Director of Administrative Operations
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, VA
Full-time
Administration / Clerical
Posted on April 2, 2024
Summary:
The Department of Psychology in the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences (CHS) invites applications for the Director of Administrative Operations. The Department of Psychology is an innovative unit in the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences with a robust research portfolio and is a diverse department with almost 50 faculty members from varying backgrounds. The department serves a student body of over 1,700 undergraduate students and over 130 graduate students. The Director of Administrative Operations has significant leadership and operational management responsibilities. This individual provides leadership for the management and coordination of the department's complex state, research (direct and indirect), student fee and foundation accounts including oversight and leadership overseeing a $10 to 12M+/year federal grant portfolio, ensuring fiscal team compliance with Commonwealth and university policies as well as grant requirements and guidelines. The position reports to the CHS fiscal leadership, and has a dual report to Chair of the Department of Psychology.
The role provides key leadership for the department, and interfaces with other leaders in the department and institution on setting the unit's strategic agenda, with key attention to fiscal resources and policies, including working with the leadership team to establish and manage the annual budget. The individual is responsible for providing high-quality finance, accounting, budgeting, forecasting and procurement leadership and team management for the Department.
The role also involves supervision of three staff members as well as coordination with principal investigators, supporting timely and efficient faculty access to research and professional development support, providing leadership for the effective management of graduate student tuition and stipend resources and payments, and engaging with other intersecting administrative leaders in the department and College (e.g., HR, central fiscal and grants admin). This position leads a team with post award grant responsibilities (e.g., award verification, NCEs, prior approvals, re-budgeting, index reconciliation, coordinating closeout paperwork, and etc.) that maintains records for, and collaborates with, CHS-SPO as needed on proposal development and submission (e.g. budget development, review/interpretation of funding announcements, coordinating proposal submissions, and etc.).
The position ensures necessary support and budget/expenditure oversight for assigned projects including oversight of grants and contracts funding and support of appropriate personnel actions, purchasing, monthly reconciliation, budget status, monitoring for unallowable costs, administrative actions, and other reporting requirements, etc. Coordinates and assists with post-award actions including NCEs, prior approval requests, re-budgeting requests, and etc. Assists and supports their team in resolving grant accounting issues by working collaboratively with department and university office staff. Communicates with external sources to discuss financial processes or issues related to assigned grants/contracts.
The VCU job series for this position is Manager/Senior Manager in the Financial Services job family. For more information, please see the VCU Human Resources' Job Family and Salary Ranges site at https://insidehr.vcu.edu/guidelines/compensation/job-families-and-salary-ranges/.
VCU combines learning, research, creativity, service and discovery with a commitment to inclusive excellence. Ranked by U.S. News as one of the 30 “most innovative” public universities in the country, VCU is a premier, urban, public research university home to multiple nationally ranked programs. Here your success is supported, and your career can thrive. VCU offers a robust benefits package that includes: comprehensive health benefits, paid annual and holiday leave granted up front, retirement planning and savings options, tax-deferred annuity and cash match programs, generous tuition benefit, employee discounts, well-being resources, abundant opportunities for career development and advancement, and more. Learn more about VCU's benefits here, https://hr.vcu.edu/current-employees/benefits/.
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Typical Duties
•The Director of Administrative Operations ensures daily fiscal planning and operations of the Department of Psychology are promptly carried out following established policies and procedures.
•Serves on the Departmental Leadership Team (Chair, Associate Chair, Director of Administrative Operations, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Director of Graduate Studies, and Director of Academic Operations) to advise and support strategic department planning.
•Ensures departmental resources are effectively managed to support the mission and faculty, staff, and students.
•Responsible for oversight and supervision of the staff in the Psychology Service Center including three direct reports.
•Responsible for oversight of all financial transactions of the unit across funding sources: E&G, sponsored awards, and foundation accounts.
•Direct post-award oversight in the Service Center.
•Serves as the Primary Effort Coordinator for the department.
•Point of contact for department audits.
•Works with Chair on annual budget process.
Typical Education and Experience
Minimum Hiring Standards:
•Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business, management, or a related field and 5 years of relevant professional experience.
•Supervision and leadership experience in administration and leadership of teams, including support of team member's skill building and professional development
•Extensive budgetary development experience, with emphasis on financial analytics, and the demonstrated ability to work effectively with complex budgets, analyze data and produce summary reports for a variety of audiences.
•Demonstrated ability to develop and execute a department strategic plan to include multi-prong stakeholders through fiscal and administrative operations, data analysis of an annual operational budget, the departmental research portfolio, and foundation accounts.
•Experience with post-award management of sponsored research processes across federal, state, local and internal funding streams.
•Demonstrated ability to independently problem solve using sound judgment, discretion, and with nimble and creative solutions.
•Demonstrated experience working in and fostering a diverse faculty, staff, and student environment or commitment to do so as a staff member at VCU.
•Demonstrated leadership style of inclusion and team-based approach to effectively run the Psychology Service Center as an example of a positive, team-based workplace environment.
•Demonstrated ability to prioritize work and handle multiple tasks.
•Excellent oral and written communication skills.
•Proficiency with Microsoft Office and Google Workspace
Preferred Hiring Standards:
•Master's degree in business administration, accounting/finance, or related field.
•Minimum of seven years of progressive experience in financial management and administration in a higher education setting.
•Experience with pre-award management of sponsored research processes across federal, state, local and internal funding streams.
•Experience in all relevant VCU financial and grant systems (Banner, Reporting Center, SAS Reporting, RealTime, DocuSign, VCU FileLocker, RealSource, Chrome River, Collegiate Travel Planners, Google Suite applications, RamSpot, ECC).
•Certified Research Administrator (CRA) by RACC.
Job-Specific Physical and Cognitive Requirements
Physical Demands:
Light lifting (<20 lbs.): marginal
Pushing/pulling: marginal
Standing: essential
Sitting: essential
Repetitive motion: essential
Walking: essential
Climbing: marginal
Reaching: marginal
Bending: marginal
Emotional Demands:
Fast pace: essential
Average pace: marginal
Multiple stimuli: essential
Intense customer interaction: essential
Frequent change: essential
Mental/Sensory Demands:
Memory: essential
Reasoning: essential
Hearing: essential
Reading: essential
Analyzing: essential
Logic: essential
Verbal communication: essential
Written communication: essential
Salary Range: $85,000 - $100,000
Position Details:
Department: Dean's Office - CHS
Employment Type: UF - University Employee FT
Restricted Status: No
FTE: 1.0
Exemption Status: Exempt
Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) Eligible: Yes
Alternative Work Arrangement Eligible: Yes, as established under the current VCU FWA guidelines
Contact Information:
Contact Name: Russ Carmichael
Contact Email: carmichaelr@vcu.edu
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