Summary
Date Posted:Monday, April 24 2023, Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:

Position Summary
Right Seat is recruiting for Carnegie Mellon University Africa seeking a Research Finance Administrator to provide a full range of complex research administration life cycle pre- and post-award support for its location in Rwanda, Carnegie Mellon University Africa (CMU-Africa). The incumbent partners with the College of Engineering Research Accelerator team, and the Director of Research, to coordinate and implement the pre-award budgeting and research proposal submission process for CMU-Africa faculty and researchers, and post-award support including monthly monitoring of expenditures, forecasting, and account closeout procedures.
Inclusion, collaboration, and cultural sensitivity are valued proficiencies at CMU. Therefore, we are in search of a team member who can optimally collaborate with a diverse population of internal and external partners at a high level of integrity. The incumbent will have daily interaction with faculty, staff and researchers, sponsors, the University’s various research support offices, International Finance, and the College of Engineering’s Research Accelerator. We are looking for someone who shares our values, thrives in an exciting and complex environment, and who will support the mission of the university through their work.

About Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university based in the United States. It has top ranked programs in engineering, computer science and information and communication technology as well as a rich history of entrepreneurship. In partnership with the Government of Rwanda, CMU established a campus in Kigali Rwanda (CMU-Africa) in 2011 to address Africa’s critical shortage of high-quality engineering talent. CMU-Africa is a fast-growing campus with about 300 enrolled students from more than 20 African countries. It has more than 20 resident faculty and more than 35 staff from around the globe. There is strong collaboration and exchange between CMU campuses. CMU’s presence in Rwanda provides a platform to engage in Africa’s most significant opportunities and challenges across the continent through world-class education and contextually relevant research. CMU-Africa’s vision is to lead transformational change in Africa through education and technology innovation. CMU-Africa’s mission is to deliver a world-class education to develop the next generation of technology leaders from across Africa and to accelerate research and innovation to solve pressing African and global problems.

Job Functions/Core Responsibilities:
Pre-Award
• Collaborate with the Research Accelerator and principal investigators (PIs) to build sponsor and university compliant budgets.
• Complete all university and sponsor required documentation, ensuring accuracy of non-administrative/financial forms (or forms initiated/completed by a non- department representative).
• Prepare internal research proposal routing packet, and external research proposal submission packet, per sponsor and college pre-award requirements.
• Partner with the Research Accelerator to enter research proposal information into university database and facilitate and track internal proposal packet review process.
• Ensure timely submission of research proposal packets, and provide confirmation of final submission to PI, co-PI(s), other project team members as applicable.
• Other pre-award duties as assigned or as they are discovered; be flexible and open minded as position might require quick “do it yourself” hands on training with new research administration tools and processes as they are developed, new or changing sponsor, or changing university, requirements as they are announced.

Post-Award
• Collaborate with the Research Accelerator to establish accounts in financial systems, rebudget funds and monitor or modify awards and expenditures.
• Interpret regulations and guidelines for program funding (both university and agency) for multiple grants, ensuring expenses are being paid according to contracts. Prepare renewals and reports for sponsoring agencies as needed.
• Provide financial reporting to PIs on research grants and for various programs on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis. Conduct variance analysis, explaining the causes of variances between planned and actual expenses, and correcting charge string coding.
• Collaborate with other areas of the university (Research Accelerator, Office of Sponsored Projects, Sponsored Projects Accounting, International Finance, etc.) on a regular basis to solve complex problems related to labor allocation, accounting, and related issues.
• Provide faculty members with various options and scenarios that can be used in a proposal's planning or during the execution of the work (i.e., assessing labor allocation and distribution across multiple awards, etc.).
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications
Education And Experience
• A bachelor’s degree in relevant field.
• At least 3 years of accounting/finance experience.
• Sponsored research or grant management experience (pre- and post-award) essential.

Skills And Competencies
• Strong accounting and / or research administration skills; knowledge of higher education, public accounting, and grant administration.
• Excellent analytical skills, with meticulous attention to detail; keep and maintain accurate and detailed reports and records.
• Highly developed critical thinking skills, with ability to solve complex problems in innovative ways.
• Demonstrable ability to handle multiple concurrent projects in a deadline-driven environment, work under pressure and with frequent interruptions.
• Demonstrable proficiency with accounting software and MS Office (intermediate Excel and Word skills). Experience with Oracle E-Business Suite a plus.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills (English).
• Demonstrable ability to communicate financial information to non-finance audience, with excellent presentation skills.
• Demonstrable ability to compose and appropriately format correspondence and reports.
• Agile learner with the ability to adapt and thrive in an evolving, diverse environment.
• Proven ability to exercise sound judgment, excellent discretion and maintain confidentiality.
• Demonstrable ability to maintain composure when dealing with difficult situations and/or individuals.
• Strong interpersonal skills, with demonstrable ability to work with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds.



Job Experience:No Requirements

Work Hours: 8

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Job application procedure
Interested and Qualified, Click Here To Apply

All Jobs

QUICK ALERT SUBSCRIPTION