Research Administrative & Fiscal Affairs
Transforming tomorrow by Supporting the Research Enterprise

Filling a Staff Vacancy

This outlines the process to post and fill a position when an employee resigns or when you have a vacant position to fill. The Major Job Responsibilities (MJRs) may be adjusted slightly, but will not result in a title or grade change. 

1. Review the Position Description & Submit to the Budget Officer.

In IES, the Supervisor or Position Coordinator will complete an Update, Post action and make any necessary modifications to the MJRs. If this is completed by the Supervisor, s/he will submit it to the Position Coordinator. The Position Coordinator will submit to the Research Human Resources Director (Budget Officer role in IES).

2. Budget Office Review

The Human Resources team in the Research Administrative & Fiscal Affairs office will review the position description and submit to Compensation.

3. Compensation Review

The Compensation office will review & approve the changes to the position description. Once completed, Compensation routes the position description to Employment. 

4. Job Posting Created

Once the Compensation office completes their review of the position description it will be routed to the Employment office. Employment will contact the Departmental Human Resources Manager to review the Qualifying Equivalency question and finalize the posting. You will need to provide them with the following information: 1) Is an internal employee being considered? 2) How long do you want the posting to be available for candidates to apply? (minimum of seven (7) calendar days) 3) Do you want to advertise outside of the UK Jobs website?

5. Job Posting Closed & Applicants Released

The day after the job posting closes, Employment will contact the department to release the applicants. The Departmental Human Resources Manager along with the Employment Specialist will review the application pool for diversity and release candidates. At this time, the department can review applications. All Search Coordinators in the department will have access to view the applications. If someone who does not have the Search Coordinator role needs to review the applications, a guest user role can be created for them. UK Human Resources has provided some resources for you to use during the application review process.

6. Interviews, Reference Checks, & Personnel File Reviews

The department conducts interviews. For the top candidates, reference checks should be completed. And, for current UK employees, you can request a review of his/her personnel file. For personnel file reviews, please contact the Research Human Resources Director to schedule a time to meet in Scovell Hall.  UK Human Resources has provided some resources for you to use during the interview process.

7. Hiring Proposal Initiation

Once a preferred candidate is identified, you will use your Search Coordinator role to Initiate a Hiring Proposal in IES. Do not make an offer to the candidate until the Hiring Proposal is approved by UK Employment. 

8. Hiring Proposal Completion

Upon receiving the Hiring Proposal in IES, the Position Coordinator will complete the required information and submit to the Budget Officer in IES. 

  • All Hiring Proposals MUST include an Education & Experience Calculator (EEC) (pdf, 1pg). Please attach this in the Additional Hiring Proposal Document portion of the Hiring Proposal. 
  • All Hiring Proposals MUST include a Comparator Chart. Please attach this in the Department Equity Overview portion of the Hiring Proposal. 
  • Hiring Proposals that have a salary over the midpoint of the Salary Scale must attach a justification, per the VPR Delegated Authority. Please attach this in the Required Justification portion of the Hiring Proposal. 
  • Hiring Proposals for current UK employees that are a promotion or a lateral and have a salary increase greater than 10% must attach a justification, per the VPR Delegated Authority. (If the salary is also over the midpoint, only one justification is required). Please attach this in the Required Justification portion of the Hiring Proposal. 
  • Hiring Proposals for current UK employees that are a demotion MUST attach a completed Demotion Calculator (please save as a pdf prior to attaching). If you are requesting an amount other than the one determined by the demotion calculator, you must attach a justification. Please attach the Demotion Calculator to the Additional Hiring Proposal Document portion of the Hiring Proposal and the justification, if needed, to the Required Justification portion of the Hiring Proposal. 

9. Budget Officer Review of Hiring Proposal

The Budget Officer will review the Hiring Proposal to ensure it meets all university policies and that all required attachments are included. If the Hiring Proposal is over the midpoint or has a salary increase greater than 10%, the Budget Officer will submit the Hiring Proposal to the Dean/Director for additional approval per the VPR Delegated Signature Authority. If it is under the midpoint and the salary increase is not greater than 10%, the Budget Officer will submit directly to Employment. 

10. Employment Review & Approval of the Hiring Proposal

The Employment Office will conduct a final review of the Hiring Proposal. Upon approval, an email will be sent stating the approved salary amount.

11. Employment Offer

Upon receipt of the Hiring Proposal approval from the Employment office, you can extend an offer to your preferred candidate. UK Human Resources has provided some resources for you to use when extending an employment offer.

Conversations for Extending a Job Offer (pdf, 2pgs)

Creating an Offer Letter (pdf, 3pgs)

12. Offer Acceptance & Pre-Employment Screening (PES)

If the candidate accepts your employment offer, you will use your Search Coordinator role to mark his/her application as "Accepted Offer- Initiate PES." This will notify Employment that a Pre-Employment Screening needs to be completed. UK Human Resources will contact the candidate to receive permission to complete the screening. Regular staff employees may not begin until the PES has been completed. We will receive an email stating the PES has been completed & approved.

**If the candidate is already a UK employee, or has been employed by UK in the past 12 months and is a US citizen, a PES is not necessary. We will be notified by email if the PES is not necessary.**

13. Entering the Hiring Action in SAP

Once the PES is approved and the candidate completes the I-9 process, you will want to complete a hiring action to place the employee in their new assignment. Hiring Actions are completed differently for new UK employees, current UK employees, and rehired UK employees. 

14. New Employee Onboarding

From here, you will want to follow the Onboarding a New Employee process. The onboarding process will take you through the steps to enter your new employee in SAP, enroll him in New Employee Orientation, provide information for her to set up tax withholding forms, etc. 

15. Dispositions

Once your new employee has been entered into SAP, you can complete dispositions for the other applicants. 

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