Assistant Director of Institutional Compliance, Office of Audit and Compliance

Assistant Director of Institutional Compliance, Office of Audit and Compliance– UT System
MR 17

About the UT System
The University of Tennessee is comprised of campuses at Knoxville, Chattanooga, Martin, and Pulaski; the Health Science Center at Memphis; the Space Institute at Tullahoma; and the statewide Institute of Agriculture and Institute for Public Service.

The UT System has a presence in each of Tennessee’s 95 counties. Through the combined force of education, research and outreach, the University serves students, business and industry, schools, governments, organizations, and citizens statewide.

The University of Tennessee System, through its multiple campuses and institutes, serves the people of Tennessee and beyond through the discovery, communication, and application of knowledge. The System is committed to providing undergraduate, graduate, and professional education programs in a diverse learning environment that prepares students to be leaders in a global society. The UT System’s delivery of education, discovery, outreach, and public service contributes to the economic, social, and environmental well-being of all Tennesseans.

The Opportunity

The Assistant Director of Institutional Compliance will provide support and direction for the UT System compliance program, including supporting the Executive Director for Institutional Compliance as follows with aligning the UT Institutional Compliance Program with the federal sentencing guidelines in an effective and efficient manner. Ensures the compliance program adequately addresses controls to prevent and detect violations. Supports efforts to promote an organizational culture that encourages ethical conduct and commitment to compliance with the law (including the Code of Conduct). Provides oversight for the UT Compliance Hotline to ensure an effective channel of anonymously reporting complaints. Collaborates on the establishment of the annual objectives for the institutional compliance program. Identifies compliance risks, develops plans of action where needed, and ensures plans are implemented in a reasonable amount of time. Provides oversight, coordination, and assessment of compliance activities with federal, state, and local laws and regulations across the UT System and locally at each campus and institute. The scope of responsibility includes all regulatory areas such as: safety, human resources, equity and diversity, accounting, privacy, export control, athletics, health care, academic accreditation, conflicts of interests, environmental and taxes. 8) At the Direction of the Executive Director, inform university management and the Board of Trustees Audit and Compliance Committee of important compliance issues.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Provides leadership for the Institutional Compliance function office by performing highly varied administrative duties involving the use of independent judgment and professional skills.
  • Collaborating on the strategy for the Institutional Compliance function, develops goals, and leads a team to implement strategy and achieve goals. The primary goals are improving the ethical culture of the university, identifying, and addressing significant compliance risks across the University System, and ensuring that the University System institutional compliance program is effective and efficient.
  • Collaborating on the development of and directing completion of the annual compliance work plan. Using independent professional judgment, prioritizes the work to be conducted by the team.
  • Supports the University's compliance risk assessment process that includes the development and implementation of plans of action.
  • Manages personnel matters including recruiting, retaining, hiring, and supervising of the direct reports. Coaches and trains compliance staff and participates in conducting annual performance appraisals, citing accomplishments and identifying opportunities for improvement and professional development.
• Institutional Compliance Committees (established at campuses):
  • Provides direction of the Campus Compliance Committees in performing their responsibilities.
    • Facilitates Institutional Compliance Committees' actions and trains committee members and compliance officers (COs).
    • Collaborates on the performance of compliance risk assessments and advises COs and committee members during the assessments.
    • Provides leadership to committees through the compliance risk assessment process, analyzes the risks identified in the assessment, facilitates the risk prioritization process, develops plans of corrective action, monitors the progress of implementation of the plans, and communicates risks identified and actions taken to senior and executive management.
    • Works collaboratively with constituencies across the system to help mitigate compliance risks.
    • Assists the campuses in addressing global compliance issues (e.g., implementing mandatory training) and shares relevant information among the various campuses.
• Develops strategies and initiatives to promote an ethical culture across the UT System.
• Identifies creative opportunities to improve awareness of the University Code of Conduct and the UT Compliance Hotline.
• Periodically supports the Executive Director in reporting important compliance issues to the Board of Trustees Audit and Compliance Committee, the UT Executive Leadership Team (composed of the president's staff), and senior management at all of the campuses and institutes.
• Responds to ad hoc requests to provide information and advice to various levels of university management on policies and procedures, regulatory areas, or as a subject matter expert. This includes providing advice, information, and recommendations to management related to compliance requirements, appropriate controls, and potential corrective actions. A key objective is ensuring that controls are in place so that instances of non-compliance are identified and reported to the proper university officials and that corrective actions to improve compliance are established and implemented. Works directly with responsible compliance officers to develop solutions to improve compliance. In addition, this position performs tests to determine whether the university is in compliance with regulations.

