Director of Administration Internal Only

Executive Counsel and Strategy (35%)

• Serves as a top advisor to the dean and deans leadership team on matters ranging from long-range strategy to personnel providing counsel on proactive responses to unanticipated issues or opportunities.
• Advances the strategic initiatives and agenda of the dean and the College from inception planning and development to management execution and assessment. Monitors progress and ensures alignment with the universitys goals.
• Acts as a point of contact between the Dean and senior management team staff students and other stakeholders. Addresses concerns facilitates communication and contributes to building a positive and collaborative work environment.
• Handles routine responses and requests on behalf of the dean.
• Advises and supports dean on communications with chairs & directors donors and other key stakeholders through vehicles such as memos letters speech preparation and talking points.
• Works with communications team to develop material to promote College plans and priorities.
• Works closely with the dean and executive associate to the Dean to ensure overall scheduling matches priorities and ensures the Executive Dean has preparatory materials for meetings and events.

Executive Support and Project Management (30%)

• Assumes responsibility for new projects programs or efforts assigned by the dean.
• Provides leadership on behalf of the dean in areas such as report writing research and related data collection or crisis management as they arise.
• Contributes to the development implementation and modifications to policies and procedures as appropriate. Ensure alignment with the College and universitys values goals and compliance requirements.
• Attends meetings on behalf of the dean or the College Office.
• Monitors progress on key initiatives.
• Active participation in the Colleges strategic planning process
• Works closely with the Public Affairs and Communications team in the advancement of brand strategy and enhancement ensuring consistency across all touchpoints and enhancing the KU brand. Coordinate all public relations initiatives media relations and responses to manage the organizations and deans public image and reputation.
• Working with the Executive Associate ensures that the dean is prepared for meetings and events by seeing that background material agendas or other critical details for relevant calendar items are provided.

Personnel Management and Development (15%)

• Supervises the Deans Office administrative staff working with the dean and associate deans to establish goals polices and standards for support.
• Supervises the Director of Public Affairs and Communications for the College
• Ensures the Dean and Associate Deans have sufficient staff support.
• Facilitates communication builds morale and shares best practices to build and sustain a cohesive team.
• Coordinates the hiring management development and coaching of the deans office staff. Ensures that timely performance reviews are completed for Deans Office personnel.
• Reviews position descriptions for accuracy. Handles disciplinary and performance matters as needed.
• Collaborates with the Executive Associate on efforts to enhance staff professional development and other staff support throughout the Colleges 50-plus departments programs and centers.

Advancement (15%)

• Manages the Colleges Advisory Board composed primarily of alumni. Includes planning meeting objectives and agendas managing outgoing and incoming members and tracking projects resulting from advisory board discussions.
• Manages the Colleges Distinguished Alumni Award from nomination to recognition.
• Partners with the College team at KU Endowment on major gift strategy assisting with donor stewardship and acknowledgement.
• Aligns Colleges annual giving campaigns and strategy to KU Endowment annual giving calendar.
• Oversees administration of key awards in the College

Other Duties as Assigned (5%)

• Participates in professional development activities staying informed of higher education trends best practices and relevant policies. Attends conferences and workshops to enhance professional knowledge and skills.

.
Disclaimer
The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race color ethnicity religion sex national origin age ancestry disability status as a veteran sexual orientation marital status parental status gender identity gender expression and genetic information in the universitys programs and activities. Retaliation is also prohibited by university policy. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies and is the Title IX coordinator for all KU and KUMC campuses: Associate Vice Chancellor for the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Room 1082 Dole Human Development Center 1000 Sunnyside Avenue Lawrence KSTTY.

Work Schedule
Monday - Friday 8am - 5pm with some nights and weekends

Contact Information to Applicants
Linda Luckey Assistant Dean
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

1. Masters degree and 5 years of related experience OR Bachelors degree and 7 years of related experience in executive support.
2. Five years of progressive leadership responsibility as demonstrated through career progression history.
3. One years experience with project management and reporting.
4. One year of supervisory experience.
5. Excellent written and communication skills as evidenced in application materials.
6. Experience in handling sensitive and confidential information with discretion and integrity as evidenced by past positions.

This position requires a formal degree in the cited discipline area(s) to ensure that candidates have advanced knowledge analytical skills and professional competencies necessary to perform the duties of the position. The level of degree is commonly recognized as the standard qualification for similar roles in the public and private sector ensuring that the university remains competitive with industry aligned practices enhances collaboration with external partners and supports the delivery of services and programs that meet professional and market-driven expectations.

1. Ph. D. or professional terminal degree.
2. Proven experience in a leadership role in high education administration as demonstrated in application materials.
3. Proficiency in data interpretation and collection.
4. Previous work experience that required exceptional strategic thinking and problem-solving skills as evidenced in application materials.
5. Work experience that required managing multiple priorities and tasks simultaneously as demonstrated in application materials.
6. Previous work experience that required strong interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to influence and communicate effectively with all levels of the organization and stakeholders.

Position Overview
Reporting to the Executive Dean of the College (dean) the Director of Administration serves as the primary internal and external liaison to the dean. This position is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the deans vision and priorities through strategic communications prioritization and tracking of projects and initiatives and coordination among staff and leadership team. The Director stays in close and regular contact with the dean to stay abreast of priorities and evolving concerns enabling the Director to advise the dean and act and speak on the deans behalf when directed.

The director develops and maintains close working relationships with counterparts in major university offices including the Provosts Office KU Alumni Association KU IT Office of Research and KU Endowment to ensure open communication and progress on issues affecting the College.

The director supervises all office support staff and other professional staff at the direction of the dean. This position is full-time in-office with occasional responsibilities that fall outside of the traditional work hours. This position requires a high level of confidentiality and attention to detail. Applications will remain confidential to the search committee until the final round of interviews.

Additional Candidate Instruction
In addition to the online application the following documents are required to be considered for this position:

• Cover letter describing how you meet the required and preferred qualifications.
• Resume
• List of three (3) professional references.

Only complete applications will be considered.

Application review begins Tuesday May 5 2026. To ensure consideration please apply by that date.