Senior Grants & Restricted Funds Accountant

MBL•Woods Hole, MA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Grants & Restricted Funds Accountant is responsible for the financial administration, compliance, accounting, reporting, and stewardship of sponsored research awards, restricted gifts, endowment-supported activities, and other externally funded programs. Working closely with Principal Investigators, Research Administration, Development, and Finance leadership, this position serves as a key institutional resource ensuring that research grants, contracts, restricted gifts, and endowment-supported activities are managed in accordance with sponsor requirements, donor intent, institutional policy, and generally accepted accounting principles. The successful candidate will possess a strong understanding of the financial operations of a private nonprofit research institution and have experience supporting complex portfolios of federal, foundation, industry, and philanthropic funding.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or related field required.
Minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in grants accounting, research administration, sponsored programs accounting, or nonprofit financial management.
Demonstrated knowledge of federal grant regulations, including Uniform Guidance, NIH Grants Policy Statement, NSF requirements, and related sponsor regulations.
Experience supporting federal, state, foundation, industry, and philanthropic funding sources.
Working knowledge of fund accounting, restricted fund management, endowment accounting, donor intent compliance, and nonprofit financial reporting.
Strong understanding of indirect cost recovery methodologies, sponsored project accounting, financial reporting, and audit support.
Advanced proficiency with Excel and financial systems.

Nice To Haves

Experience working within a research university, academic medical center, private research institute, or other sponsored research environment strongly preferred.
Experience with ERP systems such as NetSuite, Workday, Oracle, Lawson, Banner, or similar enterprise financial platforms preferred.
CPA, Certified Research Administrator (CRA), or equivalent professional credential preferred.
Experience within a biological, biomedical, academic, or nonprofit research environment strongly preferred.
Experience supporting NIH-funded, NSF-funded, or other federally sponsored scientific research programs.
Knowledge of research compliance, scientific core facilities, service centers, and cost allocation methodologies desirable.

Responsibilities

The Senior Grants & Restricted Funds Accountant is responsible for the post-award financial management of sponsored projects and restricted funding sources throughout their full lifecycle.
Responsibilities include establishing awards and budgets within the financial system, monitoring expenditures for compliance with sponsor and donor requirements, preparing financial reports and invoices, managing cash drawdowns, performing account reconciliations, reviewing cost transfers, monitoring indirect cost recovery, and completing grant closeout activities.
The position works closely with investigators and research administrators to monitor project spending, interpret award terms and conditions, analyze financial performance, and provide guidance regarding allowable costs, budget availability, and compliance considerations.
The position is also responsible for maintaining accounting records related to restricted gifts, endowments, donor-designated funds, and institutional research support programs. This includes ensuring expenditures comply with donor intent, maintaining supporting documentation, reconciling restricted balances, preparing revenue recognition entries, and assisting in the administration of endowed research funds.
The Senior Grants & Restricted Funds Accountant will support the preparation of financial schedules and documentation for annual financial statement audits, Uniform Guidance audits, sponsor audits, and other compliance reviews.
The position will participate in the development and continuous improvement of institutional policies, procedures, reporting tools, and business processes related to grants, contracts, gifts, endowments, and research administration.