Grants Finance Manager - Core Administration

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $90,000 - $105,000

Position Summary

The Department of Medicine is among the top ranked departments for NIH funding in the nation, internationally recognized in diverse areas such as diabetes, lipid metabolism, cancer biology, human genetics, developmental biology, immunology, data sciences and outcomes research.

As a member of the research team, the Grants Finance Manager contributes to department's research mission by supporting grant-related post-award administrative activities. In this role, the Manager will leverage their expertise in post-award grant administration and their strong organizational, and problem-solving skills. The ideal candidate will provide coaching, feedback, and guidance to support other team members; 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.

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. 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 and ensures that portfolios are accurate and up-to-date.
• 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.
• 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 leadership to share information and contribute to the ongoing improvement of standards, policies, and procedures leading to the continuous enhancement of service and quality.
• Continuously develops and maintains sound knowledge of federal 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

• Provides coaching, ongoing feedback, and guidance to support junior employee's development. 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 and maintains a positive relationship with faculty, team members, and collaborators in other internal offices, such as Sponsored Projects Administration and Sponsored Projects Finance.

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).
• Strong critical thinking and analytical skills, and ability to mentor others in these skills. Advanced Excel skills, including familiarity with creation and use of pivot tables, lookup functions, and other features for formatting, manipulating, and analyzing data.
• 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.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills. Ability to communicate clearly and accurately with department chairs and other senior principal investigators.
• Strong interpersonal and emotional intelligence skills focused on establishing and maintaining productive relationships with faculty, peers, leadership, and other stakeholders.
• Strong customer service orientation and skills. 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

• 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.

Other Requirements

• Successful completion of applicable compliance and systems training requirements.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

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