Director of Grants and Contracts - Department of Psychiatry

Mount Sinai Health Systems•New York, NY

1d•$127,044 - $190,565

About The Position

The Director of Grants and Contracts for the Department of Psychiatry provides strategic and operational leadership for research administration across a complex, multidisciplinary portfolio of basic, translational, and clinical research. Reporting to the Vice Chair for Administration and working closely with the Chair and Vice Chair for Research, the Director oversees the infrastructure, processes, resources, and personnel supporting the Department’s research enterprise. The role partners with departmental and institutional leadership to position research for growth while maintaining financial stewardship, regulatory compliance, operational effectiveness, and high-quality faculty service. The Director leads strategy and operations across sponsored research administration, research finance, investigator support, compliance, process improvement, and team development. The position oversees pre- and post-award activities, supports the development of competitive research proposals, monitors the financial health of research programs, and establishes service standards, controls, performance measures, and scalable processes. The Director also leads and develops research administration staff and builds effective partnerships across the Department and institution.

Requirements

At least 7 years of experience in health care finance or administration.
Experience in strategic planning and execution, policy formulation, development of financial plans, resource management, and leading successful teams.
Ability to operate effectively in a complex, matrixed academic medical center.
Core competencies include strategic leadership and organizational vision; research administration expertise; financial acumen and business judgment; data-driven decision-making; operational excellence and process improvement; regulatory and compliance knowledge; faculty partnership and customer service; relationship management and collaboration; change management; team leadership and talent development; and executive communication.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree, preferably in healthcare administration or health science; applicable leadership experience and education may also be considered.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a research administration strategy aligned with the Department’s academic, clinical, and research priorities.
Advise departmental leadership on research administration, research finance, sponsored programs, compliance, infrastructure, and operational strategy.
Partner with departmental and institutional leaders to identify opportunities and address barriers to research growth.
Develop policies, procedures, and organizational structures that support an efficient, sustainable, faculty-centered research enterprise.
Anticipate emerging needs and develop scalable administrative infrastructure for growth in research volume, complexity, and funding.
Represent the Department on institutional committees and initiatives related to research administration and sponsored research.
Provide strategic oversight of pre- and post-award research administration, including proposal development and submission, award setup, subawards, modifications, and closeout.
Establish grant administration standards and service expectations and monitor performance.
Partner with institutional sponsored research offices to ensure timely, compliant sponsored-project submissions and management.
Improve proposal development capabilities for large, complex, multi-investigator, multi-institutional, and programmatic submissions.
Develop strategies to increase external research funding and strengthen competitiveness for federal, foundation, industry, and other sponsored funding.
Oversee the Department’s sponsored and non-sponsored research financial portfolio.
Partner with Finance and departmental leadership to monitor research revenue, expenditures, projections, commitments, and financial performance.
Establish financial reporting and forecasting mechanisms to communicate the financial health of research programs.
Monitor grant balances, effort commitments, salary support, cost sharing, subawards, indirect cost recovery, and other financial indicators.
Identify financial risks and opportunities and develop corrective or strategic action plans.
Support faculty and leadership in developing sustainable research programs and understanding the financial implications of research activity.
Create a research administration model that optimizes the submission pipeline and expands the research enterprise.
Promote shared accountability and early, proactive engagement between investigators and research administrators.
Serve as an escalation point for complex research administration issues.
Develop resources, tools, training, and educational programs to improve faculty understanding of research administration requirements and opportunities.
Support investigators in navigating institutional policies, sponsor requirements, and regulatory obligations.
Ensure departmental research administration practices comply with applicable federal, state, institutional, and sponsor requirements.
Partner with compliance, legal, research integrity, IRB, institutional research administration, and other relevant offices on regulatory and operational issues.
Develop and maintain internal controls related to sponsored research and research finances.
Monitor emerging regulatory and sponsor requirements and assess their impact on the Department.
Lead or coordinate departmental responses to audits, monitoring activities, and compliance reviews as appropriate.
Evaluate research administration infrastructure and identify opportunities to improve efficiency, quality, and scalability.
Establish key performance indicators and dashboards to monitor research administration performance.
Use data and analytics to identify trends, bottlenecks, resource needs, and improvement opportunities.
Lead process redesign and technology implementation initiatives that enhance research administration.
Promote automation, standardization, and effective use of institutional research systems and technology.
Lead, develop, and oversee departmental research administration staff and, where applicable, matrixed or shared resources.
Assess organizational structure, staffing levels, roles, and capabilities for alignment with the research portfolio and strategic priorities.
Establish performance expectations, professional development opportunities, and career pathways for research administration staff.
Foster accountability, collaboration, customer service, continuous improvement, and innovation.
Develop effective partnerships with departmental and institutional research administration teams.