Job Details

Business Manager: Department of Psychology - UTK

Position Number: 6300768
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Position Type: Business and Financial Management

Business Manager: Department of Psychology - UTK
Knoxville, TN, United States

Job Identification: 3449
Job Category: Financial
Posting Date: 06/13/2025
Job Schedule: Full Time
Locations: 1403 Circle Drive, Knoxville, TN, 37996, US (On-site)

Job Description
The Business Manager manages the financial activities of the Department of Psychology and the Psychological Clinic and ensures that these activities are in compliance with applicable university, state, and federal policies and regulations. This involves the management and oversight of financial and human resource activities for more than 50 tenure-track and non-tenure faculty, 100 graduate assistants, 7 fulltime staff, and up to two dozen regular and temporary research and student personnel. This position ensures collection and reconciliation of income for the Psychological Clinic, course fees, internal memoranda of understanding with UT divisions and departments, and multiple external contracts. This position prepares the annual budget, manages over 60 COA and POETAF account strings, and provides data and analysis to the department head for use in strategic planning and in decisions related to the use of departmental resources.

As delegated by the department head, this position carries full signature authority for specific fiscal and human resource related matters of the department and the Psychological Clinic. This position is expected to create or revise departmental practices to ensure compliance with policy and the effective use of limited discretionary resources. This position manages the limited resources of sponsored projects and grants, gift accounts, startups, and income accounts to ensure the department and its stakeholders can achieve teaching and research objectives. This position provides analysis and makes budgetary decisions that affect the department's ability to efficiently manage its operating funds and startup budgets, make constructive decisions, and achieve long-term strategic objectives that contribute to the success of the department, College of Arts & Sciences, and the University.

Responsibilities
Financial Management

Prepare annual budget, verifying that the submitted budget balances, managing departmental budget throughout the fiscal year, making budget adjustments as needed and ensuring that expenditures do not exceed the total sources of funds.
Create and manage labor distributions to ensure salaries, fringe benefits, and individual compensations are debited from the appropriate department and external accounts.
Provide budget projections to department head to assist in decision making regarding allocation of resources.
Provide financial analysis for use in strategic planning.
Manage sponsored projects for department faculty and students, including providing proposal preparation in coordination with college research staff, estimating personnel costs and fringe, calculating direct and indirect costs to assist with project expenditures, coordinating effort certification for faculty and research assistants, and compiling Schedule of Final Charges during project closeouts.
Provide financial data for departmental reporting purposes, including external accreditation obligations and fundraising activities.
Interpret UT Finance and Procurement policies and procedures as well as Uniform Guidance and Federal Acquisition Regulation and communicate policy interpretation to faculty, staff, and students in the department.
Establish necessary departmental procedures to ensure policy compliance.

Human Resources

Budget salary positions on centrally funded department accounts, including split allocations for forty tenure-track faculty and over 100 graduate teaching assistants.
Delegate and approve HCM transactions in DASH, including various hiring actions, assignment and position changes, terminations, and individual compensations, awards.
Supervise three fulltime staff, including a Financial Associate, Accounting Specialist, and Administrative Associate.
Develop departmental workflow and procedures to process HCM transactions in compliance with UT policies.
Coordinate with the department head and associate heads to plan graduate student assignments each year.
Write and revise external contracts to supplement graduate student placements at external sites.
Plan graduate assistant assignment changes throughout the year and adjust account budgets as needed, including transitioning graduate assistants to and from sponsored projects or the Psychological Clinic.
Manage temporary student hires for startups, sponsored projects, and various University programs.
Review and reconcile monthly and biweekly payroll distributions.

General Accounting

Utilize DASH activity codes to oversee individual spending allocations for over fifty tenure-line and non-tenure faculty to ensure equitable and strategic use of annual discretionary budget.
Delegate preparation and approvals of purchase orders, invoices, contracts, miscellaneous reimbursements, T-27s, etc.
Oversee distribution of petty cash funds to support department research.
Manage asset creation for sensitive minor equipment.
Track expenditures and request reimbursement from funding sources outside the department, including the College of Arts & Sciences, Graduate School, and Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.
Delegate journal entries to staff to transfer expenses as necessary.
Coordinate with college leadership to revise department budgets.
Manage gift card requests and reconcile gift card balances each year.
Create/maintain and assign expenses to department and sponsored project account strings.
Create/revise and prepare departmental contracts for entry into Agiloft.
Prepare scholarship authorizations/Scholarship Manager submissions for Financial Aid.

Monthly Processes

Monitor and ensure budgetary fidelity for over 60 active department accounts for the department and Clinic, including four centrally funded accounts and three income accounts.
Utilize DASH reports to oversee monthly updates of sponsored projects, startup accounts, and Faculty Academic Fund allocations for faculty.
Oversee the review and approval of monthly expense reports for procurement cards and travel.
Prepare regular variance reports for College of Arts & Sciences finance leadership.

Annual Reporting

Prepare and submit annual Petty Cash, Gift Card, and Accounts Receivable reconciliations.
Track and manage requests for recoveries and reimbursements from multiple units across the university.
Oversee annual Equipment and Space Inventory processes.
Assist with startup budgets for new tenure-track faculty.
Prepare annual budget documents for departmental accounts.
Track eligibility and oversee purchases and reimbursements for Technology Fee and Computer Upgrade Requests.

Qualifications
Required Qualifications

Education and Experience: Bachelor's Degree with 4 years of accounting/financial experience including 3 years of supervisory experience; Associate's Degree with 8 years of accounting experience including 3 years supervisory experience; High School diploma with 12 years of accounting/financial experience including 3 years of supervisory experience

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

Knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles.
Ability to work with others and/or give direction to faculty, staff, and students.
Skill set to include aptitude for close attention to details.
Excellent organizational skills.
Problem-solving skills.
Ability to integrate and analyze information for the generation of reports.
Knowledge of Uniform Guidance and Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).

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 visa status.

Preferred Qualifications

Education and Experience: Master's Degree with 5 years of financial or accounting experience with grants and contracts management

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

Knowledge of DASH, Cayuse, and Argos.
Knowledge of Outlook, Excel, SharePoint, Adobe, and other software.
Previous experience in higher education or academic departmental accounting.
Experience in grant and contract accounting and/or management.

Work Location: Onsite at the University of TN, Knoxville

Compensation and Benefits

UT market range: 13
Anticipated hiring range: $90,000 - $105,000 DOE&Q
Find more information on the UT Market Range structure here
Find more information on UT Benefits here

Application Instructions: For full consideration, interested individuals should provide a cover letter addressing professional experience relevant to each required minimum qualification, a resume, and complete contact information for 3 professional references. Screening of applicants will begin immediately and will continue until the position has been filled.

About Us
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has shaped leaders, changemakers, and innovative thinkers since its founding in 1794. The university is home to more than 38,000 students and 10,000 statewide employees-the Volunteers-who uphold the university's tradition of lighting the way for others through leadership and service.

UT Knoxville offers over 900 programs of study across 14 degree-granting colleges and schools. As Tennessee's flagship land-grant university, its footprint spans the entire state. The university holds the highest Carnegie classification for research activity and has deep partnerships with industry leaders and the US Department of Energy's largest multidisciplinary laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The Knoxville campus serves and recruits for UT Knoxville, including the Institute of Agriculture and the Space Institute, as well as the UT Institute of Public Service.

UT Knoxville considers its employees its number one asset. With values that focus on work-life balance, compensation, and innovation leadership, all Vols are supported to advance professionally. Employees have access to career development and coaching, continued education, and an extensive list of development and training possibilities. The Volunteer employee experience implements structures and practices that attract and retain a diverse community and that support a culture where everyone matters and belongs.

The university holds a strong commitment to its land-grant mission of learning and engagement, with a tradition of service and leadership that carries that Volunteer spirit throughout the state and around the world. It has been ranked nationally as "Best Employer for New Graduates," "One of America's Best Large Employers," and "Best Workplace for Women," and has been designated as "Best Place for Working Parents" by Forbes Magazine.

Apply today and join the Tennessee Volunteer community!

To apply, visit https://fa-ewlq-saasfaprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/job/3449/?mode=location