Staff Job Families
The university is in the process of implementing job families, an industry-standard method for categorizing staff positions. Positions will grouped by the type of work performed, such as administration, information technology or finance. The goal is to promote equitable staff salaries across campus, improve career paths for employees and reduce the amount of time needed to hire.
Current staff job duties and reporting lines will not change. Temporary, student, faculty and postdoc positions will not be affected.
Information Session:
If you missed the Job Families general information sessions, you can watch a recording here. U of I login required.
What does this mean in practice?
Currently, each supervisor is responsible for writing job descriptions for all employees who report to them. This process creates additional work for supervisors of similar positions, as well as inconsistencies in job descriptions and titles across the university.
With the job families initiative, standard job description templates are being developed with input from the campus community. As each job family rolls out, supervisors will select the most appropriate template for each position and customize portions for use in their unit. The use of templates will create consistency across campus and speed the hiring process.
Categorizing positions into job families will also make it easier for employees understand what positions or skills may advance their careers at the university. Employees will be able to see their future options and what experience or education they need to acquire to advance. Additionally, it will allow the university to be more transparent about position market rates and compile more robust salary equity data for supervisors.
Note: there is no change to the staff market-based compensation system. Current methodology will continue to be used to establish rates for all staff positions.
Definitions
- A job family is a broad group of jobs that involve similar types of work and require similar training, skills and knowledge.
- A job series is a series of closely related jobs within a job family, at multiple levels from entry-level to senior.
Example
Job Family: Information Technology
Current Job Series within the Information Technology job family include:
- Application Administrators
- Classroom IT Analysts
- Database Administrators
- Network Engineers
- Programmers
- Technology Solutions Partners
- etc.
Each job series may then have multiple positions with different levels of skill and responsibility. For example:
- Technology Solution Partners job series:
- Technology Solution Partners I
- Provides basic technology support. Requires one year of experience in a technology support role.
- Technology Solution Partners II
- Provides comprehensive customer support and collaborates with customers to find technology solutions to meet operational needs. Requires four years of experience in a technology support role.
- Technology Solution Partners III
- Provides advanced technology support, leads and/or supervises other TSPs, coordinates projects and contributes to process improvement.
- Technology Solution Partners I
The implementation of job families is a response to a charge from President Green and the Recruitment Work Group. The charge followed an external review of university recruitment processes, which identified writing duplicative job descriptions as a top issue that was slowing the hiring process and causing administrative burden for supervisors.
Job families are also a continuation of the market-based compensation system, as we aim to improve salary equity and staff retention.
Staff and supervisors from across campus have been heavily involved in the development and review of job families. The process for developing each job family is as follows:
- Develop list of positions by sampling current employee job descriptions
- Draft position summaries and distinguishing features
- Present drafts and seek feedback from key stakeholders
- Set market rates and define required qualifications
- Voluntary testing by units (when available)
- Make adjustments based on testing
- Review work and final drafts with stakeholders
- Seek executive stakeholder approval
- Publish job descriptions for use
- Review and update job descriptions on a regular schedule (annually during early use)
Rollout
Job families are being implemented in groups, starting with those that include the most positions. Administrative, Financial and Research are already available for use. Facilities, Information Technology and Marketing/Communications will roll out during Spring 2023. Other job families will follow according to the timelines below.
Access completed job description templates. As the job descriptions for each job family are finalized and implemented, they will be added to this spreadsheet.
Job Families
The Administrative job family is responsible for supporting, coordinating, supervising, managing or directing administrative activities and operations in support of programs, projects, departments, schools, colleges or institutes. Administrative roles perform, lead, supervise or manage a broad range of administrative, program, technical or business support activities.
- Administrative Support Specialists
- Executive Assistants
- Program Coordinator / Program Specialist
Launch project with stakeholders: August 2021
Research and develop draft templates: October - December 2021
Testing and revision: January - December 2022
Stakeholder review and finalization: January - February 2023
Released for use: February 2023
Deadline for adoption: July 15, 2023
The Facilities and Maintenance job family is responsible for providing operational coordination and maintenance/management of university-occupied property and structures.
- Building and Property Management
- Construction, Trades and Maintenance
Research and develop draft templates: November 2021 to present
Testing and revision: As developed
Released for use: TBA
Deadline for adoption: May 15, 2023
The Financial job family is responsible for all aspects of accounting, budgeting and financial activities related to managing the university’s fiscal resources in compliance with applicable laws, regulations and policies. Financial services include, but not limited to, accounting, budgeting, reconciliation, financial services, reporting, asset management, payroll and general financial assistance.
- Accounting
- Financial/Business Operations
Launch project with stakeholders: October 2021
Research and develop draft templates: November 2021 - June 2022
Testing and revision: June - October 2022
Stakeholder review and finalization: October 2022 - January 2023
Released for use: February 2023
Deadline for adoption: July 15, 2023
The Information Technology job family acquires, designs, implements and operates the university's information technology solutions for faculty, staff and students, including computer hardware, operating systems, communication tools, software applications, security and business intelligence.
- Application Administration
- Classroom IT Services
- Database Administration
- Endpoint Systems Management
- Enterprise System Management
- Network Engineering
- Programmers and Developers
- Security
- Technology Solutions
Launch project with stakeholders: July 2021
Research and develop draft templates: July 2021 - February 2022
Released for use: Ongoing — use in OIT began with the completion of each job series.
Deadline for adoption: September 2023
The Marketing, Communications and Multimedia job family is responsible for developing, collecting and sharing information to increase the university’s visibility and to promote the mission, vision and goals of the university.
- Communications
- Marketing
- Web Support
- Creative Services and Production
Released for use: TBA
Deadline for adoption: TBA
The Research job family is involved in conducting, supporting and managing research related to engineering and to physical, life and social sciences.
- Research Staff
- Laboratory Coordinators/Managers
- Core Laboratory Managers/Directors
- Research Services (development ongoing)
Launch project with stakeholders: October 2019
Development of draft templates and stakeholder feedback: December 2020 - November 2021
Released for use: July 2022
Deadline for adoption: July 2023
- Agriculture and Forestry Workers
- Recruitment and Student Success
- Student Affairs
- Compliance, Safety and Risk
- Legal
- Research Administration
- Work will be ongoing to develop a complete staff job family structure.