Director of Staff Affairs

Job Summary

The College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) is encouraging applications for the Director of Staff Affairs role! The College of A&S comprises more than 60 departments, programs, and centers: over 1,000 faculty, approximately 400 research faculty, and 500 non-faculty employees. The Dean's Office personnel unit is responsible for assessing and managing the human and organizational needs of the college. This position reports to the college's Sr. Director of Personnel and holds responsibility for the day-to-day oversight of A&S staff affairs. This position will be responsible for ensuring the staff affairs life cycle - cradle to grave - is comprehensively supported, processes and procedures are accurate and efficiently delivered, compliance is counseled and maintained, recognizing nuances that may require innovative solutions, ensuring that the appropriate and approved protocol is followed, and stakeholders are served in an accurate and timely manner. Additionally, this position will newly support research faculty with basic personnel actions: recruitment, hiring, promotions, merit, leave administration, performance management, and separation.

This position will implement and oversee Staff Affairs processes while partnering with their supervisor(s) and campus Centers of Excellence. This position will manage day-to-day execution of Staff Affairs HR strategies and functions while supervising Unit HR staff members. This position serves as an advisor to department leaders and the HR Senior Director to support unit priorities and operations. This position will support unit employees in all Staff Affairs HR matters while being responsible for HR standard processes and ensuring compliance with HR policies and regulations.

Areas of oversight include but are not limited to: recruitment, hiring, leave administration, performance management/merit, compensation, promotion, training/engagement, separation/retirement.

What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be

Administrative Leadership and Compliance

• Ensures compliance with federal, state, and university regulations, including EEO, FLSA, ADA, and Title VII.
• Monitors risk areas related to HR practices and advises leadership on mitigating strategies.
• Serve in an oversight capacity to bridge between the Staff Affairs transactional team and the 4 college divisions.
• Ensure compliance and equitable staff affairs policies in all units.
• Collaborate with team and necessary stakeholders to develop and review operational improvements.
• Document procedures in a clear and consistent manner.
• Maintain processes and procedures and ensure they are robust, reliable, timely and reportable.
• Ensure data is accurate and complete in order for data to be analyzed by various collaborators and used to align policy and procedure, inform deans and senior leadership (college and campus) to facilitate consistent high-level decision making and commitment tracking.
• Represents A&S at various college and campus-wide meetings.
• Responsible for completing continuous improvement initiatives that support HR practices and processes within the unit and are in alignment with campus priorities.
• Policy implementation: Ensure adherence to college, campus, system, Regents, and governmental policies, procedures, and compliance with relevant regulations.
• Ensure compliance with college standards and support leadership in gathering materials for review.
• Understand and communicate campus and unit compensation structures and pay practices. Responsible for addressing and responding to compensation inquiries.
• Provides oversight of the staff performance evaluation cycle, including development and execution of goal-setting and manager guidance.
• Responsible for working with supervisors on compensation adjustments, promotional increases, and annual reviews.
• Conduct annual equity reviews for classified and university staff, identifying compression and pay disparities.
• In partnership with A&S Sr. Director, campus HR Director and Centers of Excellence, develop unit-specific HR procedures and guidelines.

Workforce Planning, Recruitment, and Offboarding

• Supports the development and execution of onboarding strategies that are consistent and align with campus HR practices, led by A&S Engagement Director

Workforce Planning

• In partnership with the officers and A&S Sr. Director, leads planning for staffing positions and organizational development.
• Applies workforce analytics efforts to inform staffing trends, retention, and succession planning across the college.
• Evaluates classification needs and supports divisions and departments in position reorganization to meet division and college-wide priorities.

Recruitment

• Approves staff hiring proposal paperwork in partnership with the officers and ensures strategic alignment of staff positions and workloads.
• Offboarding
• Responsible for conducting exit interviews when requested and supporting unit HR staff to ensure a smooth employee exit process.

Team Supervision

• Direct and manage duty responsibility assignments to meet staff affairs goals.
• Develop and ensure the team is providing unit-level training programs in partnership with HR Director and Centers of Excellence.
• Support unit leadership and A&S Engagement Director/Manager to create action plans from the regular employee engagement survey results. In partnership with A&S Sr. HR Director create assessment strategies to continuously review and improve employee engagement.
• Analyze and review data to make informed decisions as it relates to the employee experience.
• Supervise Unit Staff Affairs HR staff members.

For Direct reports:

• Provide consistent feedback and suggestions for team professional development.
• Ensure direct reports receive training and tools needed to be successful in role.
• Approve direct reports' timesheets. Ensure there is always coverage. Provide backup for each as needed.
• Cross-train team members to ensure a point-of-contact is always available for constituents within A&S.
• Set goals and conduct performance planning and evaluation.
• Ensure personnel actions are tracked and documentation is maintained.
• Conflict mediation: Address disputes or grievances between team members and address resolutions.
• Diversity and inclusion: Promote a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion within the team; foster a collaborative and productive work environment.

