Director of Human Resources, College of Liberal Arts

Job Posting Title

Director of Human Resources, College of Liberal Arts ----

Hiring Department

College of Liberal Arts ----

Position Open To

All Applicants ----

Weekly Scheduled Hours

40 ----

FLSA Status

Exempt from FLSA ----

Earliest Start Date

Oct 19, 2026 ----

Position Duration

Expected to Continue ----

Location

UT MAIN CAMPUS ----

Job Details

General Notes

What benefits do I receive with UT?  The university offers an impressive benefits package. For more details on benefits, please see: https://hr.utexas.edu/prospective/benefits and https://hr.utexas.edu/current/services/my-total-rewards .

For more information about the College of Liberal Arts, please visit: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/ .

Our college seeks to build a supportive, growth-minded community and cultivate outstanding and courageous leaders. For more information on the college staff leadership academy, please visit:

https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/resources-for-faculty-staff/staff-leadership-academy/ .

For more information on college staff professional development, please visit:

https://wikis.utexas.edu/display/larc/Staff+Professional+Development+Fund .

Purpose

Provides strategic leadership and oversight for all human resources functions within the College of Liberal Arts, serving as the principal advisor to the Dean and college leadership on HR matters and ensuring effective workforce planning, compliance, talent management, and HR operations. Directs HR strategy, operations, and talent management initiatives to ensure alignment with college and university priorities, legal and policy requirements, and the effective administration of human resources services across the college.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Leadership: Oversee human resources for the college. Serve as member of COLA’s leadership team as primary executive advising Dean and other COLA leaders on strategic HR matters. Represent COLA at the university level as the primary HR liaison with Human Resource Services, the President’s Office, Provost’s Office, University Risk & Compliance Services, Legal Affairs, and other offices across campus. Represent the college on committees, task forces, and leadership forums, and build productive partnerships with central offices and HR colleagues across the institution. Collaborate with leadership team on developing policies and implementing best practices.
• Workforce Planning & Management: Partner with COLA leadership to develop and implement workforce strategies, organizational structures, talent management initiatives, and governance practices aligned with college priorities. Collaborate with leaders within COLA and across the university to navigate change and ensure effective HR operations aligned with the strategic mission of the college and the university. Keep abreast of policy and procedural changes in all areas. Provide reporting to advise on policy matters. Work closely with chairs, directors and department managers to advise and support unit-level HR matters. Provide additional support during leadership and staffing transitions.
• Compliance: Review processes for and execute university compliance efforts on behalf of COLA, in partnership with the Dean. Enforce and facilitate COLA’s compliance with university and college policies, State and Federal laws, and university ethical guidelines, especially in matters of employment and related HR matters, including communication, reporting, and follow-up. Ensure timely and accurate responses to internal audit requests and external open records requests involving HR matters.
• HR Operations: Oversee HR business processes in Workday for college. Ensure appropriate security role assignments in Workday for college staff working on HR matters. Develop and oversee organization alignments in Workday to ensure compliance and efficiency across the College. Partner with Assistant Dean for Finance & Administration to oversee and maintain COLA operations. Help lead faculty promotion review, salary adjustments, student mass processing, and other large-scale HR processes. Perform audits on college structure and employee roles; evaluate processing needs on both unit and function bases and provide recommendations for optimal function. Serve as timekeeping and time off lead for the college. Serve as timekeeper for Dean’s Office staff. Primary liaison with EBiTs. Provide training to COLA staff on HR issues and processes.
• Performance Management: distribute, interpret, and enforce policies; meet with senior staff to emphasize important issues, communicate upcoming changes, and solicit ideas for improvement and innovation around best practices; ensure receipt and logging of staff annual appraisals; oversee merit process; oversee staff awards processes; receive complaints; consult and coach on performance issues; carry out investigations in collaboration with SWS, Title IX, DIA, & Dispute Resolution office, as needed; process disciplinary actions. Develop trusted partnerships with college and unit leadership to remain informed of personnel-related issues to help ensure effective and timely management and resolution.
• Staffing: Oversee staffing for the college, aligned with college mission, business needs, and funding. Ensure appropriate classification and compensation of positions within college. Conduct staff audits as needed; guide reorganizations and evaluate possibilities for centralizing administrative functions when appropriate. Provide college HR approvals for all position reclassifications, additional duties requests, and recruitments. Oversee recruitment of lead personnel within Dean’s Office and college units, including applicant screening, interviews, and hiring recommendations. Oversee retention efforts. Provide reporting and staffing recommendations to the Dean.
• Team Leadership and Supervision: Oversee a team of professional staff supporting all faculty, staff, and student HR functions for the college. Establish performance expectations, provide coaching and professional development, manage performance, and ensure accountability for accurate, responsive, and service-oriented HR operations; collaborate to streamline business processes and eliminate redundancy where possible.
• Other related functions as assigned.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field, and ten (10) years of progressively responsible human resources experience; Experience in higher education. Excellent interpersonal, analytical, written, oral, and presentation skills. Demonstrated ability to lead and manage difficult conversations and situations, work collaboratively with multiple constituencies in a complex organization, and build trust across a decentralized, multi-stakeholder environment. Demonstrated experience leading HR operations in a large, complex organization, with a track record of managing the full employee lifecycle across multiple employee types. Demonstrated experience leading large-scale organizational design and change initiatives in a complex, multi-departmental institution, including restructuring, workforce and organizational planning, and organizational effectiveness assessments with multiple constituencies. Supervisory or team leadership experience, including coaching and developing HR staff. Comprehensive knowledge of employment law and HR compliance relevant to higher education. Strong consultative, coaching, and conflict-resolution skills, with the ability to advise leadership on sensitive and escalated matters. Demonstrated ability to interpret complex policies, regulations, and organizational requirements and assess their operational impact. Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to build trust across a decentralized, multi-stakeholder environment. Experience supporting faculty and academic personnel processes in a complex higher education environment.