Posting Details
Position Information
Posting Number
NONAC3796
Job Title
Senior Director of Grants & Contracts
Position Title
Senior Director of Grants & Contracts
Position Type
Non-Faculty
Number of vacancies
1
Salary
Commensurate with experience
Department
Grants & Contracts
Position Summary
Morehouse School of Medicine is seeking a senior grants and contracts leader to provide institution-wide financial and administrative stewardship of sponsored awards. Reporting to the EVP & Chief Financial Officer, this role leads post-award grants accounting and contract financial administration while partnering with research administration, principal investigators, departments, Legal, Compliance, Human Resources, Procurement, Information Technology, and other institutional leaders.
The Senior Director will strengthen internal controls, cash management, sponsor reporting, subrecipient oversight, audit readiness, closeout, regulatory implementation, employee capability, and continuity planning across a complex federal and non-federal portfolio.
*This role is onsite at 720 Westview Drive, SW Atlanta, GA 30310
Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university in accounting, finance, business administration, public administration, research administration, or a related field.
Minimum of ten years of progressively responsible experience in grants and contracts administration, sponsored-programs finance, grants accounting, research administration, financial analysis, or a closely related field.
Minimum of five years of managerial or supervisory experience, including employee development, workload management, quality assurance, and performance accountability.
Experience managing a complex portfolio of federal and non-federal awards in higher education, academic medicine, healthcare, research, or another highly regulated environment.
Demonstrated knowledge of federal award administration, cost principles, cash management, financial reporting, subrecipient monitoring, audit requirements, and internal controls.
Ability to interpret laws, regulations, sponsor guidance, award terms, and institutional policy and translate requirements into operating controls and staff guidance.
Preferred Qualifications
Master's degree in business, accounting, finance, public administration, research administration, or a related field from a regionally accredited college or university.
CRA, CFRA, CPA, or comparable professional credential.
Experience with Ellucian Banner, Cayuse, HHS Payment Management System, Research.gov,
Grants.gov, eRA Commons, or comparable systems.
Experience leading regulatory-change implementation, government-funding disruption planning, enterprise system implementation, audit remediation, or grants-process transformation.
Membership in NCURA, SRAI, or another relevant professional organization.
Leadership Profile
Strategic and enterprise thinking • Regulatory interpretation • Financial stewardship • Internal controls and audit readiness • Employee development • Executive communication • Data analysis and forecasting • Judgment and integrity • Change leadership • Service orientation
Closing Date
Open Until Filled
Yes
Special Instructions to Applicants
Employment in this role may be contingent upon extramural funding and successful performance and may be terminated or reduced in percentage of appointment if such funding is not secured or ceases to be available.
Quick Link
https://careers.msm.edu/postings/24582
Description of Job Duty
Key Responsibilities
Provide strategic oversight of federal, state, local, foundation, industry, and pass-through grants and contracts, with primary accountability for post-award financial administration.
Advise executive leadership on portfolio performance, sponsor and compliance risk, cash position, receivables, indirect cost recovery, staffing capacity, and emerging funding conditions.
Lead award setup, expenditure monitoring, reconciliation, billing, drawdowns, cash management, financial reporting, audit support, and timely closeout.
Ensure costs are allowable, allocable, reasonable, consistently treated, adequately documented, within the period of performance, and supported by required approvals.
Oversee cost transfers, compensation and payroll allocation, cost sharing, program income, equipment, procurement, participant support costs, prior approvals, record retention, and mandatory disclosures.
Direct risk-based subrecipient monitoring and coordinate appropriate classification and oversight of contractors, consultants, collaborators, and vendors.
Monitor legal, regulatory, appropriations, agency, sponsor, and award-specific changes; lead documented applicability assessments and controlled implementation.
Build executive dashboards and reporting on awards, expenditures, receivables, drawdowns, burn rates, cost share, subawards, closeouts, findings, and corrective actions.
Lead, coach, and develop the Grants & Contracts team through clear expectations, equitable workload allocation, regular feedback, role-based training, cross-training, succession planning, and backup coverage.
Strengthen systems, data integrity, access governance, segregation of duties, internal controls, standard operating procedures, service levels, and continuous improvement.