Communication

• Ensure clear, proactive, and consistent communication with team and all interested parties.
• Ensure staff affairs web presence is maintained by providing updated content whenever necessary and reviewing entire site annually for accuracy.
• Serve as point of information regarding staff affairs campus and university policy, and federal and state law, for divisions/units.
• Develop and provide staff affairs trainings (scheduled and ad hoc).
• Liaise with campus stakeholders (Provost Office, HR Centers of Excellence, Affirmative Action Officer, etc.).

Operational Management

• In collaboration with the Sr. Director of Personnel and other critical college and campus collaborators (Budget office, Communication team, divisional leadership, and campus), takes ownership of process and tool clean up by participating in meetings with other partners, assisting with the identification and development of process efficiencies involving resources and tools, and assisting with the implementation and communication of updates, to improve and align college wide processes and/or policies.
• Serves as a subject matter expert and strategic advisor to college leadership on all matters related to personnel policy, risk, and best practice.
• Assist with building/integrating technology and other tools and resources to ensure effective use of administrative operations.
• Work with A&S Director of Faculty Affairs, A&S Budget and Finance, etc. to regularly evaluate, update, and align shared policies/procedures.
• Leads efforts to streamline and enhance college-wide personnel processes in collaboration with campus HR, and other interested parties.
• Champions continuous improvement initiatives and ensures new policies and tools are implemented with appropriate communication and support.
• Responsible for accurate employee records and compliance with campus practices for all HR documents and contracts.
• Represents the college at campus-level HR and administrative meetings.
• Other duties/projects as assigned that supports the HR operations of the college.

Other/Projects

• Other duties or projects as assigned that support the operations and success of A&S HR.

What You Should Know

• Standard Hours: 40 hours/week (full-time)
• Standard Business Hours: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM | Monday - Friday
• Hybrid Schedule: At least 2-3 days a week on campus
• This can be subject to change based on the business needs of the department.

What We Can Offer

The annual salary range for this position is $99,700 - $112,150. Onboarding assistance may be available.

Benefits

At the University of Colorado Boulder , we are committed to supporting the holistic health and well-being of our employees. Our comprehensive benefits package includes medical, dental, and retirement plans; generous paid time off; tuition assistance for you and your dependents; and an ECO Pass for local transit. As one of Boulder County's largest employers, CU Boulder offers an inspiring academic community and access to world-class outdoor recreation. In fact, CU Boulder has been named one of Forbes' America's Best Large Employers , ranking #4 among large employers in Colorado and #28 among universities nationwide. Explore additional perks and programs through the CU Advantage program.

Be Statements

Be ambitious. Be pioneering. Be Boulder.

What We Require

• BA/BS degree.
• Equivalent combination of education and experience may substitute.
• 4+ years of demonstrable progressive experience providing oversight with regard to HR related areas (Employee Relations, Recruitment, Performance Management, etc.).
• 4+ years of experience directly supervising a team.

What You Will Need

• The ability to work successfully independently and as part of a team.
• Computer proficient in Microsoft applications, including Word and Excel.
• High degree of professionalism and ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Ability to build and sustain positive and cooperative working relationships.
• Proven track record of communicating effectively and building relationships at all levels of organization.
• An understanding of operational improvement principles used to optimize operations (i.e. Lean, BPE, Six Sigma).
• Demonstrated problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Organizational skills and strong ability to manage several priorities.

What We Would Like You to Have

• BA/BS -or- MA/MS/MBA degree.
• 5-6+ years of experience.
• 5-6+ years of demonstrable progressive experience providing oversight with regard to HR related areas (Employee Relations, Recruitment, Performance Management, etc.).
• 5-6+ years of experience of directly supervising a team.
• Working knowledge of complex human resources information.
• Experience working within the regulatory framework (especially previous experience within higher education in the state of Colorado).
• An understanding of process improvement principles used to optimize operations (i.e. Lean, BPE, Six Sigma).
• A demonstrable knowledge of employment-related concepts (employee relations, EEO & Affirmative Action, organizational development, job evaluation, recruitment, etc).

Special Instructions

To apply, please submit the following materials:

1. A current resume.
2. A cover letter that specifically tells us how your background and experience align with the requirements, qualifications, and responsibilities of the position.

We may request references at a later time.

Please apply by October 12, 2026 for consideration.

Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, please apply through CU Boulder Jobs .

In compliance with the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act, in any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.