Associate Director - Research Finance

Associate Director - Research Finance

About Northeastern:
Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university and the recognized leader in experience-driven lifelong learning. Our world-renowned experiential approach empowers our students, faculty, alumni, and partners to create impact far beyond the confines of discipline, degree, and campus.

Our locations—in Boston; Charlotte, North Carolina; London; Portland, Maine; San Francisco; Seattle; Silicon Valley; Toronto; Vancouver; and the Massachusetts communities of Burlington and Nahant—are nodes in our growing global university system. Through this network, we expand opportunities for flexible, student-centered learning and collaborative, solutions-focused research.

Northeastern's comprehensive array of undergraduate and graduate programs— in a variety of on-campus and online formats—lead to degrees through the doctorate in nine colleges and schools. Among these, we offer more than 195 multi-discipline majors and degrees designed to prepare students for purposeful lives and careers.

About the Opportunity:
Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a private global, experiential research university. Grounded in its signature co-op program, Northeastern today provides unprecedented experiential learning opportunities around the world. Northeastern has roughly 16,000 full-time undergraduates and over 10,000 graduate and professional students that hail from all 50 states and 125 countries around the world. The University's rapidly growing research enterprise is strategically aligned with three national imperatives: health, security, and sustainability. In the period FY2005 to FY2015, Northeastern has increased annual research revenues over 115%. This position is critical to support its current and future research growth. Research Finance is responsible for the fiscal management of grants and contracts in accordance with government regulations, sponsor requirements, and University policy. Research Finance establishes new grants and analyzes and processes financial data within the Banner general ledger. RF is also responsible for drawing funds from letter of credit agencies, issuing invoices to sponsors, and cash collections. RF prepares and submits financial reports as required by the sponsor.

Position Summary:
Under the general direction of the Director, the Associate Director, Research Finance is responsible for the fiscal management of grants and contracts according to the terms and conditions of the sponsor. S/He manages a team of Sponsored Account Analysts who manage the university sponsored awards through the life cycle. The AD, Research Finance will directly supervise a team of Research Finance Analysts and monitors the workload and priorities and their productivity against performance measures. S/he will provide career development, support and performance evaluations and ensure all sponsored accounts are in good standing. The AD is continuously focused on business process improvements and support of the team and research community. The position requires strong managerial, customer service, communication and collaborative working skills. This role is expected to foster consultative relationships as well as support a professional environment, providing award support and training to the Research Finance team as well as within the Colleges and other Northeastern University departments. Further, s/he is expected to build their professional network within the sponsored research community through participation in professional associations (e.g. NCURA) and other venues. Responsibilities include assisting senior leadership in ensuring the needs of Principal Investigators and support staffs are met while complying with institutional policies and governmental regulation and assist management in broad level reporting and analysis for the department. Assist with audits including Uniform Guidance, NSF and other required sponsored agency requests and audits. Lead training and education meetings and trainings to both internal and external groups. Perform other duties as required.

Responsibilities:
Monitors and directs the activities and workload of the Research Finance Analysts. Assign, oversee, review and measure workload for assigned staff to support post award administration of grants and contracts, from research administration hand-off through the entire award life-cycle. Specific activities include but are not limited to the following:

Directly supervise and coordinate the work activity of a team of Research Finance. Provide career development, support and performance evaluations. Ensure all grant accounts are in good standing.

Participate in the interviewing, hiring and training of new Research Finance Analysts.

Ensure Banner accounts are set up in a timely manner which include review of contracts/agreements with compliance reviews and checks.

Serve on appropriate institutional committees and participate in industry conferences as approved and as necessary.

Lead business process improvement initiatives such as system changes, implementations and overall business practices for the advancement of research finance goals and objectives.

Develop policies and procedures in line with federal guidelines and communicate to research team and community.

Maintain regular communication with each department/program; attend meetings with analysts and Department PI/s and Admins as needed. Continually assess needs and resolve issues of the Principal Investigator related to Research Finance.

