Professional Services Consultant - Boston, United States - Simmons University

Description

ABOUT SIMMONS
Located in Boston's historic Fenway area, Simmons has a strong tradition of empowering women and challenging traditional gender roles.

Simmons University was one of the first higher education institutions to prepare women to become leaders and has evolved to become a university offering a women's undergraduate program and graduate programs open to all.

You're joining our community at an especially exciting time as one of our strategic goals is to become the most inclusive campus in New England.

You'll find that people who work here are truly committed to our mission of preparing students to become champions of social justice and leaders in their professions and their communities.

This commitment and pride make for a dynamic workplace. Simmons University is committed to inclusive excellence in all aspects of an individual's community experience.

As a university committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups.

Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices-at all levels, for all positions-ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience.

Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum.

JOB SUMMARY
Simmons University is looking for a Post Award and Grant Accounting Specialist to join its Finance department.

Reporting to the Accounting Manager, the Post Award and Grant Accounting Specialist is responsible for the grants management and preparation of all post-award financial reporting and accounting related to grants and sponsored programs.

The Post Award and Grant Accounting Specialist will work in close collaboration with researchers and colleagues in various departments in order to ensure compliance with Uniform Guidance, grant requirements, and accurate accounting.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS
Oversee the financial management of sponsored research projects from award setup to closeout
Review notice of awards and grant and agency documentation to ensure a clear understanding of the regulations and guidelines associated with grant funds;
Set up new sponsored and philanthropic grants, including creating grant accounts and setting up budgets
Meet regularly with principal investigators, key personnel, operations staff, and Advancement and Sponsored Programs staff to review grant expenditures for compliance with grant guidelines and grant budget, and process journal entries as appropriate;
Collaborate with the Center for Faculty Excellence, Office of Advancement, principal investigators, operations directors from across Simmons' school , and other colleagues to proactively improve processes related to post-award administration of grants;
Conduct ongoing effort certification with faculty and staff as required by grantors;
Perform award closeout tasks in a timely manner, including reviewing recently ended awards, verifying financial reports are filed, initiating adjusting entries, refunds or transfer of residual balances as needed, as well as updating award record within the accounting records;

Deliver training to grant stakeholders on how to efficiently and effectively manage financial aspects of their grants within university policy, granting agency guidelines, philanthropic funder requirements, and all applicable federal regulations related to sponsored programs.

Collaborate with operations and other departments to effectively manage funding and timely charge expenditure onto grants
Proactively reconcile grant expenditures and update projections on a monthly basis
Reconcile grants receivable and grants payable accounts on a monthly basis;
Record grant revenues on a monthly basis;
Prepare and/or review all accounting entries (journal entries, supplier invoices, expense reports) related to sponsored and philanthropic grants, ensuring compliance with grant guidelines;
Research and resolve accounting issues or discrepancies related to grants;
Collaborate with principal investigators to forecast the timing of grant expenditures and revenue recognition.
Maintain schedule of grants reporting deadlines for monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reports, including preparing, submitting, and ensuring accuracy of all applicable reports, as required by the sponsors or funders;

Contribute to process improvement initiatives on revising and updating internal management reports to be more useful and efficient, in collaboration with the Center for Faculty Excellence , Information Technology, and the Controller.

Coordinate with the external auditors to support the annual Uniform Guidance Audit;
Advises leadership on financial and accounting post-award matters including regulatory and compliance issues.

Pursue continuing professional education related to Uniform Guidance updates and, when needed, initiate updates to university processes and policies accordingly.

Continuing professional education may include research, webinars, courses, conferences, and/or peer networking.
Drawdown all federal funds and/or invoice grantors on a timely schedule to ensure effective cash management.


OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Restricted fund accounting with respect to gifts and philanthropic grants
Other duties as assigned


REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Bachelor's Degree or equivalent work experience
Minimum four years of professional experience related to grant compliance with a focus on post-award management and accounting required
Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel and Powerpoint)


PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Prior Experience in Higher Education
Workday Experience
Central office administration experience
Experience with online Federal Grant drawdown portals including Payment Management Services, NSF's Award Cash Management Service , eRA Commons


COMPETENCIES
Excellent verbal and written communications skills
Exceptional planning and organizational skills
Independent and proactive workload management
Strong financial management skills, including budget development, monitoring, and analysis
Ability to work well with culturally diverse populations within an organization.
Proven ability to perform duties with high level of professionalism, flexibility; discretion, judgment, diplomacy and tact
Ability to multitask, adapt to changing priorities, take initiative, and meet deadlines
Demonstrated project management skills

WORK ENVIRONMENT & CONDITIONS/PHYSICAL DEMANDS
Eligible for fully remote or hybrid on-campus/remote work environment
40 hours / week
Work is performed in an office environment, entails being on a computer for extended periods of time
Tight grant timelines require flexible work hours
Occasional lifting up to 20 pounds may be required at times

Salary Grade
S08

Instructions to Applicants :
Please upload

all

applicable application materials (e.g.

resume/cv, cover letter, writing sample, teaching philosophy, etc.) in the Application Materials box on page 2 ("My Experience") of this application.

Documents can be uploaded individually or as a combined document (e.g. PDF).

Simmons University is committed to inclusive excellence in all aspects of an individual's community experience. As a university committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups.

Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices-at all levels, for all positions-ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience.

Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum.

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