The department of Earth Sciences offers undergraduate majors in geography, geology, GIS/planning, paleontology and snow science. Graduate students can pursue Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy in Earth Sciences Programs. The Department serves over 250 undergraduate students and approximately 50 graduate students.
The Business Operations Manager provides high level of administrative and management support to the operation of the Earth Sciences Department. This includes serving as an assistant for the Department Head; providing fiscal oversight and budget management for all departmental funds, including monitoring expenditures, managing Pcard activity, performing analyses, providing budget projections, and reallocation of resources when necessary; coordinating events, supervising other staff in the office; and administering the day-to-day operations of the department.
The Business Operations Manager provides high level of administrative and management support to the operation of the Earth Sciences Department. This includes serving as an assistant for the Department Head; providing fiscal oversight and budget management for all departmental funds, including monitoring expenditures, managing Pcard activity, performing analyses, providing budget projections, and reallocation of resources when necessary; coordinating events, supervising other staff in the office; and administering the day-to-day operations of the department.
Duties and Responsibilities
Assistant to the Department Head
- Works closely with the Department Head to facilitate overall operations.
- Provides departmental 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 many accounting and all budgeting functions for the Department.
- Budgets and oversees the state index including main salaries and operations.
- Prepares budgets for graduate student programs, graders, and all events, including conferences and/or student field trips.
- Serves as account manager for purchasing card transactions, including monthly report compilation.
- Processes faculty travel and student scholarships.
- Serves as departmental liaison with College of Letters and Sciences Fiscal Services for the centralized accounting services.
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 staff.
HR Liaison
- Serves as the first contact person for hiring and payroll issues.
- Creates and processes various types of appointments, for faculty (tenure track and non-tenure track), staff, graduate and undergraduate students.
- Processes tax forms and all required new employee forms, conducts pre-payroll audits, reconciles payroll, submits EPAF’s, and approves timesheets.
Operations Manager
- Oversees the daily functions, workloads, and services of the department.
- Provides support for curriculum assessment activities, and for Promotion and Tenure processes.
- Oversees department property management for departmental offices, common space, classrooms, conference room, and research lab property issues for 14 TT faculty and 7 NTT faculty covering all of the basement, 1st and 2nd floors of Traphagen Hall and some research lab space in Gaines Hall and Leon Johnson Hall, including:
- E-scrap inventory and arrangement of disposal
- Sensitive and minor inventory tracking
- Classroom and common space design, material purchase, and implementation
- Disposal of surplus property
- Working with multiple on-campus and off-campus offices and multiple funding sources during management of these duties
- Assisting new faculty hires with the purchasing, renovation and setup of new offices and research space.
- Supervises the Program Coordinator II position and student employees.
Required Qualifications – Experience, Education, Knowledge & Skills
- Progressively responsible administrative/office management experience with an emphasis on fiscal management and customer service.
- Demonstrated competence managing fiscal and budget records, generating multiple reports and communicating complex information effectively to various constituents (student, staff, faculty, professionals).
- Demonstrated competence organizing and managing large events, and/or prioritizing multiple work assignments, meeting deadlines, and exercising adaptability to changing priorities while maintaining a positive, effective, and professional attitude.
- Demonstrated experience creating and editing correspondence and a wide variety of documents to be disseminated to the public.
- 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.
- Demonstrated supervisory 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 Earth Sciences Department, 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 June 12, 2025; however, applications will continue to be accepted until an adequate applicant pool has been established.
Special Instructions
EEO Statement
Montana State University is an equal opportunity employer. MSU does not discriminate against any applicant on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, political ideas, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, national origin, physical or mental disability, or any other protected class status in violation of any applicable law.
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.
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.
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