PROGRAM OPERATIONS SPECIALIST
Req #: | 168858 |
Department: | COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING |
Job Location: | Seattle Campus |
Posting Date: | 06/17/2019 |
Closing Info: | Open Until Filled |
Salary: | Salary is commensurate with experience and education |
Shift: | First Shift |
Notes: | As a UW employee, you will enjoy generous benefits and work/life programs. For detailed information on Benefits for this position, click here. |
UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty. All of which has allowed the UW to be nationally recognized as a “Great College to Work For” for five consecutive years.
The Office of the Dean of the College of Engineering has an outstanding opportunity for a Program Operations Specialist.
This position serves as the business manager and senior-level administrative support for the ADVANCE Center for Institutional Change, providing operations leadership and managing the unit’s fiscal, operational, and hiring responsibilities. This position is responsible for the day-to-day program logistics and the long-term operations planning of both the UW campus-based programming and national grant-funded programming administered by the ADVANCE Center for Institutional Change (Advance CIC). The program operations specialist reports to the Director of the Center for Institutional Change.
This position serves in a variety of administrative roles and must demonstrate effective communication, administrative judgment, and innovative ability. As an effective team player who is easily accessible and contributes to the success of UW ADVANCE, this position must utilize deep knowledge of program activities to create and implement policies and procedures that increase efficiencies and allow for program growth and additional capacity for the Center Director. The person in this position must have the ability to act independently and responsibly, given general direction from the Center Director and the constraints of the University policies and procedures and the policies and procedures of funding agencies that sponsor the Center’s grant-funded efforts. This position is responsible for establishing and maintaining policies and procedures for ADVANCE in all administrative areas. The position also leads administrative and operational activities and establishes and maintains project timelines
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Program Management and Operations
• Developing, interpreting and implementing institutional and organizational policies, procedures and operations.
• Participating in strategic planning for the Center, including preparing various budget scenarios and multi-year program calendars, and anticipating grant needs and strategic programming;
• Navigating between big-picture, strategic issues, along with more tactical and procedural issues;
• Identifying potential program issues or conflicts before they become problems of significance, and identifying potential solutions;
• Updating and maintaining ADVANCE and other grant-funded programs public relations materials including promotional materials, banners, postcards, one-pagers, info sheets.
• Spearheading website redesign and reorganization. Coordinating with COE web development team and student assistant to regularly maintain and update websites.
• Scheduling all ADVANCE and grant-funded program events, such as Leadership Team Meetings, Faculty Luncheons, workshops, and national symposia;
• Supporting calendars of program staff including scheduling and updating with ADVANCE and grant-program related events and meetings;
• Attending programmatic leadership team/advisory board meetings and other meetings including preparing and distributing meeting agendas and minutes;
• Maintaining ADVANCE email listservs and other program databases;
• Creating and distributing event email announcements, reminders, and other correspondence;
• Creating and maintaining documents which provide summary information about programmatic impact;
• Arranging travel, lodging and reimbursements for ADVANCE program personnel and external participants/guests;
• Developing procedures and protocols for new programming;
• Maintaining reservations for and management of the ADVANCE lactation room;
• Serving as primary initial contact for ADVANCE program;
• Establishing and maintaining collaborative and cooperative relationships within ADVANCE, as well as with the Colleges, UW offices, and outside institutions;
• Cultivating a deep knowledge of the activities of all programs and services operated by ADVANCE CIC, including campus programs and national, grant-funded programs;
• Processing all HR related documentation and appointments for UW ADVANCE including:
- Writing ADVANCE job descriptions and disseminate descriptions to appropriate offices, departments, and listservs;
- Assisting with communicating employment decisions with candidates;
- Processing relevant paperwork such as new employee onboarding, reappointments, exiting paperwork
- Approving hourly employee time sheets;
• Co-onboarding, training, and supervising Graduate Student Assistant in collaboration with ADVANCE Director;
• Liaising between UW ADVANCE, the College of Engineering’s Human Resources Office, the UW Graduate School, and UW’s Central Human Resources Office.
Fiscal Management
The program operations specialist is responsible for overseeing and managing the day-to-day financial operations as well as the long-term financial planning of the ADVANCE program by:
• Managing financial resources. This position must exercise independent judgment maximize Center resources and make fiscal recommendations to the Center Director and Faculty Director;
• Establishing financial management policies and providing regular financial reporting to the Center Director and Faculty Director, including financial analyses and/or cost projections as requested;
• Monitoring compliance with institutional policies and applicable laws and regulations of the federal government, state or other research project sponsors. Demonstrating a high level of expertise in developing and maintaining processes that ensure compliance within the department, minimizing risk and non-compliance.
