General Summary: 

The Director of Finance, Grants and Operations will provide financial, administrative, personnel, and grants administration leadership and management for the Gerontology Institute (GI) and Department of Gerontology (DG). Reporting to the Director of the Gerontology Institute, the incumbent will have authority and responsibility over all aspects of the financial management and operations of the Institute and Department, including grants management, and managing the budget and accounting functions for the units; and will collaborate with the Institute Director and the Department Chair in budgetary preparation and reporting. The incumbent will analyze a variety of financial information; provide direction and support in making yearly spending recommendations while maximizing the use of funds; and ensure overall operations are within the units’ budgets.

The Director of Finance, Grants and Operations will be responsible for facilitating grant and external funding applications and administration for the Gerontology Institute and Gerontology department faculty. The Director will also be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Institute, including supervision of related staff functions; and will assume responsibility for the overall management of the Institute’s accounting interactions with the Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences (MCNHS) Deans office and other University administrative units, including account maintenance; processing personnel actions; forecasting and budgeting; expense reporting; purchasing; and maintaining records in compliance with university and research sponsor policies.

 When authorized by the Institute Director, the incumbent will serve in their absence with the authority to make and implement administrative decisions.

 Examples of Duties: 

• Provide overall leadership, direction, management and technical advice and assistance in budgetary formulation, analysis of and the management and monitoring of budgets of the Institute, its Centers, and the Gerontology Department; monitor budget allocations, expenditures, fund balances and related financial activities for the purpose of ensuring that allocations are accurate, revenues are recorded, expenses are within budget limits and/or fiscal practices are followed.
• Support Principal Investigator(s) (PI) in preparing grant applications and ensuring completeness; create project budgets, liaise with ORSP and prepare required internal forms, obtain and verify necessary approvals, and when appropriate recommend changes to applications to PIs and/or other proposal development staff; provide support to PIs and their designees in the processing of non-competing  continuations, progress  reports, supplements, and  other award/agreement amendments; develop and maintain tracking systems for grant applications to monitor progress and success.
• Grants management: Evaluate contract and grant budgets for correct calculation of expenditure categories such as salaries, percent of effort, buyouts, fringe benefits, indirect costs, materials, cost-sharing and equipment.  Account maintenance: Ensure grants are spent according to budget and in accordance with university institutional and research sponsor policies and practices; generate necessary transactions for spending of awards (ePAFs, requisitions, contracts, journal entries, etc.). Manage account balances throughout the life of the project and ensure that expenses do not exceed revenues. Complete closeout of awards.
• Manage doctoral student research funding and spending.
• Manage faculty RTF subaccounts, and endowment resources.
• Prepare budget planning and financial reports for Institute director, department chair and college dean as requested.
• Establish and supervise the process for tracking faculty professional development spending.
• Prepare an annual consolidated budget for the Institute and the Gerontology Department and provide regular budget information and analytical support to the Director, the Department Chair, and to Center Directors/Senior Managers in the unit; analyze and evaluate budget requests.
• Analyze a variety of financial information from various sources of funds and provide direction and support in making yearly spending recommendations, maximizing use of funds and/or ensuring overall operations are within budget; ensure suitable internal controls and maintain financial records.
• Oversee the Human Resources functions of the Gerontology Institute and Centers, the Gerontology Department, and serve as liaison with the MCNHS Dean’s Office, the Provost’s Office, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP), Office of Budget and Financial Planning (OBFP), and Human Resources (HR) to ensure the unit is following all policies and procedures set forth by the University and the Board of Trustees; working with HR, facilitate all non-faculty benefited job searches and hires using the PageUp portal. Generate ePAFs to hire and re-hire non-benefited employees as requested. Work with Student Employment Services to post jobs and hire student employees.
• Serve as the central liaison between the Institute and Department and various offices including the MCNHS Dean’s Office, Human Resources, the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP), Unified Procurement Services Team (UPST), Provost’s Office, and Administration and Finance (A&F).
• Attend weekly Finance & Advisory Group meetings. Stay up-to-date on all University and UPST policies and procedures to ensure that the unit’s administrative operations are in compliance.
• Using BuyWays, create purchase orders, generate contracts, and invite suppliers to register as necessary. Send invoices for payment and assure all invoices are paid. Generate and process travel expense reports for faculty, staff, and students.
• Serve as One Card holder and administrator for the Gerontology Institute and Department following all university policies and procedures. Handle purchase requests for the Institute and its Centers which includes Principal Investigators of sponsored projects. Handle and manage faculty professional development spending, including maintaining a tracking system for the various sources of funds.
• Handle all Finance and HR security requests for the Institute and Department.
• Provide indirect supervision over administrative support-personnel within the Gerontology Institute.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications: 

Master’s degree in business administration or a closely related field and a minimum of 4-7 years of progressively responsible financial and project management experience in a complex organization, public agency or higher education institution required. At the sole discretion of the University, bachelor’s degree and 7 to 10 years working in a related field could be substituted for the Master’s Degree and 4-7 years’ experience requirement. Demonstrated technical and analytical competence in designing, developing, and implementing financial management and reporting systems required. Experience using PeopleSoft is preferred.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, as well as financial accounting systems.
• Extensive knowledge and skill using and reporting from an enterprise-wide management and administration system, e.g., PeopleSoft.
• Knowledge and application of university policies and procedures.
• Demonstrated ability to work under pressure and to deal concurrently with numerous projects all with competing deadlines.
• Knowledge of and demonstrated experience in the management of payroll and project budgets.
• Demonstrated ability to perform work with a high degree of professionalism, initiative, and independence in supporting the Gerontology Institute and Department.
• Ability to  establish  and  maintain  professional  working  relationships  with  colleagues,  departmental  staff,  and  key organizational units.
• Ability to act with discretion and judgement and maintenance of confidentiality.
• Ability to explain financial concepts to non-financial audiences.
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy.
• Strong analytical and creative problem-solving skills.
• Strong oral and written communications skills.
• Strong commitment to customer service.

Application Instructions: 

Please apply online with your resume, cover letter and list of three professional references.

Review of candidates will begin following the application closing date. 

Only Internal candidates in the Professional Staff Bargaining Unit will be considered during the first 10 business days of the posting.  All other candidates will be considered after that period. 

Salary Ranges for the appropriate Pay Grade can be found at the following link: 

Grade: 34             

Salary Ranges

This is an exempt union position.

All official salary offers must be approved by Human Resources.

UMass Boston is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, we will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations for the hiring process. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact HRDirect@umb.edu or 617-287-5150.