The USC Viterbi School of Engineering seeks to recruit a Senior Business Officer (SBO) to manage the Department of Computer Science. The SBO is a dynamic, agile leader with a strong array of demonstrated business skills including finance and budget administration; strategic and operational planning; human resources and faculty workforce planning; grant/contract compliance; and facilities maintenance. The SBO manages a staff of more than 30, a budget of nearly $37M, and a research portfolio that exceeds $10M in new funding annually.

The SBO reports directly to the Chair of the Department of Computer Science with a dotted reporting line to the Vice Dean for Administration and Finance. The Senior Business Officer is responsible for managing the Computer Science department’s finances and budget, human resources (including payroll), research contracts and grants management, and facilities. The SBO works closely with central Viterbi business units across the full scope of their responsibilities, including but not limited to finance, research administration, HR, and faculty affairs.

The SBO develops and maintains robust internal systems to ensure efficiency and timeliness across all operational areas and participates in departmental and school-wide strategic planning efforts. As the department’s senior manager, the SBO manages overall workforce strategy and oversees CS’s administrative operations, research administration, as well as student services activities across the department. The SBO is also responsible for maintaining internal controls in all areas to ensure compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, as well as university financial policies and procedures.

The ideal SBO is a seasoned leader with deep expertise in business operations in higher education. The right candidate demonstrates impeccable ethics and collegiality, and promotes an environment that fosters inclusive relationships and upholds principles of the USC Integrity and Accountability Code.

Job Accountabilities:

Human Resource, Faculty Affairs, and Payroll Administration

• Administers the personnel and payroll functions for the department's faculty, staff, and student employees. Ensures timely and accurate processing of payroll.
• Manages departmental workforce planning and employee relations. Oversees staff recruitment, performance, development, and compensation in partnership with Viterbi Human Resources. Recruits, screens, hires, and trains staff. Evaluates employee performance and provides guidance and feedback to assigned staff. Counsels and disciplines employees as required.
• Supports faculty recruitment, appointments, and promotions in partnership with departmental leadership and Viterbi Faculty Affairs.
• Directly and indirectly supervises assigned subordinate staff, including more than 30 staff positions in the areas of payroll, administration, finance, research administration, and student services, 8 of whom are direct reports.

Financial Management and Budget Administration

• Manages financial activity, internal controls, and budgets. Develops and monitors departmental budget and sub-budgets for compensation, instruction, and current expenses. Provides regular and special financial reports, including annual budget forecast and monthly budget activity reports to Chair and VBA leadership.
• Provides projections, forecasts, and analyzes financial impacts; monitors and responds to budget variances. Takes corrective action, as required.
• Administers internal financial policies and procedures. Develops, enhances, and maintains information systems to support financial operations. Ensures that departmental systems complement and align with both School- and University-wide systems.

Research Administration, Contracts & Grants Compliance

• Oversees the contracts and grants research program in partnership with Viterbi Research Administration. Ensures appropriate oversight and compliance with internal and external policies and procedures (including all applicable laws and regulations) across all contract and grant activity.
• Advises faculty and staff on external agency requirements and guidelines; interacts with school and university contracts and grants departments to resolve problems and clarify policies; and develops internal procedures for monitoring and tracking of research awards for compliance.
• Manages staff/faculty assignments and ensures balanced portfolio of effort across all research staff. Solicits, captures, and analyzes data/metrics in research administration.
• Coordinates annual survey of research space and equipment, and on-site visits.

Facilities and Space Planning

• Manages the department's facilities and space consisting of faculty, staff and student offices; conference rooms; and labs, both instructional and research.
• Responsible for space allocation, building maintenance and renovations, safety and emergency procedures, including purchasing of new equipment, as well as maintenance and repair of existing facilities and equipment.
• Develops and implements security related procedures such as office opening and closing routines, recognition of duress signals and key controls. Coordinates security activities with other university departments. Ensures dissemination of security related information to department personnel.

Special Projects/Other Duties

• Coordinates department's projects and programs as assigned, including the annual Faculty Merit Review process and Annual Faculty Record providing statistical reports and materials for peer review.
• Plans and coordinates special events, conferences and seminars as scheduled including the annual Distinguished Lecture Series, Advisory Board on-campus meeting, and PhD scholarship recruitment campus visits.
• Manages departmental business continuity plan.
• Performs other related duties as assigned or requested.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education: Bachelor’s Degree

Combined experience/education as substitute for minimum education

Experience: 5 years

Combined education/experience as substitute for minimum experience

Field of Expertise: Progressively responsible financial experience providing a strong knowledge of generally accepted accounting principles and practices as applied in the university’s financial operations

A complete application should include a cover letter and resume/CV uploaded to the completed online application. Failure to complete all the steps of our application process will negatively impact consideration of your candidacy.

Please contact: USCSrBusinessOfficer@KornFerry.com to apply to this search.