Careers @ MSU

Position Summary

The College of Law Chief of Staff has primary responsibility to lead the administrative division of the college. The position directs daily operations of the college to ensure that the resources and operations of the College of Law meet American Bar Association standards and Michigan State University requirements.  This position directs and oversees strategic and operational activities, initiatives, and projects for the College of Law. This position interacts with the functional units regarding initiatives and projects, employee engagement, and organizational development. The Chief of Staff functions as a thought leader, advisor, and integrator in support of the College of Law and Michigan State University’s mission, vision, and values in the development of goals, strategic initiatives, objectives, policies, and procedures. Assists in the resolution of administrative matters, objectives, policies, and procedures for the college. This position develops high-performance, leading-edge practices, which are innovative in their approach to the operation of a preeminent public land grant law school.

• This position is required to travel for meetings and appointments. 
• May require after-hours, weekend, and holiday work.

 DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Oversee the Operation of the College of Law 

• Directs and facilitates the development and execution of the organizational business strategy.
• Evaluates and recommends changes to College of Law Facilities.
• Act as a key adviser to the Dean on administrative matters and academic issues with administrative implications.
• Liaison to the entire organization facilitated by one-on-one meetings, meeting with departments, and organizational data collection.
• Liaison to external agencies such as the American Bar Association and Association of American Law Schools on financial, personnel and administrative and accreditation matters; analyzes challenges; negotiates solutions and ensures resolution of concerns in consultation with the Academic Dean.  Prepares and submits, in consultation with the Associate Dean of Academics, the ABA Annual Questionnaire and US News survey. 
• Works closely with the Dean's executive assistant on the management of the Dean’s priorities including advancement priorities.
• Provides central support for event planning generally, especially for major events such as commencement and convocations.
• Coordinates with the Dean’s executive leadership team to ensure alignment between the Dean's priorities and the work of Dean's executive leadership team.
• Identifies College of Law administrative needs and develops standards, procedures, processes, and priorities to maximize high performance of the administrative team.
• Creates and nurtures relationships across the College of Law and Michigan State University to champion key initiatives and to support overall effectiveness.
• Leads College of Law special projects from inception to completion to drive strategic and innovative educational initiatives that require administrative support.
• Develops metrics to measure imitative and strategic planning success.
• Aggregates metrics and other operational activity reports for decision-making and evaluation of operations.
• Represents the College of Law in contracting activity, the retention of consultants, vendor bid processes and related presentations and demonstrations.
• Evaluates administrative support structures and recommends improvements and reorganizations.
• Coordinates College of Law issues involving the Office of General Counsel, supervises FOIA responses.

2. Budget, Finance, and Human Resources

• Oversees and facilitates the development of the annual budget as well as a multiyear budget strategy consistent with College of Law strategic planning goals and objectives; supports and facilitates department and College of Law strategic planning.
• Directs budget planning and development and creates and implements revenue and expenditure and makes final financial commitments.
• Creates procedures to ensure sound fiscal management and accountability throughout the College of Law.
• Works closely with College of Law Advancement to develop potential donor priorities consistent with of College of Law administrative and operational needs.
• Develops comprehensive procedures, standards, processes, and priorities for all administrative units including budget and finance, human resources, and technology.
• Supervises HR and develops and manages consistent recruitment, hiring, and retention practices that are consistent with Michigan State University procedures and values, as well as cutting edge initiatives to prioritize the development of a College of Law culture of inclusion and excellence.
• Provides service and financial forecasts, strategic planning, and trends analysis.
• Monitors cases originating from the Office of Civil Rights. 

3. Communications

• Assesses all inquiries directed to the Dean to determine the proper course of action and delegates to the appropriate individual to manage those responses.
• Manages and advises on all communications to internal and external audiences, focusing on methods, priorities, and other information necessary to the effectiveness of those communications.
• Supervises Communications and Marketing in its work to publicize information about progress on key initiatives for the College of Law, including the publication of annual reports for various audiences.
• Supervises Communications and Marketing in content development and stakeholder input for reports and presentations to diverse audiences including College of Law internal and external audiences and stakeholders.
• Facilitates and participates in regular meetings with Human Resources and other executive leadership team members to discuss potential staffing issues, operational challenges, and facilitates the building of best practices and solutions. Develop, build, and maintain relationships with key campus partners, serving as an ambassador for the College of Law and its programs.

Supervisory Responsibilities:  Supervises APSA and APA employees:

• Accountant II/Supervisor
• Communications Manager II/Supervisor
• Unit IT Manager (dual report to University CIO)
• Unit Human Resource Coordinator/Supervisor

Minimum Requirements

Knowledge equivalent to that which normally would be acquired by completing a four-year college degree program in Business Administration, Accounting, Management, or related field; five to eight years of related and progressively more responsible or expansive work experience in financial management and analysis, personnel management, and computer systems use and development; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Desired Qualifications

The Chief of Staff will have well-developed leadership competency, as demonstrated through vision, integrity, innovative ideas and actions, effective delegation with a commitment to developing staff, accountability at all levels, decisive and focused on decisions that impact the college mission. 

A Juris Doctor or experience in an educational institution or legal services organization is preferred.

The Chief of Staff’s background demonstrates that the person:

• Models desired behavior and holds others accountable with respect and civility.
• Has proven experience translating data and metrics to action, strong analytical capacity.
• Has experience managing and executing high-profile projects within budget and on time.
• Possesses a robust written and verbal communication portfolio.
• Has demonstrated emotional intelligence.
• Has demonstrated the ability to seek consensus and resolve differences among diverse groups.
• Has highly developed decision-making skills.
• Has demonstrated the ability to proactively anticipate needs an educational unit from an operational standpoint, and to prepare comprehensive and actionable plans to address gaps in staff competencies and to prioritize institutional capacity growth to meet the needs of a complex college in a stage of growth and transformation.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.

Required Application Materials

Resume, cover letter, and three professional references. 

Work Hours

STANDARD 8-5

Website

www.law.msu.edu

Bidding eligibility ends April 7, 2026 at 11:55 P.M.