Faculty Affairs Administrator

Job Description

This position has been deemed critical by the School of Humanities and Sciences Dean’s Office and is exempt from the hiring freeze.

Work Arrangement: This is a hybrid position with 3 days per week onsite at the Stanford Main campus. May require working flexible hours, including occasional work on evenings and weekends.

Budgeted Salary: The budgeted salary range for this position is $98,977 to $108,091 per annum.

The School of Humanities and Sciences (H&S) (https://humsci.stanford.edu/) is the foundation of a liberal arts education at Stanford. The school encompasses 24 departments and 25 interdisciplinary programs. H&S is home to fundamental and applied research, where free, open, and critical inquiry is pursued across disciplines. As the university’s largest school, H&S serves as the foundation of a Stanford undergraduate education no matter which discipline students pursue as a major. Graduate students work alongside world-renowned faculty to pursue and shape foundational research that leads to breakthroughs and discoveries that shed new light on the past, influence the present, and shape the future. Together, faculty and students in H&S engage in inspirational teaching, learning, and research every day.

Department/Program Description:

The Department of Biology at Stanford University is devoted to discovering fundamental knowledge of the living world: from the behavior of single molecules to dynamics of cells, organisms, populations, and interactions of biological systems with our planet. We are dedicated to developing innovative training experiences for the next generation of biologists and to building an inclusive learning environment that unites members from diverse disciplines and life experiences. The Department is the largest in the School of Humanities and Sciences with over 100 active and emeritus faculty, lecturers and research staff, over 240 PhD and postdoc trainees and over 60 non-academic staff who advance the department’s research and teaching missions. The department serves over 220 undergraduate students who major in Biology and more than 3,600 enrollees in our courses each year. Learn more about the department at biology.stanford.edu.

Brief Position Summary:

We have an immediate opening for a full-time Faculty Affairs Administrator to join our administrative team and support the Department Chair and Director of Finance and Operations in overseeing the full lifecycle of Faculty Affairs actions in the Department.

Reporting to the Director of Finance and Operations, the Faculty Affairs Administrator 2 is expected to work as a high-performing individual contributor with minimal supervision. The incumbent provides analysis and guidance to the department on faculty appointments, reappointments, promotions, and searches for one of the largest departments in the School of Humanities and Sciences, ensuring compliance with school and university policies. The position also administers courtesy appointments, visiting scholars, and adjunct professorships, and processes and tracks approved faculty actions such as sabbaticals, leaves, retirements, and recalls.

The incumbent manages search and promotion processes from start to finish, including recruiting, committee support, agendas, and committee reports, through interviews, campus visits, departmental votes, and submission of completed files to the Dean’s office (HSDO). For promotion and reappointment cases, the incumbent prepares referee and comparison lists, sends and tracks solicitation letters to referees and students, and reviews the letters received, identifying problematic information and advising on how to resolve it. The incumbent compiles complete and accurate files and supports the Chair in preparing cover and counseling memos. The incumbent also documents and interprets policies and processes for chairs, faculty leads, and candidates, and supports candidate seminars, campus visits, and faculty meetings and votes.

The incumbent serves as the primary point of contact for onboarding and orienting new faculty to the department, school, and university, and oversees faculty visa matters, advising on the application of policy and troubleshooting issues as they arise. The role requires the ability to interpret university and School policies and apply them to complex cases, and to exercise sound judgment and discretion with sensitive and confidential personnel matters. Multiple cases run in parallel against fixed deadlines, so the incumbent must manage competing priorities, anticipate risks, and keep a clear timeline across all active actions. The position requires an onsite presence.

This is a 100% FTE, exempt, continuing position.

Preferred Qualifications:

Additional highly preferred qualifications for this position include:

• Experience in faculty affairs or academic personnel administration, including faculty search, appointment, promotion, and reappointment processes, ideally in a higher education or research environment.

• Familiarity with non-ladder and affiliated appointment processes, such as courtesy appointments, visiting scholars, and adjunct professorships, including approvals, documentation, and visa or onboarding coordination.

• Familiarity with promotion and reappointment file compilation, including referee and comparison lists, solicitation letters, and the documentation required for committee, department, and Dean’s office review.

• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent cases with competing priorities.

• Demonstrated ability to operate with significant autonomy and to resolve problems before they affect deadlines.

• Skill in drafting formal correspondence, reports, and official documents, including letters to external referees.

• Ability to interpret and apply university policies and procedures, and to exercise sound judgment on sensitive matters.

• Experience coordinating events, seminars, or campus visits, including scheduling, itinerary development, and logistics.

• Experience supporting committees and faculty meetings, including preparing materials, tracking votes, and documenting outcomes.

• Proficiency with web-based project and workflow tools such as Smartsheet and Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Forms), or similar platforms, and the ability to use AI tools to improve efficiency.

• Ability to work onsite in support of seminars, meetings, and campus visits.