Senior Business Manager

Description

About the Role

The Senior Business Manager plays a vital role within the Port Department management team, overseeing the day-to-day administrative operations and ensuring the department's organizational effectiveness. The Business Services Division offers comprehensive support to the Director and Port Department staff, covering areas such as administrative services, human resources, employee relations, and technology. This support is essential to advancing the department's mission and achieving its business objectives. The division serves as the centralized hub for human resources functions, managing key areas like personnel transactions, recruitment and placement, salary administration, staffing issues, diversity and inclusion initiatives, training programs, succession planning, absence reporting, and performance management, among others.

Under the supervision of the Manager, Business Services, the selected candidate will be responsible for various human resource and administrative functions for the Department's represented staff.

Responsibilities

• Business Operations & Administration: Provide business operations and analytical support to the Manager of Business Services across a broad range of human resources policies, procedures, departmental organization, and administrative matters. Support administrative staff and contribute to the evaluation and improvement of business support processes, systems, and operations to enhance customer service, coordination, communication, cost-effectiveness, and efficiency. Collaborate closely with the Port Department's HR Business Partners to ensure departmental staffing needs are effectively met. Deliver a high level of service in all aspects.
• Staffing and Recruitment: Oversees the position management for represented and non-represented staff, which includes coordinating vacancies and ensuring positions are correctly aligned with the department's business functions. This includes preparing, processing, monitoring, and following up on job bulletins, personnel requisitions, position change requests, in-grade increases, and related memoranda. Additionally, the role involves handling transferred employee data, separation notices for represented and non-represented staff, managing staffing records, and maintaining organizational charts.
• Leadership: In partnership with the Manager, Business Services, provides guidance to the clerical support staff, supervising workload and performance, and promoting an efficient, effective, and cohesive work environment. Serving as a tier-two escalation point on complex issues and coordinates administrative coverage and back-up for the Port clerical team. Conducts weekly departmental staffing meetings and monthly HR staffing meetings.
• Employee Engagement: Coordinating employee engagement campaigns that enhance employee satisfaction, morale, and retention. This role focuses on fostering a positive work environment, promoting employee well-being, and ensuring that employees feel connected to the organization's mission and values. The specialist works closely with leadership, HR, and various departments to develop initiatives that increase employee engagement, communication, and overall workplace culture. Coordinates the department's On-Boarding/Off- Boarding Programs for Port Department staff and coordinates Port Authority Service Award and perfect attendance award programs.
• Leave Plan Administrator: Reviews/processes requests for sick leave compression, vacation forfeiture, vacation donation, employee separation notices. Coordinates and provides policy guidance on requests for Paid Family Leave, Family Medical Leave, Military Leave, excused absences, leaves of absence, and alternate work arrangements. Manages department's year-end vacation carryover, vacation exchange, and sick incentive programs.
• Serves as the Business Continuity Program Coordinator for Port Department staff located at 4WTC and serves as a primary point of contact for the department during BC events to provide direction and information to facility BC coordinators. Coordinates with OEM to conduct the annual Business Continuity Exercise.
• Act as the backup coordinator for managing and maintaining records related to professional licenses, memberships, the Tuition Assistance Program, Requests to Engage in Outside Employment and Political Activities, Quarterly Travel Plans, and performance management for non-represented staff. Also serve as the department's backup coordinator for various programs and policies, including IT/TEC requests, the Procurement Card Program, e-Procure, PeopleSoft access, SAP, and Authority to Approve.
• Serves as the backup for managing the department's Board Authorization process. This includes supporting the development and maintenance of high-quality procedures for the preparation, review, and approval of Board Items, By-Law Authorizations, Commissioner Memoranda, and other essential authorization documents related to both operating and capital priorities. In this backup role, ensures full compliance with all relevant calendars and deadlines, including OSEC's monthly board review schedule and Port's internal document development and review timelines. Maintains accurate and well-organized trackers-such as OSEC's PRMJ tracker and the Port's internal authorization tracker-to provide stakeholders with timely and transparent status updates throughout the development and review cycles.
• Also serves as the backup liaison between the central office and facilities, coordinating all matters requiring agency or department-level authorization.
• Performs additional administrative tasks and special projects assigned by the Director, Deputy Director, or Manager of Business Services

• Bachelor's Degree in Business Management, Human Resources or related discipline from an accredited college or university, or a minimum of seven (7) years increasingly responsible experience managing administrative or other business processes.
• Demonstrated knowledge of Port Authority policies and procedures, specifically as they relate to administration, human resources, labor relations, staffing, budgeting, and audit procedures.
• Proven experience with Human Resources functions using systems such as PeopleSoft or other HCM, SAP, Budget Pro, and the Microsoft Office Suite.
• The selected candidate will be required to pass a Federal Security Background check and obtain a Transportation Workers Identification Credential (TWIC) to work in a maritime environment as required by the Department of Homeland Security.
• All applicants must meet performance and attendance standards and have completed all probationary periods at the time of appointment to the position.

• Demonstrated ability to work independently, organize work, prioritize multiple concurrent assignments within strict deadlines and work under pressure. Accustomed to and thrives in a deadline-driven work environment.
• Demonstrated strong analytical, problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated exceptional interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills including experience interacting effectively with staff at all levels, both within and outside the department to achieve desired outcomes.
• Familiarity with the Port Authority Board Authorization process.
• Completion of the Aspiring Business Managers Program or the Business Manager Skills Master Program is preferred.
• Proficiency in developing and utilizing PowerBI, Visier, or other dashboard tools