LinkUW Director

This leadership role provides strategic direction and oversight for the administrative, financial and operational management of the LinkUW service delivery unit at UW-Madison, encompassing Financial Services and Human Resources (HR). Reporting to the Associate Vice Chancellor for HR with strategic oversight provided by the Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration and Associate Vice Chancellor for Finance, the position is responsible for advancing institutional goals in service delivery through effective program management, operational excellence, and stakeholder engagement. The role demands a high level of discretionary judgment, exceptional leadership and management capabilities, fiscal responsibility, strong communication skills, and political acumen. It also requires the ability to lead with resilience and clarity in times of change fatigue and ambiguity, navigating uncertainty while inspiring confidence, maintaining focus, and fostering adaptability across teams. Additionally, success in this position requires the ability to collaborate and communicate effectively with a diverse range of campus stakeholders, including functional experts, deans, division heads, and shared governance representatives.

This position requires work to be performed in-person, onsite, at a designated campus work location four days per week.

• Collaborate with functional business owners in central offices and the WEST team on process improvement and audits

• Develops the division's financial strategy including planning, forecasts, budgets, and cash management that focus on attaining and sustaining long-term financial equilibrium in collaboration with university leadership

• Works with senior administrative and academic leadership to design, establish, and maintain an administrative organizational structure to effectively and efficiently accomplish goals and objectives while appropriately defining duties and mitigating risk

• Assesses processes, staffing, and systems to identify opportunities for improvement and streamlining on a regular basis

• Serves as the primary business advisor, liaison, and partner to divisional leadership and key stakeholder groups

• Oversees the implementation of all operational and administrative activities

• Serves as a major point of contact and catalyst for problem resolution. Provides insightful and diplomatic communications

• Exercises 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 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees

• LinkUW is a unit dedicated to delivering quality administrative support in finance and human resources to partner units across the university. The team is composed of professionals who bring expertise in performing high-volume or time-bound administrative services. LinkUW will deliver timely and customer-centered support that enables campus partners to focus on advancing the university's mission.

• The salary range for this position is $ 141,000 to $185,000. Actual pay is determined at hire and is based on 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. For a summary of benefits, please see https://www.wisconsin.edu/ohrwd/benefits/download/fasl.pdf.

• Strategic Leadership: Aligns LinkUW support with institutional initiatives and goals to drive long-term planning.

• Digital Agility & Future Focused: Anticipates emerging trends, evaluates and adopts technologies that advance business outcomes, and leads people through ambiguity and rapid change with clarity, speed, and resilience.

• People Management: Leads teams with clarity, supports professional development, and manages performance.

• Collaboration & Consensus Building: Works across departments to build trust, resolve conflicts, and achieve shared outcomes.

• Service Orientation: Maintains a strong customer focus and delivers responsive, high-quality HR and financial services.

• Ethical Judgment: Upholds integrity and transparency in resource practices

• Financial Management (Resource Optimization): Ensures financial resources are allocated efficiently to support high impact services. Evaluate services delivered seeking to provide efficient and cost-effective services.

• Proven Leadership Experience: Demonstrated success in leading diverse teams through complex initiatives and organizational change.

• Expertise in Change Management: Ability to design, implement, and sustain change strategies that align with organizational goals and culture.

• Strong Facilitation & Conflict Resolution Skills: Skilled in navigating difficult conversations with professionalism and empathy, fostering open dialogue and resolution.

• Consensus-Building Across Diverse Perspectives: Demonstrated ability to engage stakeholders with opposing viewpoints and guide groups toward shared understanding and agreement.

• Strategic Communication Skills: Capable of clearly articulating vision, decisions, and rationale to varied audiences, ensuring transparency and trust.

• Emotional Intelligence & Relationship Management: Ability to build trust, demonstrate self-awareness, and maintain strong interpersonal relationships across all levels of the organization.

• Commitment to Inclusivity: Experience fostering inclusive environments where all voices are valued and respected in decision-making processes.

• Required: Bachelor's Degree

• To begin the application process, click the "Apply" button.

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  Please submit a cover letter and resume that highlight your relevant work experience and professional background, specifically addressing the qualifications listed below. Additionally, you should indicate the type of organization where you gained your experience, including the number of employees both directly and indirectly reporting to you, involvement with strategic plans, and how you have measured customer service success through collaboration and consensus building.

  Your cover letter should be limited to two pages:

  
  

• 1. Strategic Leadership

• 2. Digital Agility & Future Focused

• 3. People Management

• 4. Collaboration & Consensus Building:

• 5. Service Orientation

• 6. Ethical Judgement

• 7. Financial Management (Resource Optimization)

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

• 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. UW-Madison is not an E-Verify employer, and therefore, is not eligible to employ F1 STEM OPT Extension participants.

• The application deadline is 11:59 pm on February 17, 2026.

Kayla Eckerty, kayla.eckerty@wisc.edu, 608-890-4609

Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information.

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgrounds and encourage all qualified individuals to apply. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website.

To request a disability or pregnancy-related accommodation for any step in the hiring process (e.g., application, interview, pre-employment testing, etc.), please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) in the division you are applying to. Please make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you.

Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment.

The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7).

The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report contains current campus safety and disciplinary policies, crime statistics for the previous 3 calendar years, and on-campus student housing fire safety policies and fire statistics for the previous 3 calendar years. UW-Madison will provide a paper copy upon request; please contact the University of Wisconsin Police Department.