GI Director of Finance and Operations

NO VISA SPONSORSHIP IS AVAILABLE FOR THIS POSITION.

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INITIAL REVIEW DATE (IRD)

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The IRD for this job is: 10-31-2023

ABOUT UC SANTA CRUZ

UC Santa Cruz is a public university like no other in California, combining the experience of a small, liberal arts college with the depth and rigor of a major research university. It's known as an unconventional place where innovation and experimentation is part of the campus's DNA. That playful, bold spirit still thrives today, all on a campus renowned as among the most beautiful in the world.

DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW

Originally founded in 1997, the Baskin School of Engineering is the first professional school at UC Santa Cruz. Over the past 25 years, Baskin Engineering (BE) has become a unique 21st century school of engineering, applied science and technology, characterized by evolutionary growth fueled by on-going research opportunities that open new areas of intellectual inquiry. Baskin Engineering has grown to include six academic departments, a variety of research centers and institutes, and has ambitious plans for further programmatic growth. The focus of Baskin Engineering educational programming is to instill strong basic knowledge for sound practice in ethical engineering for the well-being of society, and its diverse curricula facilitate creative thinking and preparing students for productive and rewarding careers. Baskin Engineering is focused on building collaborative connections and expanding instruction and research activities for faculty and students in Santa Cruz and at the UC Santa Cruz Silicon Valley campus in Santa Clara.

The Genomics Institute (GI), an Organized Research Unit located within the Baskin School of Engineering, with faculty from several divisions on campus, leads UC Santa Cruz's efforts to unlock the world's genomic data and accelerate breakthroughs in health and evolutionary biology. With the theme of Genomics for Everybody, GI platforms, technologies, and researchers unite global communities to create and deploy data-driven, life-saving treatments and innovative environmental and conservation efforts, while addressing the most fundamental societal and policy questions. The Genomics Institute is committed to broadening participation in this endeavor, and bringing the benefits of genomics to the widest range of world populations and ecosystems.

The Genomics Institute operating budget is currently $31M per year, comprising $26M in sponsored funds from federal, state and private sources and $4.7M in gifts and institutional funding, and is on a trajectory of increasing activity, partnerships and extramural funding.

More information about the Genomics Institute can be found at: https://ucscgenomics.soe.ucsc.edu

More information about Baskin Engineering can be found at: https://engineering.ucsc.edu

JOB SUMMARY

Under general direction from the Executive Director and in coordination with the GI Leadership team and Baskin School of Engineering senior staff, the GI Director of Finance and Operations oversees the financial operations for the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute (GI), a $31M interdisciplinary Organizational Research Unit (ORU) within the Baskin School of Engineering at UC Santa Cruz. The GI Director of Finance and Operations is responsible for managing the financial operational systems that support approximately 30 affiliated faculty, over 100 staff and researchers, as well as postdoctoral scholars and students participating in research projects supported on sponsored funds from the federal and state governments, private gifts, and foundations.

The incumbent supervises the grants development team, manages all GI financial resources and develops working financial reports and projections; reviews and approves budgets and expenditures; monitors adherence to university, government, and sponsor policies and regulations; develops, modifies and executes policies with organization-wide effect.

The Director of Finance and Operations is also responsible for overseeing and optimizing all operational aspects of the organization, playing a crucial role in aligning operational strategies with the GI's research goals and ensuring efficiency, productivity, and budget adherence. Collaborates with the executive team to develop and execute the company's operational strategies and goals; identifies opportunities to improve operational processes, streamline workflows, and enhance efficiency; builds, leads, and mentors a high-performing operations team, fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement; allocates resources effectively to meet operational objectives, including budgeting, staffing, and equipment allocation; develops and manages relationships with vendors and suppliers to ensure timely and cost-effective procurement of goods and services; negotiates contracts and agreements to secure favorable terms and pricing; ensures the organization complies with all relevant laws, regulations, and organizational standards; defines and tracks key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure operational performance and drive data-driven decision-making; regularly reports on departmental achievements and challenges to senior leadership.

This position is a key part of an active administrative office supporting the scientific efforts of faculty and researchers in the UCSC Genomics Institute and its related projects and organizations, such as the UCSC Genome Browser, the Computational Genomics Laboratory and Platform, the Human Cell Atlas, the Braingeneers, and the Treehouse Childhood Cancer Initiative.

APPOINTMENT INFORMATION

Budgeted Salary: $123,900 - $146,700/year.  Salary commensurate with skills, qualifications and experience.
Under California law, the University of California, Santa Cruz is required to post a reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role. The salary shown above is the budgeted amount the University reasonably expects to pay and the salary extended should not exceed this posted amount.

Benefits Level Eligibility: Full benefits

Schedule Information:

• Full-time, Fixed
• Percentage of Time: 100%, 40 Hours per Week
• Days of the Week: Mon-Fri
• Shift Includes: Day

Employee Classification: Career appointment 

Job End Date: None

Work Location: UC Santa Cruz Main Campus

Union Representation: Non-Represented

Job Code Classification: 000547 (ADMIN MGR 1)

