements.

Interacting with faculty and staff to facilitate the unit’s ability to finance teaching, research, and educational goals.

Interpreting policies and regulations concerning the unit’s financial activities; ensuring compliance with the University’s policies and procedures as well as guidelines from the project sponsors.

Developing and implementing internal financial systems, including awards and fellowships, budget tools and controls to ensure integrity of all financial transactions, to safeguard assets and resources, and to satisfy auditing requirements.

Translating unit objectives into financial assumptions for short-term and/or long-term planning

Projecting IIGE unit revenue and expenses and developing budget models to guide the AVC and UWT leadership, as required.

Prioritizing initiatives or programs in line with the unit’s financial goals, negotiating or assigning resource allocation, and supporting faculty work teams to achieve academic objectives.

Compiling, interpreting, and communicating financial information to various audiences, including the unit leadership, faculty teams and committees, stakeholders and leaders within UWT, and external stakeholders as appropriate.

Providing regular financial reporting, as appropriate, to the AVC, IIGE faculty and the Vice Chancellor of Finance.

Analyzing and controlling budget variances to ensure prudent fiscal management, suggesting and carrying out adjustments as appropriate.

Planning, organizing, and directing the unit’s financial support staff and operation, including the planning, budgeting, and accounting functions, to include assigning, directing, and reviewing the work of staff who maintain various unit budgets/accounts.

Implementing appropriate policies and procedures for payroll, purchasing, travel requests, and reimbursements in accordance with University and State requirements.

COMPLIANCE & RISK MANAGEMENT

Interpreting and integrating Federal, State, and industry laws or policies on corporate compliance to mitigate risk to the unit and to individual faculty or staff

Implementing current security protocols, as related to IT equipment, email communication, phone or other communication, and proper handling, disposal or destruction of information and documents; ensuring all faculty and staff complete required training modules

Ensuring that all spaces, rooms, and GID Labs have appropriate security measures in place to safeguard information, physical resources, and staff.

Building and maintaining relationships with UWT, and the UW Office of Risk Management to ensure appropriate actions and responses to administrative matters.

Assessing the unit for operational risk due to financial management, potential loss of faculty, etc.

Developing and implementing an IIGE-specific internal audit plan for activities that put employees at risk or require corporate compliance
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT - In partnership with UWT Information Technology:

Coordinating management and maintenance of the IIGE web site and links, including all aspects of unit functions: outreach activities, research enterprises, faculty biosketches and publications, educational and training programs and graduate/alumni updates.

Developing and/or overseeing written and electronic communication materials which may include IIGE newsletter, IDEATE, academic program brochures and mailings, development brochures, and other information to support public relations, academic presentations, development activities.

With UWT Advancement, coordinating and participating in public relations and/or fundraising events and informational presentations, including donor communications, and representing the unit at University and external functions.

Participating in the generation of ideas to help market the unit’s community projects, faculty initiatives, academic programs, and unit research

COMMUNITY ADVISORY BOARD

Overseeing fundraising events, Advisory Board meetings and hospitality

Working with Advisory Board members to create and coordinate mentorship and internship program for students

Working with Advisory Board members to develop the sponsored Directed Research Program as well as site visits for the Student Engagement Program

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

Bachelor’s degree in global or international studies or a related field.

A minimum of 6 years of experience within an academic or business unit to include increasingly responsible experience related to daily administration of all routine business operations and activities including budget management, project coordination and establishing/maintaining client relationships

Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

A demonstrated record of managerial success, collaborations across diverse populations, and commitment to access and inclusion.

Practical experience in the fields of human-centered design or design research, student recruitment, enrollment, retention, advising/counseling, faculty support, and community engagement.

Demonstrated experience in change management and process improvement, to include organizational development for potential major shifts in structure.

Proven ability to define issues, strategically plan options, and define solutions; implement changes within targeted time frames.

Familiarity with information systems, regulatory compliance and business operations, particularly in higher education.

Strong software skills including Microsoft Office suite.

Ability to compile and maintain thorough and accurate data and records; superior attention to detail and organizational skills.

Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Demonstrated ability to maintain professional relationships with a wide range of faculty, students, staff, and community partners.

Track record of working effectively and collaboratively with the leadership of an academic center or department.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

Master’s degree or equivalent professional experience in global or international studies, human centered design, or a related field.

Experience with honors programs and colleges, as well as international, human centered design, and study abroad programs.

Experience with web design and social media platforms, as well as software and collaborative platforms such as Canvas, Zoom, Trello, Flipsnack, WordPress, and Mural.

Application Process:
The application process for UW positions may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process.  These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others.  Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.