Public Management Center (PMC) Director

The mission of the University of Kansas School of Public Affairs & Administration (SPAA) is to educate exceptional public professionals and generate thought leadership that provides solutions to the most pressing global and community challenges by advancing the public good, democratic values, and ethical public management practices. The School offers academic programs at the undergraduate, masters and doctoral levels across KU campuses and online. The SPAA faculty are recognized for excellence in their teaching and research, and the School is ranked #1 in local government management graduate program by US News and World Report.

As the professional development unit of the School, the Public Management Center (PMC) offers professional education and consulting services focused on skills enhancement for leaders, managers, staff, and teams to support organizational development in public agencies across the Heartland. The PMC earns and utilizes revenue from professional education programs, consulting services, and conferences. The PMC is the home of the Heartland Certified Public Manager® Program (CPM), one of the most active CPM programs in the United States and Leading Edge - High Performing Organizations (HPO, a transformative leadership program.

The PMC provides leadership development through the Emerging Leaders Academy (ELA) and Supervisory Leadership Training (SLT), as well as consulting services that support government agencies and public service organizations through assistance with strategic planning, public engagement and facilitation, customized training, and team building. PMC staff are motivated by a deep belief that public service—and skilled public service professionals—are at the heart of a healthy democracy. The PMC offers programs and services across the Midwest, organizes several regional public service conferences and supports event management for SPAA initiatives.

The Director leads the Public Management Center and is responsible for the following functions:

Strategic Planning and Execution (20%)

• Leads the implementation of the PMC mission, vision, and strategic plan to ensure activities align with developed vision and direction.
• Oversees PMC budget and responsible for fiscal stability of Center in coordination with Associate Director
• Coordinates with KU departments and external partners to ensure compliance with university and related association policies and procedures.
• Builds and expands relationships within the School and externally among practitioners, public sector organizations and alumni to maintain and grow the PMC’s reputation as a leading resource for public sector organizational and leadership development in the region.

PMC Supervision (10%)

• Provide direct supervision of PMC Associate and Assistant Directors
• Ensures the professional development of PMC staff.
• Contributes to the recruitment and review of part-time temporary instructors and facilitators and part-time staff for consulting.
• Contributes to the hiring and evaluation of PMC staff that contribute to project management.
• Assesses workload management across the PMC programs and services and provides strategic alignment of staff strengths, capacity, and needs.
• Contributes to internship supervision and graduate student supervision to support PMC initiatives as needed.

Education and Client Services Assessment (10%)

• Ensures that PMC programs meet the School’s educational standards and that content is anchored in research.
• Monitors program(s) and communicates quality and progress metrics to department, staff, and/or stakeholders.
• Ensures CPM program accreditation is maintained.
• Ensures that the PMC has a structure and process to create and track metrics for quality and student/client impact.

PMC Instruction and Consulting services (40%)

• Contributes to instruction in PMC programs based on expertise
• Contributes to customized consulting engagements and workshops
• Actively engages in revenue generating activities that lead to the financial health and sustainability of the organization.

SPAA Event Planning (10%)

• Contributes to the content, speakers, and implementation of SPAA-sponsored conferences
• Assesses return on investments of SPAA-sponsored events, in consultation with SPAA Director and PMC Associate Director

School of Public Affairs and Administration leadership management (10%)

• Participates in committee service that contributes to the governance functions of the School, College and University
• Contributes to SPAA leadership team to operationalize SPAA mission

Please submit the following to be considered for this position:

• Cover letter addressing required & preferred qualifications
• Resume
• Contact information for 3 professional references (**References will NOT be contacted until later in the hiring process and you will be informed before we reach out to them)

Review of applications will begin October 15th and continue until a qualified pool of applicants is identified.

#LI-HR1

Ann Ermey, aermey@ku.edu; 785-864-7901

Compensation is commensurate with experience. Starting salary of $128,000

Tuesday October 15, 2024

Saturday February 1, 2025