Travel: Never or Rarely

JOB DUTIES

50% - Unit Financial Leadership and Oversight

• Manages the integrity of the institute's budget, reporting, and tracking systems through oversight of budget, and fiscal protocols. Functions as budget liaison for resource allocations. Oversees the analysis and policy development for unit-wide funding matters and budget processes, resource allocations and funding models.
• Oversees budget, financial, and operations for the Genomics Institute with authority to prepare, program, coordinate, and monitor an annual operating budget of $31M. Develops cash flow management strategies to support unit growth and related funding commitments.
• Develops recharge centers and rates in coordination with Baskin Engineering Financial Officer.
• Through coordination with Research Administration in Baskin Engineering, manages the GI sponsored research portfolio, in compliance with sponsor and university policies. Analyzes data and prepares reports for institutional use.
• Provides oversight of all funding pre-award functions. Provides skilled management to the GI research development and grants development team to ensure grants development and financial matters are handled efficiently, accurately and in compliance with all regulating rules and guidelines.
• Establishes close working relationships with Baskin Engineering's Research Administration and Finance Teams.
• Establishes and manages a close working relationship with the UCSC Office of Research and act as a liaison with this office on GI grant pre award matters.
• Responsible for overseeing expenditure approvals for contract, grant, gift, and operating funds of GI administration and core principal investigators, ensuring expenditures are allowable, allocable and consistent with intended purposes.

30% - Operations

• Prepares short and long-range strategic planning on operational processes to identify areas for optimization and cost-effective resource allocation. Serves as liaison with campus Financial Affairs and Budget Analysis and Planning.
• Manages resources (human, financial, and material) effectively to meet operational needs.
• Collaborates with operational teams to implement process improvements and monitor their impact on financial performance.
• Develops and monitors metrics to measure operational efficiency and effectiveness.
• Serves as liaison for space planning and allocation for all faculty, staff and students.
• Ensures appropriate maintenance of all department facilities and equipment.
• Serves as the GI representative on all facilities and renovation projects.
• Coordinates faculty and staff moves within departmental facilities.
• Manages current GI space and equipment inventories.
• Develops and monitors appropriate internal controls to protect University resources.

10% - Management

• Manages, trains, and motivates the team.
• Instills strong customer service ethics in team operations and implements conflict negotiation and diplomacy skills to ensure smooth operations among team members and relationships with key faculty and principal investigators.
• Conducts performance evaluations and feedback. Provides professional development opportunities.
• Applies effective management principles, practices and techniques to assess and adaptively manages effective and efficient workflow systems while considering a wide variety of objective and subjective variables
• Sets a high operating standard for a respectful and functional work environment, including supporting diversity, equity and inclusion and ensures that the UCSC Principles of Community are adhered to.

10% - Compliance Monitoring, Systems and Process Development

• Develops policies which affect immediate operation(s) and may also have an organization-wide effect.
• Develops financial strategies, policies, performance measures, and operational procedures. Responsible for developing, and monitoring budgets and for coordinating appropriate cost control procedures, particularly when expense trends indicate problems or when budgets are affected by unanticipated circumstances.
• Oversees the development, implementation and maintenance of procedures, systems and software to support budgeting, reporting and monitoring of expenses to ensure compliance and to streamline workflow in support of strategic goals.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Advanced degree in related area and / or equivalent experience and /or training.
• Broad knowledge of finance and budget policies, practices and systems; budgeting and reporting techniques; fund accounting; human resource planning; accounting and bookkeeping and financial forecasting.
• Broad knowledge of sponsored research guidelines and compliance regulations of Federal and non-Federal sponsors supporting research and educational activities, preferably in a university environment.
• Experience in interpreting, organizing, and managing the administration of grant projects, including familiarity with grant budgets, accounting systems, subawards, and the resources that these projects require (e.g., personnel, equipment, space).
• Management experience with the demonstrated ability to mentor and motivate staff.
• Demonstrated analytical critical thinking skills.
• Demonstrated customer service skills.
• Effective verbal communication skills with the ability to effectively listen.
• Effective written communication skills.
• Demonstrated interpersonal skills with the ability to work effectively across the organization at all levels; ability to interact with diverse populations.
• Demonstrated negotiation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to multitask.
• Ability to evaluate processes to establish and maintain appropriate accountability structures and strong internal control elements and their impact on protecting University resources.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Familiarity with UCSC finance and accounting practices and tools.
• Broad knowledge of program administration guidelines of Federal and non-Federal sponsors supporting research and educational activities.
• Experience working in a University environment.
• Certification from an acknowledged research administration society or organization i.e. National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA), Society of Research Administrators (SRA) International.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

• Selected candidate will be required to pass a pre-employment criminal history background check.
• Ability to work long periods of time at a computer with or without accommodation.
• The selected candidate will be required to work a hybrid work schedule and must be able to work successfully from a home/remote office and fulfill the requirements of the UCSC telecommuting agreement.
• Selected candidate will be required to complete training within established time frames as directed including UC compliance training.
• Ability to travel to multiple work locations on and off campus.
• The University of California has implemented a Vaccination Policy covering all employees. Employees, including new hires, are required to comply with any applicable policies relating to the University of California vaccine program.
• Per the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), this position has been identified as a Mandated Reporter. The selected candidate will be required to report known or suspected child abuse or neglect as defined by CANRA and will be required to sign a Statement Acknowledging Requirement to Report Child Abuse prior to commencing employment. CANRA Penal Codes, and related definitions, requirements, and responsibilities may be obtained here .

SAFETY STATEMENT

All UCSC employees must understand and follow job safety procedures, attend required health and safety training, proactively promote safety at work, and promptly report actual and potential accidents and injuries.

EEO/AA

The University of California is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status. UC Santa Cruz is committed to excellence through diversity and strives to establish a climate that welcomes, celebrates, and promotes respect for the contributions of all students and employees.