Reporting to the Principal Business Manager the Assistant Business Manager in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department within the Tickle College of Engineering supports departmental financial operations and human resources functions by ensuring accurate processing of financial transactions and maintaining compliance with university and agency policies. The position assists departmental leadership with oversight of fiscal processes, personnel document workflows, budget activities, and administrative operations. This role represents the department professionally and supports faculty, staff, and students by providing guidance related to fiscal responsibilities and HR procedures.

Required Qualifications

• Education and Experience: High school diploma or GED and 6-8 years of accounting or business management experience

• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

  • Knowledge of basic accounting principles.

  • Skill in communication, customer service, and organization.

  • Ability to multitask and work independently.

  • Ability to prioritize a heavy workload.

  • Skill in time management.

  • Ability to work both independently and within a team.

  • Skill in interpersonal communication.

  • Knowledge of Microsoft Office.

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.

Preferred Qualifications

• Education:

  • Associate degree or bachelor's degree in a related field with 4-6 years of accounting or business management experience

  • Other licenses/certifications related to accounting, or human resources management fields.

• Experience:

  • Experience in an academic environment.

  • Experience working with foreign nationals and non-native English speakers.

  • Experience in recruiting, hiring, or employee relations.

• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

  • Knowledge of state and federal contracts and grant financial requirements.

  • Knowledge of UT fiscal and HR policies and procedures.

  • Knowledge of financial and personnel management systems such as Oracle Huron and DASH.

  • Knowledge of personnel processes including hiring, I-9 E-verification, and USCIS visa procedures.

Work Location

• Location: Knoxville, TN

• Onsite

Compensation and Benefits

• UT market range: MR 11
• Anticipated hiring range: $70,000 - $75,000
• 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

About The Department

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) has 30 tenure-line faculty members and five non-tenured full-time teaching faculty and offers baccalaureate, masters, and PhD degrees in all areas of Civil and Environmental Engineering. CEE faculty collaborate through a number of interdisciplinary centers including the Center for Transportation Research and the Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing. The department also has excellent experimental facilities to support structural engineering research, including a full-scale platform for 3-D concrete printing and a 2000 square-foot structural engineering high bay laboratory with strong floor, reaction wall, and distributed hydraulic power. High performance computing resources are available from the UTK ISAAC facility (Infrastructure for Scientific Applications and Advanced Computing).

As the leading university partner in UT-Battelle, the management company for Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), UTK offers extraordinary opportunities for cutting-edge research in science and engineering with the UT-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute (UT-ORII). The department ranks in the top 5% of all US Civil and Environmental Engineering programs in per faculty scholarly publications and citations according to Academic Analytics.

The Assistant Business Manager performs financial administrative and human resources responsibilities that support the department’s daily operations.

Financial responsibilities include processing journal entries and financial transactions for accounts payable, accounts receivable, procurement card activity, and travel. The position assists with documentation for sponsored projects, reconciles departmental accounts including scholarships startup accounts and fee for service accounts and reviews labor distribution and effort certification data. The role evaluates the allowability of funding changes prepares non labor cost transfer documentation assists faculty with purchasing activity on sponsored projects supports recharge center activities handles accounts receivable collections and assists with invoice creation distribution and analysis. The position helps set up and manage labor distribution schedules and runs reports for analysis and validation.

Human resources responsibilities include coordinating personnel documents such as hiring packets terminations, retirement forms, leave of absence requests, faculty development leave packets, and final paycheck forms. The role ensures compliance with I-9 E-verification requirements serves as the hiring manager for departmental recruitments oversees job postings candidate file dissemination job offer transactions and onboarding activities. The Assistant Business Manager manages Net ID requests for guest travelers and pending employee processes and visiting scholar entries. The position collaborates with College HR Campus HR and CIE staff to maintain compliance with fiscal and HR policies. The role also facilitates H one B and J one visa processes works closely with CGE to ensure completion of visa documentation evaluates department position titles for Actual Wage Certification confirms financial support commitments monitors work authorization expirations ensures foreign national check in and orientation completion and manages OPIc testing requirements for graduate teaching assistants. The position processes additional work payments, service awards, and assists with administrative duties for faculty searches faculty development leave cases and promotion and tenure cases.

Procurement responsibilities include supporting orders for equipment, office supplies, lab supplies, chemicals, and classroom materials. The Assistant Business Manager ensures appropriate approvals, prepares requisitions contracts and non-competitive justification submissions confirms delivery and setup requirements, manages asset inventory and supports annual inventory processes. The position assists employees with procurement card transactions completes required P Card and T Card training tracks procurement activity reconciles receipts manage audit requests addresses fraudulent activity concerns and oversees receiving and distribution of goods while maintaining unit records.

Administrative responsibilities include assisting with timetable entry running trend analysis reports, maintaining departmental account files monitoring record retention supporting departmental events providing customer service to faculty staff and students answering phone calls and greeting visitors as needed.