Academic HR Associate

About the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning

The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell University (Cornell AAP) includes the departments of Architecture, Art, City and Regional Planning, the Paul Rubacha Department of Real Estate, jointly led by AAP and the SC Johnson College of Business, the multicollege Department of Design Tech, and the Cornell Mui Ho Center for Cities. The college spans three locations in Ithaca, New York City, and Rome, Italy, each with world-class facilities and cutting-edge technologies.

Cornell AAP is about acts of transformation. We are committed to reimagining and reshaping the world in new ways, every day. A vital college at one of the nation's foremost research universities, Cornell AAP brings faculty, staff, and students together from around the world to take up some of today's most urgent challenges and advance research, inquiry, and collaborative approaches to designing, making, and doing that make a more just and resilient future.

The Opportunity

The HR Community, renowned for the way we value people, includes members from both the centralized Division of the Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, and the Human Resources departments dedicated to the colleges and units. This dual organizational structure provides our HR Community with a vast breadth of information about our workforce and enables us to share knowledge and expertise to make decisions and implement initiatives that are in the best interest of our large, varied, population. HR professionals in colleges, schools, and units regularly collaborate with, and consult, the Division of Human Resources departments serving as a partner and resource.

The Academic HR Associate serves in a generalist capacity, providing broad, high-complexity support to the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) across academic HR, graduate student employment, temporary hiring, compliance tracking, and liaison functions with central HR units. The role requires independent decision-making, evaluation of next steps based on institutional policy and relevant labor laws, and the ability to maintain a high level of accuracy, timeliness, reliability, confidentiality, and customer service.

The Academic HR Associate:

• Supports a diverse academic and operational environment spanning Ithaca, New York City, and Rome, requiring strong judgment, relationship-building, problem-solving, and the adaptability to navigate nuanced situations. After training, the role operates with minimal oversight and escalates only highly complex or sensitive matters to the HR Director or the appropriate central office.
• Regularly interprets policies, coordinates cross-functional processes, recommends process improvements, and maintains compliance standards across multiple employee populations (faculty, academic non-faculty, staff, students, graduates, and temps).
• Must establish an in-depth understanding of the university’s policies and the college’s procedures.
• Partners with Human Resources and department leadership in managing sensitive matters requiring analysis of issues, creative problem-solving, and confidentiality.
• In collaboration with the HR Director, builds and sustains strong, collaborative relationships with unit leaders across all departments and locations.
• Actively engages with each department's unique location, staff, and hiring needs to assist with developing standardized HR strategies that promote alignment, consistency and reliability to stakeholders.
• Will be a proactive and adaptable professional committed to driving HR initiatives that align with organizational goals. You will leverage your HR experience to serve as a trusted partner to the HR Director, focusing on team collaboration, training and DEI advocacy.

• Academic Human Resources (50%)
• AAP Liaison to Central Resources (20%)
• Graduate Student Appointments and Temporary Employees (10%)
• Audit and Compliance Tracking (10%)
• Continuous Learning and Development (5%)
• Other Position-related Responsibilities (5%)

Success Factors

You will be considered competitive for this role if you demonstrate:

• Ownership and sound judgment in complex, ambiguous environments. Comfortable making informed decisions after training, navigating nuanced policies, and moving work forward without waiting for direction.
• A proactive approach to identifying problems and driving solutions. Regularly raises issues, recommends improvements, and helps implement changes that strengthen processes and reduce future risk.
• The ability to build trusted, approachable partnerships across all levels. Confidently guides and at times leads HR conversations with department managers while remaining collaborative, responsive, and easy to work with.
• Resilience, adaptability, and accountability in a high-volume environment. Effectively manages competing priorities, adapts to change, and takes responsibility when issues arise by communicating quickly and improving the process.

Hours and Location

This full-time, benefits-eligible position is based in Ithaca, NY and follows a hybrid work model of 1 day remote, 4 days on campus. Team members are typically on campus multiple days per week to support collaboration, partnership with departments, and in-person engagement across AAP.

Core business hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, with flexibility on start and end times. Flexibility is expected to meet business needs, including occasional adjustments to support time-sensitive academic deadlines, hiring cycles, or cross-campus coordination (Ithaca, NYC, and Rome).

What We Need

• Associate’s degree and 4-6 years of relevant work experience, or equivalent combination.
• Proficiency in analyzing HR data to inform strategic decisions, with experience in metrics development and reporting.
• Understanding of (or demonstrated ability to learn) basic HR laws, policies, best practices, and procedures that drive internal recruitment and hiring processes.
• Handle sensitive and confidential matters and information with appropriate discretion and judgment; answers questions; escalates complex questions.
• Demonstrated success in establishing credibility, building relationships and willingness to work collaboratively across a highly diverse set of client/business groups.
• Experience with and ability to effectively use computer applications, such as Microsoft Office products and Outlook calendar system.
• Demonstrated ability to remain focused working in fast-paced, deadline driven and demanding customer-oriented environment.
• Proven ability to function both independently and as part of a team.
• Experience handling confidential and sensitive information.
• Ability to cultivate and develop inclusive working relationships with students, faculty, staff, and community members.

If you have all those things, great! We have a few more things that we would prefer you to have, but it’s ok if you don’t.

• Previous work experience in higher education, specifically in faculty affairs.
• Working knowledge of Workday.

University Job Title:

Human Resources Asst V

Job Family: Human Resources

Level: E

Pay Rate Type: Hourly

Pay Range: $29.45 - $33.17