Assistant Director of Human Resources – College of Communication and Information - UTK

The Assistant Director serves as the strategic HR leader for the College of Communication and Information (CCI), overseeing all HR functions for over 400 faculty, staff, and student employees. This key role provides expert counsel on personnel strategy, data-driven HR analytics, and position management, ensuring alignment with budgetary constraints and university policy. Responsibilities encompass full-cycle faculty and staff recruitment, strategic collaboration with central university HR offices, interpretation and application of complex HR policies, guidance to management on payroll and personnel matters, oversight of career development initiatives, and supervision of HR staff. As a trusted advisor to CCI leadership and employees, the Assistant Director addresses a broad range of employee relations, compensation, and other complex HR issues.

Comprehensive HR Leadership

• Oversee all HR functions for 400+ faculty, staff, and student employees.

• Supervise staff in processing daily personnel actions (hires, rehires, transfers, pay changes, leave applications, payroll, terminations), ensuring accuracy and compliance.

• Ensure compliance with federal employment laws and university policies.

• Monitor salary allocations, review position assignments, and validate budget alignment for new positions or changes.

• Act as CCI's central liaison with university offices on personnel and payroll matters.

HR Analysis, Assessment, and Reporting

• Leverage HR data from the ERP system to generate insightful reports on personnel and positions, informing strategic decision-making across all HR functional areas.

• Research and recommend best practices to support new HR initiatives and program analysis.

• Identify and implement process improvements to enhance efficiency, empower faculty and staff, and optimize resource utilization.

• Oversee labor distribution reconciliation process for all CCI assignments and individual compensations.

Compensation and Recruitment Management

• Lead the full-cycle recruitment and hiring process for all faculty, staff, and student positions.

• Develop and execute an effective onboarding plan to integrate new employees into the CCI community.

• Partner with HR Compensation to analyze staff salaries, identify market gaps and equity concerns, and develop plans to address these findings, including forecasting funding for strategic staffing and creating career paths.

• Manage college position description review process, conduct analyses in consultation with departments to determine work is described correctly and identifies gaps in content areas, making recommendations to unit leadership regarding creation of new positions to fill gaps.

Employee Relations and Organizational Development Leadership

• Partner with Employee Relations, EOA, and Ombuds Services to address and resolve employee relations issues, ensuring compliance and equitable treatment for all employees.

• Provide leadership to the dean, department heads, directors, and supervisors in all aspects of staff employee relations including disciplinary actions, conflict/dispute resolution and performance management.

• Review and approve plans to eliminate or reduce staff positions due to reorganization or lack of funding.

• Assess training and development needs of the college and plans resources accordingly.

Required Qualifications:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in business administration, human resources, or related field.

• Experience: Three years of progressively responsible experience in a general human resources role.

• Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities: Knowledge of HR rules and regulations at the federal, state, and institutional levels. Strong leadership and organizational skills. Ability to interpret and explain policies. Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Skills necessary to research complex issues, analyze information, present data, and make effective recommendations. Ability to respond to and address employee and leadership concerns. Ability to meet deadlines. Ability to maintain confidentiality.

Preferred Qualification:

• Education: Master’s degree in business administration, human resources, or related field.

• Experience: Experience in higher education administration or operations. Experience in a leadership or managerial role. Experience with employee relations, policy compliance, and strategic planning.

• Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities: Well developed conflict resolution skills and strategic planning skills. Demonstrated creative thinking, analytical and problem-solving skills.

Work Location

• Location: Knoxville, TN

• Onsite, Hybrid, or Remote: Onsite

Compensation and Benefits

• UT market range: MR12

• Anticipated hiring range: $72,000-$80,000

• Find more information on the UT Market Range structure here

• Find more information on UT Benefits here

Application Instructions

To express interest, please submit an application with the noted below attachments:

• Resume

• Cover Letter

• Please note: Finalists must provide three professional references, including a current or most recent direct supervisor.

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without need now or in the future for sponsorship for employment-based visa status.

About The College/Department/Division

At the College of Communication and Information, we strive to ignite students’ passions so they can carry on the torch of excellence. Once they become a part of the CCI community, they’ll learn to be innovative leaders, thinkers, and Volunteers in whatever calling they choose to follow in the communication and information world.

We are part of a Land Grant Institution embedded in communities to make those communities a better place. Our alumni, students, faculty, and staff strive to positively impact the lives of people in our state through our teaching, scholarship, creative work, and through our engagement and service. CCI as a college is well poised to deliver upon all of those areas to become the most nationally distinctive but locally relevant College of Communication and Information in the country.