OSP Senior Business Operations Manager

Boise State University • Boise, ID

3d • Onsite

About The Position

This position is responsible for day-to-day activities in post-award administration and significant financial data collection and reporting tasks. The position leads the OSP involvement in year-end financial reporting; supports the annual single audit in coordination with the Deputy Assistant Director and Controller; supports the university financial statements audits related to sponsored projects; conducts analysis of financial data; prepares reports for external parties; and coordinates financial processes with many offices, including but not limited to, administrative accounting, the budget office, human resources, and the graduate college. The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) works as a team to deliver a wide variety of support services for sponsored programs. We work with Boise State faculty and staff and interact with agencies around the world to support research and creative activities at the university. The Office of Sponsored Programs, Post-Award team provides fiscal oversight and sponsored project administration services for principal investigators and departmental and college staff who have externally funded projects. Recognized subject matter expert who knows how to apply theory and put it into practice with in-depth understanding of the professional field with limited oversight from managers. Independently performs the full range of responsibilities within the function; requires deep job knowledge of area typically obtained through higher education combined with experience. Manages large projects or processes and problems faced are difficult and often complex; analyzes problems/issues of diverse scope and determines solutions. May manage programs that include formulating strategies and administering policies, processes, and practices and procedures.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent plus 5 years experience in similar work.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills to build positive working relationships across management and functions.
• Experience analyzing and interpreting complex documents and situations.
• Advanced knowledge and experience with generally accepted accounting principles and familiarity with accounting systems.
• Ability to efficiently and timely manage many competing priorities and time-sensitive projects, including the ability to satisfy sponsor deadlines.
• Superior attention to detail when reviewing documents.
• Ability to work collaboratively to resolve issues.
• Excellent and timely customer service to faculty members, administrators and staff.
• Ability to think independently and make qualified judgments.
• Ability to read and understand contract language relative to fiscal administration of sponsored projects.
• Ability to interpret and apply federal, state and University regulations.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to represent the interests of the research enterprise to internal and external customers, including the ability to understand and explain Federal and State statutes, regulations, policies, and procedures.

Nice To Haves

• Five years of professional experience in post-award research administration and two years of professional experience in fund accounting, or equivalent including financial statement preparation and analysis; and Certification in research administration or accounting (e.g., Certified Research Administrator, Certified Financial Research Administrator, Certified Public Accountant…).

Responsibilities

• Advise post-award staff to cultivate a customer-service culture and empower Sponsored Projects Administrators to analyze issues and make recommendations to faculty, staff, and OSP constituents.
• Collaborate with Finance and Operations personnel to prepare sponsored project related journal entries for university financial statements and year end activities.
• Identify areas of weakness or risk in internal policies, practices, and procedures, make recommendations for improvement to the Post-Award Assistant Director, and coordinate with OSP Functional Supervisors and Post-Award staff to implement the appropriate changes.
• Provide leadership to the Post Award Operations team to manage data entry, financial activities, and budget processes and procedures.
• Train, mentor, and consult with OSP, departmental, and college support staff in matters of sponsored projects administration transactions.
• Provide leadership, coordination, and management in the areas of fiscal data collection, reporting and analytics, account operations, account technology platforms, special initiatives, and process improvements; administration, including in-person training when appropriate.
• Assure continuity of operations in OSP Post-Award Services, including ensuring that primary, secondary, and tertiary contacts are identified in the Post-Award Backup Support Matrix and appropriately trained.
• Cultivate a strong customer service culture in OSP Post-Award and empower OSP Post-Award staff to analyze issues and make recommendations to faculty, staff, and other OSP constituents.
• Gather, maintain, and review key performance metrics for OSP Post-Award (“Key Performance Metrics”) and transparently report Key Performance Metrics via the dashboards and other media.
• Perform routine desk audits. Analyze costs for allowability, reasonableness, and allocability; review payroll adjustments and clerical and administrative charges; ensure proper documentation procedures are followed. Spot-audit sponsored projects to ensure compliance with all fiscal policies, regulations and guidelines. Analyze transaction activity, compliance, trends and risks.
• Work collaboratively with the OSP Leadership team to develop and deliver training materials to OSP and university staff on financial administration topics.
• Provide guidance to staff who review and approve journal entries to ensure accuracy and compliance with University’s cost transfer policies.
• Backup Post-Award accountant.
• Perform F&A recalculations/adjustments.
• Create billing adjustment costs that are requested by the SPA (Task 9).
• In collaboration with the Post-Award Assistant Director, Post-Award Deputy Assistant Director, and OSP Functional Supervisors, maintain up-to-date and continuously improved OSP documentation and dashboards for all regular OSP Post-Award operations.
• Manage OSP Post-Award staff’s performance with respect to timely, accurately, and completely meeting Key Performance Metrics and service level agreements to campus, including meeting and maintaining service levels for award setups,, accounts receivable, journal entries, cost transfers, project closeouts, and other accounting and award administration matters.
• Collaborate with OSP Functional Supervisors, the Post-Award Deputy Assistant Director, the Post-Award Assistant Director, and the Pre-Award Assistant Director to maintain ongoing and clear communication between OSP Functional Teams regarding current issues with individual proposals/awards, process improvements, and other matters of research administration.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• 12 paid holidays AND the University is closed between Christmas and New Year's (requires use of 3 vacation days)
• Between 12-24 annual paid vacation days for full-time Professional and Classified staff depending on position type and years of service
• 10.76% University contribution to your ORP retirement fund (Professional and Faculty employees)
• 11.96% University contribution to your PERSI retirement fund (Classified employees)
• Excellent medical, dental and other health-related insurance coverages
• Tuition fee waiver benefits for employees, spouses and their dependents

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior