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Job Category: Limited

Employment Type: Regular

Job Profile: Associate Dean (B)

Job Summary:

The Associate Dean of Operations & External Relations is a senior level administrator providing overall management and direction across Extension's internal operations, policy development, and external relations, including both elected and nonelected county, state, federal, and tribal partners. This role will collaborate with and report to the Dean of UW-Madison's Division of Extension. The Associate Dean will supervise two Assistant Deans responsible for oversight of Extension's partnerships and program delivery across all 72 counties in Wisconsin. The Associate Dean also supervises the Directors of units providing division-wide services including human resources, communications, information technology, access and inclusion, and finance, as well as specialists responsible for facilities, planning, policy and administrative management.

Successful applicants will need to have significant work experience as an organizational leader as they step into working as part of leadership within Extension to create the conditions that facilitate effective delivery of Extension education across Wisconsin.

Principle Duties

The Associate Dean of Operations & External Relations will be responsible for performing the following tasks:

Organizational Strategy and Decision-Making

• Provide strategic insight and direction for operations, policy development, and external relations.
• As part of leadership, assess how to efficiently and effectively support the delivery of Extension programming across Wisconsin.
• Maintain policies and procedures, and develop systems to support overall Extension operations including strategic planning, division-wide policy development and management, personnel management, technology, budget, facilities, and internal and external communications.

Divisional Leadership

• Work in partnership with the Academic Associate Deans in providing critical support for their programming priorities.
• Work with the Assistant Deans to engage external partners to solicit their needs and priorities, and align them with Extension capacity and expertise.
• Work with the operations units and specialists to streamline services and align work to address customer needs and priorities in the areas of budget, human resources, communications, information technology, access and inclusion, facilities, planning, and policy.
• Serve as a core member of the Deans Executive Team by contributing to and developing policies and strategies to advance Extension's work.

Partnership Management

• Align annual strategic initiatives in coordination with Assistant Deans and Operational units.
• Regularly engage with administrative leadership at UW-Madison, including the Offices of: Legal Affairs, University Relations, the Provost, the Chancellor, Risk Management, the Comptroller, and others as needed to address issues and ensure alignment between Extension and campus.
• Engage with administrative leaders in other Schools, Colleges and Divisions on campus to work on issues of share interest and/or impact.

Budget Management

• Manage overall budget for Operations and the Dean's Office.
• Develop strategies to diversify funding sources for Extension's priorities.

Staff Management

• Supervise Operation Directors, Assistant Deans for Geographies, and operations specialists.

External Relations

• Build relationships with federal, state, local and tribal officials to address mutual priorities and secure external funding.
• Engage with administrative leadership of other Extension organizations, particularly those in the North Central region.
• Develop new and strengthen existing key strategic partnerships with nonprofit and nongovernment organizations.

Statewide Location

Division of Extension headquarters are located within Madison, WI

Partial Remote

This position may require some work to be performed in-person, onsite, at a designated campus work location. Some work may be performed remotely, at an offsite, non-campus work location. Remote work requires an approved remote work agreement (RWA). A RWA requires successful candidates to possess their own high-speed internet and phone to perform the work on a university provided computer. Per University policy, transportation between home and assigned work location is not payable/reimbursable and will be at the expense of the employee.

This position has the possibility of working up to 2 days remote per week.

Evening/Weekend Work

This position may be required to work occasional nights and weekends to meet the divisional needs and priorities of the communities served.

Travel Expectations

It is expected that employees will make individual arrangements for transportation adequate to meet position responsibilities and essential job functions.Read more about UW-Madison Driver Authorization.

Applicants are required to: Have a valid drivers license and a reliable source of independent transportation for periodic in-state work travel, and/or comply with requirements for UW-Madison vehicle use authorization.

Key Job Responsibilities:

• Builds consensus and develops collegial, collaborative working relationships with a broad range of stakeholders, partners with administrative and academic departments to support initiatives, and gathers input from key stakeholders to support recommendations

• May exercise supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 FTE or equivalent employees

• Serves on various university review committees, working with a wide range of constituencies including the Faculty Senate, Deans and Associate Deans, General Counsel, and University Leadership

• Provides leadership for one or more academic programs by establishing strategic direction and setting priorities that align with the academic directives of the Dean, and ensures units effectively carry out duties in a way that best supports the university's initiatives, strategic direction, and academic mission; provides direct supervision of department/program leadership and monitors compliance with laws, regulations, university policies and procedures, and relevant contractual obligations

• Advises and collaborates with the Dean, Assistant Deans, and/or Office of the Provost on critical issues, represents the functional area of supervision at appropriate meetings and events as requested; and serves on and/or leads various program and/or university committees as directed to address issues

• Directs on-going assessment and continuous improvement of academic programs and services by guiding the establishment of annual goals, ensuring progress towards goals is met, articulating challenges, and reporting on annual outcomes and achievements for programs/services

• Ensures initiatives are effectively using program assessment and data analysis to improve initiatives and strategies, identifies opportunities for improvement, and makes recommendations to the Dean for approval

• Leads special initiatives and/or academic programs that require senior leadership attention with respect to program design, planning, coordination, and interaction with internal and external stakeholders

Department:
Division of Extension, Office of the Dean is hiring for an Associate Dean of Operations & External Relations.

Compensation:
Starting salary will be based on experience and qualifications. Well-qualified applicants can anticipate earning between $165,000 and $190,000, with final salary determined by experience and qualifications.

This position offers a comprehensive benefits package, including generous paid time off, competitively priced health/dental/vision/life insurance, tax-advantaged savings accounts, and participation in the nationally recognized Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) pension fund. Please review thesummary of benefitsfor more information.

Required Qualifications:

• At least five years of management experience within a complex organization.
• Demonstrated record as a proven leader and manager of employees.
• Demonstrated record of building effective working relationships with internal and external entities.
• Experience developing and implementing organizational policies.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience managing a physically distributed workforce.
• Experience and understanding of the Extension mission.
• Experience working within a Land Grant University or large public institution.
• Experience working with local, state and/or federal elected officials.
• Experience and understanding of how to engage and support fundraising and philanthropic approaches to diversify funding.
• Understanding of Native Nations Governance and Sovereignty and ability to work with diverse tribes

Education:
Required Education

Master's degree required

Preferred Education

Earned terminal degree preferred

How to Apply:
We are eager to learn more about how your experience and passion may align with this position. To begin the application process, click the "apply now" button. You will be prompted to upload the following documents:

• Resume
• Letter of Qualifications (cover letter)

Please note when applying, there will beonly one attachment field. You must uploadall your documents in the attachment field. Please submit a cover letter referring to your work experience and a resume detailing your educational and professional background as it relates to this position. Your cover letter should communicate your interest in the position and how your skillset aligns with the role. The application reviewers will be relying on written application materials to determine who may advance to preliminary interviews.Failure to upload all required materials may result in your application not being considered.

For additional guidance and resources on how to tailor your application materials to the job posting, please clickhttps://extension.wisc.edu/careers/.

Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without need of employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment. Additionally UW-MadisoncannotemployF-1STEM OPTExtension participants, because UW-Madison does not meet the E-Verify employer requirement.

This position has been identified as a position of trust. The selected candidate will be required to pass an initial caregiver check to be eligible for employment under the Wisconsin Caregiver Act and every four years.

Application Deadline is October 4, 2026 at 11:59pm (CDT).
Contact Information:
Sara Dawson

608-890-2629

[email protected]

Paul DeLong

[email protected]