Associate Director of Research Administration – Accounting and Post Award Compliance at Colorado School of Mines

Job description

Engineering a world of possibilities Colorado School of Mines is a public R1 STEM-focused research university focused on applied science and engineering, located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Mines’ talented graduates and faculty bring knowledge and solutions to serve industry and benefit society. Mines is seeking a strategic leader for its Office of Research Administration to guide inside the research enterprise, partnering with faculty to secure and optimize world-leading research. The Office of Finance, Administration and Operations (FA&O) provides critical support to our mission and strategic initiatives while managing $325 million in operating activity, stewarding $1 billion in assets, and supporting 1650 faculty and staff. Within FA&O, the Office Research Administration (ORA) provides oversight and stewardship for approximately $100 million of annual sponsored research funding. This position reports to the Senior Director of Business Services and is responsible for the overall financial management, including expense and deficit monitoring, financial reporting, cash management, revenue reconciliation, balance sheet activity, and closeout of sponsored projects for ORA. The Associate Director is charged with building a team that is both strong technically and has a focus on providing high quality service to faculty and other campus partners. The leader is responsible for onboarding and training staff, complying with grant provisions, and ensuring transparent communications within the team, across FA&O and with the broader Research Enterprise. This position is responsible for ensuring that business processes and practices are efficient and effective, optimizing available technology and proactively considering campus needs. The Associate Director will collaborate and interact with many internal and external constituencies including campus administration and academic departments, other higher education institutions, governmental agencies, and the public. With an understanding of technology and future efficiencies with appropriate AI use, they will partner with technical experts to enhance financial and administrative systems, along with maintaining data integrity of the University financial system. This position may be eligible for hybrid work in Colorado and requires a minimum of 3 day per week on campus in Golden, Colorado. Onboarding for this position includes introduction and integration with Research, Faculty, and campus partners. It will involve training on policies and procedures, and technical training opportunities for systems and technology required for this role. Primary Responsibilities Post-Award Department Leadership This leadership position will be responsible for build ing culture and managing all the Post Award staff members; including Research Accountants, Grant Administrators, Billing Specialists and the Financial Compliance Analyst. This includes all HR functions such as hiring, training and onboarding, conducting performance reviews , resolving personnel concerns. D etermine work prioritization by evaluating deadlines, complexity of the work load, and available resources ; build standard and ad hoc reports to provide performance metric data. Resolve complex administrative or accounting questions or issues that arise and coordinates with and escalates to ORA Director on resolution, as needed and as appropriate . Develop and maintain a highly skilled and engaged team through managing the organizational structure, roles, and responsibilities of the ORA Post Award team , fostering a service-oriented team environment. Develop and maintain a respectful work environment with a team capable of working through new challenges, responsive to ad hoc requests , and is highly accountable for accuracy in their work product. Ensure high quality, expert customer advising services to the campus community and implement service metrics and feedback reporting. Develop performance-based metrics and ensure robust feed