Monitor and manage deficits and closeouts of the whole portfolio by working with the analysts to complete reconciliations and escalate to ADFs when needed.

Act as liaison between sponsors and PIs for problem resolution and information gathering.

Attend and participate in local, state and national conferences related to research administration. Communicate the knowledge gained at conferences and seminars to staff.

Assist with audits including Uniform Guidance, NSF and other sponsored agency requests/audits. | Ensure Reconciliations and Closeout's are completed within 4 months of budget end date.

Assist with AR collection over 120 days.

Review journal entries, FFR's, invoices and closeouts.

Conduct orientation/training sessions with new principal investigators and administrators to ensure mutual understanding of grant and contract requirements, as well as institutional policies as needed.

Perform analysis and support for ad hoc projects as needed.

Compliance and Stewardship:
In addition to a service-oriented culture, this role must treat effective compliance as an equal priority. Compliance with all applicable laws and regulations is essential, as well as leading the adoption of best practices to promote continuous improvement ensuring that the highest quality standards are met. The Associate Director has the overall accountability for the accurate set up in Banner of externally funded sponsored projects from federal, state and private sources as well as the processes around data entry and reporting. Process improvement is a continuous focus of this position, with efforts ranging from utilization of technology, updates to university policy and process changes that lead to changes that ensure more effective, timely and accurate management of sponsored awards.

Qualifications:
Five plus years of experience working within a university business office or with federal and non-federal grants and contracts in a post-award capacity is preferred

Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Management, Public Administration or related field preferred. MBA or other related master's degree a plus.

Current knowledge of major grant administration policies, Federal Regulations (specifically Uniform Guidance and FAR), National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health grant policies required. Familiarity/experience with other federal funding agencies (ONR, NASA, DOE etc.), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and major foundations is recommended.

Excellent managerial, analytic, project management, problem solving skills with a high attention to detail

Excellent written and interpersonal communication skills with the ability to interact with both senior management and subordinates

Demonstrated skills as a team builder who knows how to get the most from his/her team and develop team members for long-term, mutual success.

Other Skills:
Ability to manage multiple tasks, work collaboratively and have flexibility to adjust to changing priorities.

Ability to work effectively under deadline pressures and time constraints.

Must have strong technical skills and experience working with enterprise technologies.

Familiarity with Banner or another accounting system a plus.

Ability to independently identify, diagnose and solve problems using sound judgment and decision-making abilities.

Critical thinking and decision-making skills

Strong customer service skills: committed to providing professional, prompt, and courteous service to assigned PIs and departments.

Knowledge and Skills Required:
Knowledge of State, Federal and Non-Federal sponsored programs' regulations and operation policies, including OMB Circulars A-110 and A-133, OASC-3, NIH grants policy statement, and FARs.

Working knowledge of key practices in the field of research administration.

Strong computer skills, including knowledge of Microsoft Access, Word, Excel and Power Point.

Strong interpersonal skills, a high degree of organizational skills and demonstrated leadership abilities.

Must have the ability to promote teamwork and a strong customer service ethic to supervised personnel.

Skill in problem solving and conflict resolution.

Strong oral and written communication skills.

Demonstrate ability to work in a fast-paced environment with strict deadlines, to manage multiple priorities, and to delegate where appropriate. Ability to maintain confidentiality.

Salary Grade:
13

Additional Information:
Northeastern University is an equal opportunity employer, seeking to recruit and support a broadly diverse community of faculty and staff. Northeastern values and celebrates diversity in all its forms and strives to foster an inclusive culture built on respect that affirms inter-group relations and builds cohesion.

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

To learn more about Northeastern University's commitment and support of diversity and inclusion, please see www.northeastern.edu/diversity.


To apply, visit https://careers.pageuppeople.com/879/cw/en-us/job/505859

jeid-26037e7b8dacb84e914824b9681f91ec