The Assistant Director of Institutional Compliance will support a culture of engagement and belonging by treating others with dignity and respect at all times, and by exhibiting conduct that reflects a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The successful candidate is expected to contribute in measurable ways to the systemwide mission and fully embrace the systemwide Be One UT Values.

Qualification Statement:
Research has shown that many candidates (specifically, women and minorities) disqualify themselves from positions if they feel that they don’t meet every single qualification listed in the job description. At UTSA, we recognize that talent is not solely related to job history and that skills from personal and professional experiences are valuable but not always reflected on a resume. If you are excited to make a positive and impactful contribution at our university, we encourage you to apply. You may be the right candidate for UTSA, in this role or perhaps another.

Requirements for Qualification
The successful candidate will hold a Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 7 years in compliance, auditing, research management, healthcare management, or related field. Demonstrated knowledge of and/or professional experience related to interpreting laws and regulations, regulatory compliance, compliance investigative processes, and coordination of compliance programs.

The candidate will have:

• Knowledge of the operation of a large complex organization, particularly in government or higher education.
• Ability to prepare comprehensive reports and presentations, utilizing excellent verbal and written communication skills, public-speaking, and training skills as well as excellent analytical and problem-solving skills for faculty, staff, management, and trustees.
• Ability to apply understanding of internal controls, compliance methodologies, and the ability to analyze real-world procedures regarding internal controls and compliance with regulations
• Ability to comprehend legal language and interpret and apply policies and regulations.
• Ability to conduct meetings and present training and information on the federal sentencing guidelines and other compliance topics.
• Ability to organize work; to conceptualize and prioritize objectives; interpret policies and regulations for a broad range of compliance areas; to evaluate risks; to exercise independent judgment; to plan, implement, evaluate and compliance activities; and to establish and maintain working relationships.
• Ability to work with multiple compliance committees and compliance officers simultaneously while maintaining quality and timeliness.
• Ability to foster positive relationships with diverse constituencies across UT System.
• Ability to demonstrate a sense of urgency in approaching compliance responsibilities.
• Ability to coach, motivate, and provide performance feedback to team members.
• Ability to exercise independent and mature judgment to act on behalf of the Executive Director of Institutional Compliance.
• Knowledge of necessity to maintain confidentiality.
• Competent in Microsoft Office Word and Excel.
• Ability and willingness to travel to conduct training programs, compliance reviews, etc.

Preferred Qualifications
The preferred candidate will hold a Master’s Degree and will have:

• Ability to lead, develop, and motivate a diverse team and to build positive working relationships at all levels.
• Ability to be nimble, flexible, and handle ambiguity well.
• Ability to communicate and demonstrated interpersonal skills with the ability to influence through personal credibility, integrity, and professionalism.
• Ability to effectively communicate both up and down to all levels of staff.
• Knowledge of risk assessment techniques.
• Ability to focus on clients and to be responsive to service standards and operational demands.

Application Process
For full consideration applications should be accompanied by a letter of interest, resume and three references. Review of applications will begin immediately.

Compensation for the position will be competitive and commensurate with qualifications and experience within the market range.

The University offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes excellent healthcare and tuition benefits for employees and their families, generous retirement benefits, a wide variety of professional development opportunities, supportive work and family benefits and much more. Additionally, Tennessee residents do not pay a state income tax. For more information on the University of Tennessee’s benefits, visit https://hr.tennessee.edu/benefits/