Grants Finance Manager - New York, United States - Columbia University

Description

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building:
• Salary Range: $90,000 - $105,000

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

Position Summary

The mission of the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) Office for Research is to facilitate the highest caliber of biomedical research, from basic to translational to clinical, among the VP&S faculty, students, and staff at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC).

As a member of the Post-Award Team, the Grants Finance Manager contributes to CUIMC's research mission by supporting grant-related post-award administrative activities for the basic sciences and other participating departments in VP&S.

In this role, the Manager will leverage their expertise in post-award grant administration and their strong leadership, organizational, and problem-solving skills to manage a team of post-award Coordinators and/or Analysts, providing leadership and support to facilitate their success. As a manager, this person will provide coaching, feedback, and guidance to support team member development; manage performance and collaborate on other HR activities; collaborate on continuous improvement efforts; and support change management. In addition, the Manager will perform the full scope of post-award grant management for a complex portfolio of projects and serve as a resource to researchers and other grant administrators.

Through this role, the Manager can expect to build their people and team management skills as well as continue to expand their skills in financial analysis and reporting in a grant management setting.

To be successful in this role, the Manager should be able to demonstrate strong proficiency in post-award grant management experience and an interest in and ability to develop others and lead teams. They will also be enthusiastic about building relationships with principal investigators and about contributing to the ongoing development of the post-award team.

Responsibilities

Post-Award Grant Administration

• Independently maintains a portfolio of Sponsored Project accounts for multiple PIs. Performs monthly budgeting, projecting, and reconciling of research finances for portfolio of accounts, which may consist of grant, contract, gift, endowment, and other types of restricted and unrestricted funding. Updates monthly portfolios and ensures continued accuracy of information.
• Acts as an in-house expert resource to other grant administrators. Regularly reviews assigned portfolios with direct reports to ensure that portfolios are accurate and up-to-date. Ensures accuracy of Analyst reports before dissemination to PIs.
• Coordinates with pre-award team and with central sponsored research offices (SPA and SPF) on new project setup. Sets up new grant accounts and budgets and modifies existing awards with new incoming funding, collaborating closely with Sponsored Projects Administration and senior team members as needed. Ensures that PIs have necessary information, such as chart string detail and relevant budget information
• Reviews and sets up subaward and University compliance agreements, monitors and reviews all related subaward invoices to seek PI approval and ensure invoices are processed in a timely manner.
• Performs full scope of financial, payroll, and labor transactions for portfolio of accounts: maintains labor schedules for faculty and research personnel and submits labor cost transfers; ensures completion of quarterly expense certifications with each PI; coordinates annual effort reporting, with departmental effort coordinator; monitors project balances; collaborates with faculty to establish salary distributions or address suspense in continuation of projects; ensures ongoing clearing of suspense account and grant overruns; and reviews grant-related transactions for compliance.
• Serves as initial point of review for accuracy of grant-related invoice and expenditure payments, requisitions, purchase orders, interdepartmental invoices, expenditure corrections, and journal entries.
• Coordinates with departmental finance staff and with VP&S Finance on maintaining accurate budget information in Budget Tool for sponsored projects (and research support in funds flow).
• Coordinates with pre-award staff, SPA, and SPF on progress reports and closeouts; provides pre-award staff with financial data for incorporation into progress and final reports.
• Manages the award close-out process with liaising departments. Assists with the University year end close-out procedures, including, but not limited to, ensuring there is no grant overrun, all necessary grant expenses have been posted, SAPOS and POs are correctly accounted for and encumbered in ARC Sponsored Projects Financial reports.
• Assists and trains departmental staff on initiation of grant-related transactions; advises departments on best practices for procurement and other types of routine financial transactions; and provides guidance on complex or non-routine compliance issues.
• Supports updates to team trackers based on PI meetings and regular Sponsored Project needs.
• Maintains records in accordance with internal procedures, demonstrating compliance with sponsor and sponsor agreements, and University regulations concerning project expenditures, equipment, and other fiscal concerns.
• Performs all other duties as assigned within scope of practice and/or training.

Strategy and Continuous Improvement

• Collaborates with members of post-award leadership to share information and contribute to the ongoing improvement of standards, policies, and procedures leading to the continuous enhancement of service, quality, and performance.
• Leads or participates in team projects and initiatives, including serving as a subject matter expert. Uses tools and reporting mechanisms to track progress and ensure timely communication of issues and status. Prepares reports or presentations as needed, including to senior leadership.
• Continuously develops and maintains sound knowledge of federal rules and regulations that govern research grants as well as stays informed about sponsor terms and conditions for submitting and administering grant awards. Contributes to expansion of team knowledge base and shares knowledge with peers.
• Successfully completes all required university, systems and department trainings.

