A new faculty position is usually proposed first by a Department or School. Once the position has been approved by the Dean and the Provost, a search committee within the department is established. The committee solicits and receives nominations and applications, reviews dossiers, develops a short-list of candidates, seeks references on them, and arranges for them to visit the department to be interviewed, meet members of the department, and tour facilities.
Following this process, the Head may approach you with a tentative offer of appointment, subject to formal approvals. You can expect a delay of several weeks between your acceptance of this tentative offer and approvals by the Dean and the Provost.
For appointments at the rank of Associate Professor, Professor, Associate Professor of Teaching or Professor of Teaching, this process may take slightly longer since the case also needs to be considered by the University's Senior Appointments Committee. You are welcome to contact the Head at any point during the application process.