Finance and Data Operations Manager

Columbia University (Staff Jobs)

Position Summary

Reporting to the Managing Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Research Center for Smart Streetscapes (CS3), the Finance and Data Operations Manager independently manages the day-to-day financial operations, accounting, and financial-reporting data for the Center within The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). The incumbent administers the Center’s annual operating budget of approximately $7.2M across federal, matching, and other sponsored accounts; develops, implements, and enforces internal financial controls; and independently produces account reconciliations, financial and compliance reporting, budget projections, and burn-rate analyses with minimal supervisory correction.

In addition to core financial management, the role owns the Center’s financial reporting data and analytics: designing and maintaining reporting dashboards, and managing the data flows that consolidate and reconcile financial information across the Center’s partner institutions and multiple sponsor and University systems into consistent, decision-ready reporting. The role carries primary responsibility for the Center’s compliance with NSF and University financial requirements, including administration and certification of the Center’s mandatory cost share; prior-approval, allowability, and allocability requirements under federal Uniform Guidance and sponsor terms; and coordination with SEAS Finance, Sponsored Projects Administration and Finance (SPA/SPF), University offices, and the Center’s partner institutions. This is an on-site position requiring regular, reliable in-office presence during scheduled hours.

Responsibilities

Budget Administration, Financial Controls, and Reporting (40%):

• Independently administers the Center’s operating and sponsored budgets: performs complete monthly reconciliation of all Center accounts on schedule, monitors expenditures to prevent overdrafts, investigates and resolves variances, and recommends budget modifications. Maintains documented reconciliations for management review and audit.
• Independently produces budget projections, burn-rate analyses, salary and expenditure reports, and award year-end projections by activity; enters and maintains the annual budget and multi-year forecasts in the University Budget Tool.
• Internal controls: develops, documents, implements, and enforces the Center’s financial and accounting SOPs. Ensures that all required approvals — including PI approval — are obtained before any expenditure is incurred, including the incumbent’s own expenditures, and verifies allowability and allocability under University policy, sponsor terms, and 2 CFR 200.
• Cost share: independently tracks, reconciles, consolidates, and certifies the Center’s mandatory cost share across partner institutions and University offices; coordinates directly with SPF to resolve certification items within required deadlines.
• Reporting and closeout: prepares monthly and year-end financial reports, post-award financial reporting to NSF, and supports effort reporting; collaborates with SEAS Finance and partner institutions to complete all year-end transactions.
• Monitors subawards to partner institutions, reviews subaward invoices for allowability and consistency with approved spending, and ensures timely, compliant payment; coordinates with SEAS Finance, CU Internal Audit, SPA/SPF, and sub-awardees on audit requirements.

Data Operations, Reporting Infrastructure, and Analytics (20%):

• Designs, builds, and maintains the Center’s financial reporting dashboards, providing leadership, PIs, and sponsors with timely, decision-ready views of budget status, burn rate, cost share, and subaward spending.
• Manages the data flows and reporting pipelines that consolidate and reconcile financial data across the Center’s partner institutions and multiple sponsor and University systems (e.g., ARC, PAC, FDS, the Budget Tool, and partner-provided reports) into consistent reporting outputs.
• Establishes and maintains financial data-quality, consistency, and version-control standards for multi-institution and multi-sponsor reporting; defines standard financial reporting templates, data definitions, and refresh cadences, and documents them as part of the Center’s Finance SOPs.
• Automates recurring financial reporting where practicable to reduce manual effort and error, and continuously improves the accuracy and timeliness of the Center’s financial reporting.
• Translates financial and compliance data into clear visualizations and written analysis for non-financial audiences, including Center leadership and sponsor reporting.
• Ensures financial reporting data is handled in accordance with applicable University, sponsor, and partner-institution data-use and confidentiality requirements.

Daily Financial Operations, Payroll Accounting, and HR Support (20%):

• Initiates all Center financial transactions (travel and business expense reimbursements, purchase orders, invoice processing, vendor profiles), ensuring required approvals and supporting documentation are obtained and verified before processing; reviews and reconciles P-Card transactions.
• Processes receipt of funds to the appropriate projects; creates projects and chartfields as needed to manage the Center budget.
• Initiates or reviews cost transfers and prepares salary distribution requests to ensure proper allocation of expenditures; manages the Center’s casual and work-study payroll (timesheet verification and approval, liaising with SEAS HR).
• Initiates or reviews journal entries and internal cost allocations and recoveries.
• Supports the Center’s hiring and appointment functions, advises faculty on appointment and hiring processes, and initiates related transactions in PAC.

Awards Proposal and Grants Management (10%):

• Drafts proposal budgets and budget justifications and coordinates proposal submission materials, in support of CS3 PIs and the Managing Director.
• Maintains all associated award proposal and grant management files and correspondence and a library of grant support documents (e.g., resumes, CVs, bios, forms, etc.).

Event and Facilities Support (5%):

• Provides financial and logistical support for Center events (catering, room reservations, guest-travel procedures) and initiates service tickets with SEAS and CU Facilities as needed.

Performs related duties and responsibilities as assigned or requested (5%):

• Undertakes additional duties consistent with the role as directed by the Managing Director.

• Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent.

• 4–6 years of hands-on financial administration and management experience, including demonstrated experience independently administering sponsored research awards (post-award financial management, reconciliation, and reporting).

• Demonstrated ability to independently run financial reports and perform complete account reconciliations without routine assistance.

• Advanced proficiency with spreadsheet-based analysis and reporting (complex formulas, pivot tables, consolidation of data from multiple sources).

• Demonstrated experience building and maintaining dashboards and reports using a business-intelligence or data-visualization tool (e.g., Power BI, Tableau, or Looker Studio), or clearly equivalent experience.

• Experience managing, reconciling, and consolidating data from multiple systems or sources into consistent, accurate reporting outputs.

• Working knowledge of federal grant financial compliance: prior-approval, allowability, allocability, and cost-share requirements under Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200)

• Experience developing, implementing, and enforcing internal financial controls and standard operating procedures.

• Demonstrated ability to establish and adjust priorities, work under deadline pressure, exercise sound independent judgment, and proactively communicate risks and delays.

• Excellent interpersonal, organizational, and communication skills, including the ability to present financial data clearly to non-financial audiences.

• This position requires an excel assessment.

• Preferred Qualifications

• Professional certification in Finance, Accounting, or other relevant fields

• Direct experience administering NSF awards, ideally a large center or NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC), including mandatory cost share and cost-share cer