People and Stakeholder Management

• Manages a team of Analysts. Provides coaching, ongoing feedback, and guidance to support employee development and performance. Participates in or leads creation and implementation of team processes to promote effective communication, collaboration, and decision-making, and ensure alignment across post-award team. Models and communicates team values and culture.
• Develops team members. Assesses direct reports' training and development needs, collaborates with lead trainer to build onboarding and training plans, and works closely with trainer and leadership to ensure that direct reports' developmental needs are being met.
• May support leadership with human resources activities such as recruiting, hiring, and performance management. Conducts performance appraisals for direct reports, identifies and mitigates any roadblocks to performance, and escalates any performance concerns in a timely manner.
• Demonstrates self-development and keeps current on relevant professional development topics. Trains under the direction of senior staff to continually deepen skills in financial analysis, reconciliation, and projections, as well as stakeholder management. Trains to build skills in people management.
• Develops and maintains a positive relationship with faculty, team members, and collaborators in other internal offices, such as Sponsored Projects Administration and Sponsored Projects Finance.
• Demonstrates professionalism and accountability in interactions with internal clients through clear, respectful, and timely communication and responsive follow-up.
• Perform other related duties and responsibilities as assigned/requested.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree or combination of education and experience.
• A minimum of 4 years of related grants experience, including post-award grant management.
• Strong proficiency in finance and accounting best practices as applied to grant management, the principles of sponsored project financial management, and online systems for grant management (e.g., eRA Commons, InfoEd, and ASSIST), and strong working institutional knowledge.
• Team leadership skills, including strong communication, feedback, and conflict management skills, empathy and emotional intelligence, and the ability to foster collaboration, promote a culture of goal-achievement, coach and develop others, and lead others through new and changing situations. Ability to handle situations with respect, tact, and sensitivity.
• Strong critical thinking and analytical skills, and ability to mentor others in these skills. Advanced Excel skills, including familiarity with creation and use of complex pivot tables, lookup functions, and other features for formatting, manipulating, and analyzing data. Ability to leverage and analyze data to contribute to team initiatives and projects.
• Capacity to work with a high degree of independence and successfully within a deadline driven, multi-tasking environment. Ability to handle multiple projects at high levels of complexity, demonstrate sound judgment in managing time, prioritizing, and decision-making. Ability to mentor others in time management and prioritization.
• Proficiency in project management, including ability to effectively lead and execute technical and cross-functional project activities, attention to detail, effectively coordinate and communicate with stakeholders, and report on progress.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team, both as member and leader.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills. Ability to communicate clearly and accurately with department chairs and other senior principal investigators. Ability to communicate effectively on a technical level with operations personnel in central offices and sponsoring agencies.
• Strong interpersonal and emotional intelligence skills focused on establishing and maintaining productive relationships with faculty, peers, leadership, and other stakeholders. Ability to adapt to meet the needs of clients, deescalate challenging situations, and mentor others in client management.
• Strong customer service orientation and skills, with the ability to interact and collaborate positively, constructively, and effectively with multiple constituencies. Ability to model strong service to others and coach others through challenging client situations.
• Self-motivated and demonstrates initiative, patience, and resourcefulness in adapting to changes and continued learning.
• Proficiency in problem assessment and collaborative problem solving in interdisciplinary settings. Ability to proactively communicate progress and roadblocks and escalate complex issues to management and research offices.
• Ability to collaborate on and deliver presentations to various audiences, including senior leadership.
• An ability and willingness to learn new systems and programs.
• Ability to work with a variety of individuals and groups in a constructive and respectful manner while appreciating the unique contributions of an inclusive workforce that brings together the talents of people across multiple identities.
• Strong commitment to fostering diversity and equity.

Preferred Qualifications

• CRA/RACC certification.
• Bachelor's degree in biological science or business/administration degree such as finance, accounting, business administration, business, public health, public administration, or a directly related field.
• Supervisory and/or training experience.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.

For internal purposes only:

Core Competencies

Minimum Proficiency Level

Accountability & Self-Management

Level 3 - Intermediate

Adaptability to Change & Learning Agility

Level 3 - Intermediate

Communication

Level 3 - Intermediate

Customer Service & Patient Centered

Level 3 - Intermediate

Emotional Intelligence

Level 3 - Intermediate

Problem Solving & Decision Making

Level 3 - Intermediate

Productivity & Time Management

Level 3 - Intermediate

Teamwork & Collaboration

Level 3 - Intermediate

Quality, Patient & Workplace Safety

Level 3 - Intermediate

Leadership Competencies

Minimum Proficiency Level

Business Acumen & Vision Driver

Level 2 - Basic

Performance Management

Level 2 - Basic

Innovation & Organizational Development

Level 2 - Basic