Associate Director, Research Support Services

Associate Director, Research Support Services

Wayne State University is searching for an experienced Associate Director, Research Support Services at its Detroit campus location.

Wayne State is a premier, public, urban research university located in the heart of Detroit, Michigan where students from all backgrounds are offered a rich, high-quality education. Our deep-rooted commitment to excellence, collaboration, integrity, diversity and inclusion creates exceptional educational opportunities which prepare students for success in a global society.

Manage the day-to-day operations of the Research Support Services team within Sponsored Program Administration. Manage a large volume of financial data in order to maintain accurate financial records for the Expendable Restricted Fund. Ensure compliance with university guidelines and external agency regulations.

Manage the change in labor payroll redistribution and effort reporting processes. Assign work to staff, analyze cost transfers, manage exceptions, and approve financial transactions using the ERP module. Work with university units to ensure timely posting of labor redistributions. Work with Fiscal Operations and Technical Support to resolve suspended transactions. Continual review of process to implement process improvement. Manage the ERP Labor Redistribution Module including testing, implementation of enhancements and troubleshooting system errors.

Manage effort reporting process to ensure compliance with federal guidelines. Review and maintain the effort reporting email in-box and answer any questions that may arise. Manage the ERP Effort Reporting Module including testing, implementation of enhancements and troubleshooting system errors.

Various fiscal compliance and data integrity functions are as follows:

Provide assistance to administrators in interpretation of the federal Uniform Guidance standards and specific sponsoring agencies grant and contract terms.

Communicate with external sponsors, investigate, and respond to inquiries and coordinate timely problem resolution.

Manage various fiscal year-end activities.

Manage chart of account data elements to ensure proper coding of revenue and expenditure transactions.

Assist in coordination of the annual single audit.

Manage the grant/fund financial closeout process for both cost based and fixed price projects. Ensure that all reconciliation items are paid within the Uniform Guidance and Sponsored Program administration standards.

Manage the Cost Share funding process. Ensure that all cost share accounts are funded in the proper fiscal year.

Review expenditure transfer requests to ensure compliance with university and agency guidelines and regulations. Keep abreast of federal regulations regarding expenditure transfers and communicate any changes to the university community. Analyze cost transfers for compliance with cost accounting standards. Ensure that required justification is provided, and appropriate documentation is retained for audit purposes. Approve cost transfers as a financial officer.

Manage the cash management functions for the restricted funds including the application of wire/cash and cash requests on various federal letters of credit. Ensure compliance with federal cash management standards. Act as the Authorized Financial Official for Federal Letter Credits Financial Reports and Cash Draws. Serve as an Authorized Financial Official for Federal Systems, including National Science Foundation, Housing and Urban Development, US Department of Defense, and others as implemented.

Personnel management functions including direct supervision of staff, interviewing, hiring, promotion recommendations, performance appraisals, etc. Analyze and review work completed by the staff, including Federal letters of Credit reports, various financial aid reports, payroll redistribution and close out activities. Prepare status reports on unit activities. Assess workload issues and distribution of assignments.

Other duties as assigned.

Education:

Bachelor’s degree

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in Accounting, Finance, or…