Customer Engagement and Operations Coordinator-Naifeh Center for Effective Leadership-IPS

The University of Tennessee’s Naifeh Center for Effective Leadership (NCEL) is seeking a Customer Engagement and Operations Coordinator to join its Knoxville office. NCEL, a division of the University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service, delivers leadership development training, consulting, and research for local, state, and federal government officials and employees.

This position plays a key role in coordinating a full range of NCEL training programs by managing program operations and logistics. Responsibilities include overseeing program-specific financial functions, developing and maintaining complex calendars and resource plans for staff and programs, managing contracts for upcoming events, entering evaluations and analyzing training data within the learning management system, ensuring timely invoicing and payment processes, and assisting customers and other stakeholders by assessing their organizational needs and explaining the wide-range of services offered through the agency to support those needs.

Administrative Operations and Resource Management

• Oversees program operations by managing training resources, complex calendars, and program logistics across all NCEL initiatives.
• Makes recommendations to the agency’s executive director on matters related to administrative operations and resource management.
• Coordinates and maintains program curriculum, materials, and assessments to ensure accessibility and consistency across institutes and academies.
• Leads administrative processes and maintain compliance for agency in the areas of fiscal operations.
• Supports institutional compliance through inventory, space, and control assessments, representing NCEL in IPS committees and initiatives as needed.

Customer Engagement

• Promotes NCEL programs by actively engaging customer groups for upcoming special events and leadership development opportunities.
• Serves as the primary liaison for participants and stakeholders, providing timely communication, guidance, and support regarding agency services.
• Triages customer requests by assessing needs and recommending the most appropriate training programs and agency services.
• Proactively gathers customer feedback and identifies opportunities to strengthen relationships, improve services, and expand participation in future programs.
• Makes recommendations to the agency’s executive director on programmatic planning and customer service offerings based upon feedback and data analyzed.

Financial Management and Contract Management

• Manages financial operations including accounts payable/receivable, reconciliations, deposits, purchasing requisitions, and P-card transactions.
• Monitors budgets, track event-related expenses, and ensure accurate and timely processing of invoices and collections.
• Serves as a point of contact for staff travel, reimbursements, and related fiscal operations, ensuring compliance with UT fiscal policies.
• Drafts, reviews, and processes contracts with vendors, venues, and service providers, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and alignment with program specifications.
• Oversees execution of agreements through ESM, DocuSign, and other systems, resolving discrepancies in collaboration with program managers.
• Audits and reconciles vendor invoices against contract terms to ensure fiscal accountability and operational efficiency.
• Makes recommendations to the agency’s executive director on matters related to contracts and financial management.

Required Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree required in the areas of public administration, political science, business, and/or a related field of study
• Experience: A minimum of two years of professional experience coordinating and hosting organizational events; utilizing evaluation software and data analytics tools; organizing complex schedules and calendars across multiple programs or functions; engaging and recruiting stakeholders or customers for services; and conducting research to develop and present recommendations based on findings.
• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:
  Qualified candidates should possess the following:
• Astute knowledge, skills, and abilities using the Microsoft suite of tools including PowerPoint, Word and Excel.
• Ability to use various software programs for measuring programmatic key performance indicators.
• Ability to design and evaluate training programs.
• Customer service skills and abilities to provide timely, personable, and professional responses.
• Interpersonal and communication skills, both written and oral.
• The ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituents in a diverse community, including high-level executives in local and state government.
• The ability to enter data into a learning management system, and the ability to produce and customize reports from the same.
• The ability to gather data, compile information, and prepare reports.
• The ability to use tact and discretion when dealing with a variety of issues.
• Problem-solving and critical thinking skills to complete assignments.
• Ability to actively listen and identify solutions for customers and organizations, articulating services provided by the agency to meet stakeholder needs.
• The ability to prioritize work based upon objectives and goals of the agency and make recommendations to create and change office-level procedures.
• The ability to make effective decisions by interpreting situations and providing solutions that are innovative and meaningful to making the agency more efficient and effective.
• The ability to initiate and draft correspondence on behalf of the supervisor.
• The ability to prepare budgets, reconcile accounts, and perform contract management.

Preferred Qualifications

• Education: Master’s Degree preferred.
• Experience: Previous experience in the field of public service and/or higher education operations.

Behaviors:

This position will exhibit qualities of emotional maturity, genuineness, common sense, judgment, fairness, creativity, discretion, decisiveness, diplomacy, tact, resiliency, adaptability, and tolerance for ambiguity.

This position also entails exposure to the highest level of confidentiality. Demonstrated behavioral expectations include:

• unquestioned integrity and trustworthiness.
• commitment to the University’s mission and strategic plan, as well as missions and strategic plans for each campus/institute/agency.
• ability to make good, consistent, and fair decisions (based on fact and data).
• ability to work with cross-functional teams and to foster teamwork.

Work Location:

• Location: Knoxville, TN

This position must be able to travel to perform some job duties. If a private vehicle is used for business related purposes, automobile liability insurance must be maintained.

The Institute for Public Service (IPS) supports a formal Alternative Work Arrangement program currently in place and more information can be provided if candidate progresses through the recruitment process.

Benefits

• Find more information on UT Benefits here
  
  

Application Instructions

To express interest, please submit an application with the noted below attachments. To be assured of full consideration, completed applications with all requested materials should be submitted on or before October 16, 2025.

• Resume
• Cover Letter
• List of 3 Professional References
• Writing sample
  
  

About The College/Department/Division

The UT Institute for Public Service provides outreach and assistance to all of Tennessee. Through our agencies and initiatives, we offer technical assistance, training and consulting on a wide variety of services, including government operations, language services, law enforcement excellence, leadership training, manufacturing excellence, opioid abatement and much more.

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has shaped leaders, changemakers, and innovative thinkers since its founding in 1794. The university is home to more than 38,000 students and 10,000 statewide employees—the Volunteers—who uphold the university’s tradition of lighting the way for others through leadership and service.

UT Knoxville offers over 900 programs of study across 14 degree-granting colleges and schools. As Tennessee’s flagship land-grant university, its footprint spans the entire state. The university holds the highest Carnegie classification for research activity and has deep partnerships with industry leaders and the US Department of Energy’s largest multidisciplinary laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The Knoxville campus serves and recruits for UT Knoxville, including the Institute of Agriculture and the Space Institute, as well as the UT Institute of Public Service.

UT Knoxville considers its employees its number one asset. With values that focus on work-life balance, compensation, and innovation leadership, all Vols are supported to advance professionally. Employees have access to career development and coaching, continued education, and an extensive list of development and training possibilities. The Volunteer employee experience implements structures and practices that attract and retain a diverse community and that support a culture where everyone matters and belongs.

The university holds a strong commitment to its land-grant mission of learning and engagement, with a tradition of service and leadership that carries that Volunteer spirit throughout the state and around the world. It has been ranked nationally as “Best Employer for New Graduates,” “One of America’s Best Large Employers,” and “Best Workplace for Women,” and has been designated as “Best Place for Working Parents” by Forbes Magazine.

Apply today and join the Tennessee Volunteer community!