Operations Administrator - Finance, HR & AI Automation (Knoxville)
Operations Administrator - Finance, HR & AI Automation Eaton Construction Services | Knoxville, TN (in office) | Full-time | Reports to the VP of Finance & Administration We're looking for an administrator who runs the back office of a growing general contractor, and who implements and manages AI agents to run it better. You'll handle the people side (hiring, onboarding, PTO, benefits), the finance side (payroll inputs, expenses, vendor and subcontractor paperwork), and the systems that tie them together. What sets this role apart: you won't just do the admin work. You'll use Claude and AI agents to automate it, and every workflow you hand to an agent frees our team to grow the company. If you've ever thought an AI agent could handle this, and then made it happen, read on. ABOUT US Eaton Construction Services is a Knoxville-based general contractor founded in 2018. We deliver commercial, multifamily, industrial and public projects, with a focus on design-build and design-assist. We're growing into Atlanta, the Carolinas, Florida and more of the Southeast. We plan to grow through software and AI agents rather than headcount alone. We built our own preconstruction platform, IslaBids. We connect Claude to our project and finance systems, and our team uses AI agents every day to turn days of work into minutes. Our administrator will implement and manage those agents, not just use them. We run a high-performance, in-office culture. We start the day with a team call, move fast, and reward ownership. Long-term team members can join our Pathway to Partnership program. WHAT YOU'LL OWN AI automation (about 25% of your time at first, growing over time) Implement, test and manage Claude-based agents and workflows for the work below: onboarding checklists, PTO and payroll change reports, receipt matching, subcontractor insurance-expiration chasing, offer-letter drafting, notification triage. Connect Claude to our tools (Microsoft 365, Autodesk Forma/ACC, QuickBooks, BuilderTrend and others). Write and refine the prompts, skills and instructions that make agents reliable. Document each automation: what it does, who reviews its output, and what happens when it fails. Agents prepare; people approve. Track the hours each automation saves and report them monthly. Coach teammates on using Claude well, and serve as the team's go-to person for AI tools. HR and people operations Coordinate hiring: post openings, screen candidates, schedule interviews, prepare offer letters from approved templates, and run background checks and drug tests. Own onboarding and offboarding from start to finish: accounts, Paychex, I-9, handbook and policy sign-offs, equipment, access removal. Give the first review on PTO requests; schedule 45-day and annual reviews; keep personnel files accurate and confidential. Administer benefits: enrollments, dependent changes, ID cards, broker coordination on the annual renewal, and the monthly premium bill check. Act as the first point of contact for employee questions about policy, PTO and benefits. Finance support Prepare the weekly payroll change report (new hires, final pay, reimbursements, deductions) for the VP to approve and submit. Handle expense intake: collect receipts, code them to projects and cost codes, chase missing receipts, and administer company and fleet cards. Route vendor invoices for approval and match them to purchase orders. Support the monthly close with clean, reconciled documentation. Run subcontractor compliance: track licenses, certificates of insurance, W-9s, lien waivers and certified payroll, and send out expiration alerts. Act as the first contact for subcontractor pay applications in Forma. Administration Manage user access, passwords and licenses across our software, and roll out a password manager. Keep the central records file for contracts, purchase orders, change orders and correspondence. Manage calendars, travel, events and office logistics for the leadership team. Assemble bid submission packages with the estimating team. WHAT YOU BRING This role sits where three skill sets meet. Strong candidates are solid in all three and go deep in at least one. We'll weigh the AI work most heavily. Required - AI and automation Hands-on, recent experience implementing and managing Claude (or a similar LLM) beyond chatting: projects, skills, custom instructions, connectors, agents, or multi-step workflows that do real work. You can show us at least one AI agent or automation you implemented that saved someone real time, and explain how you made it reliable. Comfort learning new tools quickly. A bonus: light scripting (Python or JavaScript), Power Automate or Zapier, or working with APIs. Good judgment about what to automate and what needs a human, especially with confidential data. Required - Finance 2 years in accounting support, bookkeeping, AP or payroll. You understand how coding, approvals and reconciliations flow from an invoice or receipt to the books. Working knowledge of QuickBooks (or similar) and payroll processing (Paychex, ADP or similar). Strong Excel skills. Required - HR and administration 2 years of HR or office administration: onboarding, benefits enrollment, PTO tracking, personnel records. Working knowledge of I-9, FLSA basics and benefits administration. You handle confidential information with discretion. Highly organized and follow-through driven. You close loops without being asked twice. Strong written communication with employees, brokers, subcontractors and counsel. Preferred Construction industry experience, especially subcontractor compliance, lien waivers, certificates of insurance or certified payroll (WH-347 / Davis-Bacon). Experience with Autodesk Forma/ACC, Procore, BuilderTrend or Ramp. An HR credential (aPHR, PHR or SHRM-CP), or coursework in accounting or business. Experience as the first admin or ops hire at a growing company. This role is not A pure receptionist or data-entry role. We expect you to automate the repetitive parts. A software engineering role. You'll implement and manage practical agents and workflows, not develop software products. A role where you make final pay, hiring or legal decisions. You prepare them; leadership approves. THE DETAILS Location: Knoxville, TN office, full-time in person Schedule: Monday-Friday, with occasional event travel Pay: $65,000-$85,000 per year, based on experience Benefits: Medical, dental and vision insurance; 401(k); bonus opportunities Our stack: Claude, Microsoft 365 and Teams, Autodesk Forma/ACC, QuickBooks Online, Paychex, BuilderTrend, Ramp, Calamari, IslaBids HOW TO APPLY Apply with your resume and include a link to your AI work sample in your resume. Show us an AI agent, workflow or automation you implemented and managed with Claude or another AI tool, one that does real work. A short write-up, screenshots, or a 3-minute screen recording all work. Tell us what problem it solved, how much time it saved, and how you made sure its output was correct. Applications without a work sample will not be considered. Eaton Construction Services is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or any other protected characteristic.
