Director of Administration and Finance

MIT•Cambridge, MA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Administration and Finance serves as the senior administrative and financial officer for the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. This role provides strategic leadership and oversight for departmental administration, finance, personnel, payroll, research administration, and operations. The Director supports the department head and associate department head in developing budgets, projections, and reports, monitoring expenditures, and ensuring effective use of funds. Responsibilities include overseeing research administration, managing HR, payroll, finance, and operations staff, administering faculty appointments, identifying operational challenges, preparing reports for various stakeholders, participating in space planning, and facilitating faculty/staff relations. The role requires handling confidential matters with discretion.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree
Minimum of seven years of experience in administration, preferably in higher education
Significant experience in financial management, research administration, and personnel management/human resources
Demonstrated leadership, team building, consensus-building, supervisory, recruitment, performance management, training, and professional development skills
Good judgment, diplomacy, tact, and discretion with sensitive/confidential matters
Excellent problem-solving, goal-setting, decision-making, analytical, organizational, project management, and written and oral communication skills
Ability to manage changing priorities, pressure, multiple tasks, and deadlines
Proficiency with MS Office, Google applications, Excel, and MIT software (SAP, COEUS, Parley)

Nice To Haves

Master's degree or relevant certification
MIT experience
Familiarity with AI-enabled processes, including agentic AI

Responsibilities

Serve as the senior administrative and financial officer for the department.
Provide strategic leadership and oversight for departmental administration, finance, personnel, payroll, research administration, and operations.
Develop budgets, projections, and reports.
Monitor expenditures and ensure effective use of operational, research, and endowed funds.
Oversee research administration and ensure proposals and budgets comply with Institute and sponsor requirements.
Supervise HR, payroll, finance, and operations staff and ensure compliance with MIT policies and procedures.
Administer faculty appointments, leaves, and appointment changes.
Identify operational challenges and recommend process, staffing, and workflow improvements.
Prepare financial, personnel, and statistical reports for planning, accreditation, visiting committees, and budget requests.
Participate in space planning.
Facilitate productive faculty/staff relations and appropriate routing of concerns.
Handle confidential matters with discretion.
Perform other duties as assigned.