Senior Academic Operations Specialist

About Walden University

Walden University, an Adtalem Global Education institution, supports a diverse community of adult learners from across the U.S. and other countries, who seek to achieve their academic goals and make positive, lasting social change in their professions and communities. Walden offers more than 100 online degree and certificate programs, for students pursuing a bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral or certificate. Walden University has graduated more than 174,000 students and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

We operate on a hybrid schedule with four in-office days per week (Monday–Thursday). This approach enhances creativity, innovation, communication, and relationship-building, fostering a dynamic and collaborative work environment.

Visit WaldenU.edu for more information, and follow on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Opportunity at a Glance
The Senior Specialist, Academic Operations position is responsible for contract administration & invoice processing. This includes, but is not limited to, generating contracts, assignment letters, task orders, vendor Master Service Agreements (MSA)/Statements of Work (SOW), processing associated invoices for payment and ensuring allocation to correct project codes for all invoices processed. This position is expected to seek guidance from Assistant General Counsel, & alert senior leadership, when contract issues occur. This role independently takes contract requests and handles the entire process from beginning (contract language changes) to end (final payment requests). This position will also include continuous process improvement, policy and process communications across teams and problem solving as issues arise.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the subject matter expert and liaison for contracting and invoicing needs.
• Manage ticket assignment in DTL Contracts site, to ensure timely responses to new legal agreement requests, detailed status visibility for site users and timely execution of contracts to ensure course development schedules are not impacted.
• Submit approved invoices for payment and track spend for month end re-allocation to correct projects.
• Draft and disperse legal agreements, based on limited review templates.
• Generate Independent Contractor Agreements & Walden Faculty Assignment Letters.
• Establish and revise contracting guidelines / payment procedures, as well as internal partners.
• Monitor and facilitate the progress of contracts through the contract process and all phases through contract completion.
• Interface with Legal to create custom contracts that serve the needs of various internal partners.
• Facilitate generation of Task Orders, MSAs, SOWs.
• Act as liaison between vendors and product owners, Legal Department & internal stakeholders.
• Process contract payments, vendor invoices, and support Walden Finance Team with monthly Walden payroll.
• Process invoices for hourly contractors.
• Manage Contracts SharePoint site. Create and update data views, and reports, to support scheduled and ad-hoc requests. Generate financial reports as needed.
• Analyze historical contract data to provide critical information to management, Legal and Finance. This includes providing reports to highlight concerns with vendors and making recommendations to improve or change process with little to no input from management.
• Orient new staff on the contracting policies and procedures.
• Respond to payment inquiries; utilize Peoplesoft to track contractor and vendor payments.
• Act as liaison between Accounts Payable and vendor.
• Represent team at pertinent department meetings.
• Support Vendor Manager role operational tasks, such as editorial scheduling, contractor onboarding and systems access requests, as needed.
• OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Act as a change agent to improve current procedures and systems.
• Cross-functional support of departmental teams, on such occasion as need arises due to capacity constraints.
• Support special projects and perform related duties as assigned.
• May perform other duties and responsibilities management may deem necessary from time to time.
• Remain current on corporate contract & finance policies, procedures, and systems.
• Designs workflows and procedure, manages workflow and adjusts when necessary.
• Sets clear work unit policies and procedures.
• Fosters a success oriented, accountable environment.
• Evidence of effective and innovative leadership and problem-solving, shown through accountability and superior results.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
• Complies with all policies and standards.

• Bachelor's Degree Bachelor's degree, or equivalent experience, in business administration, contract management, or a related field.
• 5+ years of professional work experience preferably in online higher education industry Preferred
• Experience managing vendors, including the exposure to relationship management, conflict resolution, and contract negotiation/administration.
• PeopleSoft & DocuSign experience preferred.
• To perform this job successfully an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Incumbents will be evaluated, in part, based on performance of each essential function.
• Successful experience in relationship management across a range of partners.
• Lead healthy communications and collaborations internally and externally.
• Demonstrates accountability in all aspects of responsibility.
• Models leadership and professionalism.
• Strong organizational skills and excellent at follow-up and attention to detail.
• Proven organizational, facilitation, analytic, project management and presentation skills with an ability to communicate at all organizational levels.
• Strong communication, facilitation, organizational, negotiation, and interpersonal skills.
• Must be thorough and detail-oriented. Must have excellent time-management and organizational skills.
• Creative, innovative, able to work independently on several projects simultaneously with little or no supervision.
• Ability to manage assigned projects while assisting internal customers as needed.
• Ability to handle sensitive and private company matters confidentially and with integrity.
• Proven mastery of MS Excel, Outlook, SharePoint and Adobe Acrobat Pro.
• Must have demonstrated evidence of consistently exhibiting healthy organizational behaviors.
• Must be familiar with, and adhere to, the Laureate Code of Conduct and Ethics.
• Must gain & maintain confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.
• Must be able to build strong customer relationships and deliver customer-centric solutions."

In support of the pay transparency laws enacted across the country, the expected salary range for this position is between $53520.9 and $93918.96. Actual pay will be adjusted based on job-related factors permitted by law, such as experience and training; geographic location; licensure and certifications; market factors; departmental budgets; and responsibility. Our Talent Acquisition Team will be happy to answer any questions you may have, and we look forward to learning more about your salary requirements. The position qualifies for the below benefits.

Adtalem offers a robust suite of benefits including:

• Health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance
• 401k Retirement Program + 6% employer match
• Participation in Adtalem’s Flexible Time Off (FTO) Policy
• 12 Paid Holidays
  
  For more information related to our benefits please visit: https://careers.adtalem.com/benefits.

Equal Opportunity – Minority / Female / Disability / V / Gender Identity / Sexual Orientation