• Managing ADVANCE budgets and grant-funded program budgets, including monitoring different budget lifecycles (biennium, fiscal year, grant year, etc.). Budgets include funds from the provost, colleges, endowments, and gifts totaling nearly $700,000 biennially, plus external grant funding totaling over $2.4 million.
• Reconciling all ADVANCE budgets on a monthly basis;
• Reconciling ADVANCE’s ProCard and Corporate Travel Account Card (CTA) on a monthly basis;
• Managing Grant and Contract Certification Reports (GCCR) for all ADVANCE grant budgets;
• Maintaining budget files with appropriate program receipts;
• Maintaining budget spreadsheets and communicate details with program leadership through monthly budget meetings;
• Coordinating annual funding from contributing UW colleges;
• Collaborating with UW’s Office of Sponsored Programs Office and UW’s Grant & Contract Accounting Office to open, close, and maintain all ADVANCE budgets;
• Assisting staff with purchasing, reimbursements, and payroll matters
• Assisting staff with the Pro-Card (purchasing) system
• Acting as liaison between ADVANCE staff and central services units, such as Payroll, Grants and Contracts Accounting, Purchasing, and Travel offices
• Maintaining spreadsheets that track budgets and forecast budget projections
• Conducting analysis of overhead costs associated with expenditures charged to matching fund budgets
• Tracking budget and sub-budget expiration dates, liquidate and close
• Acting as budget liaison between ADVANCE staff and collaborating units
• Providing staff distribution information to College of Engineering’s payroll office;
• Completing excess compensation requests for ADVANCE employees as requested;
• Completing other fiscal duties as assigned.
Grants Management
The program operations specialist acts as the grant proposal coordinator for the Center. Duties include:
• Creating budgets, budget justifications, biosketches, current and pending documents, data management plans, and other grant-related documents;
• Creating and managing UW eGC1s through the UW SAGE system;
• Uploading documents into relevant grant online interfaces such as NSF Fastlane or Research.gov;
• Liaising between UW ADVANCE, UW’s Office of Sponsored Programs Office and UW’s Grant & Contract Accounting Office;
• Regularly reviewing and communicating grant guideline changes to the ADVANCE team.
• Managing transfer of funding from parent budgets to sub-budgets through TRANSPASUs and UW’s Grant Tracker system;
• Assisting with proposal writing and editing and grant report writing and submissions;
- Managing subcontract set-up, payment, and closure through UW’s Grant Tracker system and UW’s Office of Sponsored Programs Office
Professional Meetings, Events and Seminars
The program operations specialist plans, organizes and manages meetings and events as required, including:
• Setting program timelines and calendars including identifying tasks and activities, setting deadlines, indicating key personnel for each task, and ensuring deadlines are met;
• Determining availability dates of key participants;
• Tracking event RSVPs and managing all communication with participants including program logistics, program expectations, and travel reimbursements;
• Arranging for meeting space;
• Arranging for catering and/or off-site lunches or dinners;
• Arranging for hotel “block reservations” event and seminar attendees, as necessary;
• Arranging travel, lodging, reimbursements and honoraria for guest speakers;
• Making parking pass arrangements as appropriate;
• Creating and assembling materials for handout notebooks and/or programs;
• Organizing space and equipment arrangements as needed;
• Managing all vendor contracts and ensuring proper execution of contracts and vendor payment;
• Collecting, collating and submitting event evaluation forms to evaluation staff.
REQUIREMENTS:
• B.A. or B.S. in Business Administration, or other applicable fields, and four years of experience working in a professional, customer-oriented environment required; M.A. or M.S. degree preferred
• Must be able to use word processing, spreadsheet, web-editing, and database software, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint and Google Drive functions
• Must be able to communicate professionally, efficiently, and effectively by email and orally with department chairs, industry leaders, staff, faculty, and other program participants and stakeholders
• Must have ability to research and/or problem-solve unfamiliar procedures on an expedited basis
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
• Ability to prioritize and handle multiple tasks on a frequent basis
• Ability to interact with people from diverse backgrounds
• Ability to plan, organize, and implement meetings as required
• Ability to identify and synthesize relevant information via programs, individuals, organizations and the web, and present newly gathered information to a wide variety of stakeholders in various formats
• Should have a strong interest and background in advancing women faculty in science, engineering, and math
• Perform related duties as required
Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.
DESIRED EXPERIENCE
• Must have experience using UW on-line fiscal systems, including FIN, PAS, HEPPS, and BGT or willingness to learn
• Must have knowledge of UW travel procedures or willingness to learn
Application Process:
The application process for UW positions may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Workforce Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.
Committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff, your experiences, perspectives and unique identities will be honored at the University of Washington. Together, our community strives to create and maintain working and learning environments that are inclusive, equitable, and welcoming.
The University of Washington is a leader in environmental stewardship & sustainability, and committed to becoming climate neutral.
The University of Washington is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 / 206-543-6452 (tty) or dso@uw.edu.