Assistant Director, Office of Sponsored Programs - Financial Administration

Working Title: Assistant Director, Office of Sponsored Programs - Financial Administration

State Role Title: N/A

Position Type: Administrative & Professional (Non-teaching Faculty)

Position Status: Full-Time

FLSA Status: Exempt: Not Eligible for Overtime

 

College/Division: Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) - Financial Administration

Department: 539001 - Sponsored Programs Accounting

 

Pay Band: N/A

Pay Rate: Pay Range

Specify Range or Amount: 65,000 - 75,000 

 

Is this a JMU only position? No

Is this a grant-funded position? Yes. This is a grant-funded position and is contingent upon continued funding.

Is this a Conflict of Interest designated position? No

 

Beginning Review Date: 06/05/2026

 

About JMU:

Mission
We are a community committed to preparing students to be educated and enlightened citizens who lead productive and meaningful lives.

Vision
To be the national model for the engaged university: engaged with ideas and the world.

Who We Are
Situated in the heart of Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley, the city of Harrisonburg is a vibrant community with a population of approximately 52,000. Harrisonburg is conveniently located approximately 120 miles from Washington, D.C. and Richmond, VA.

JMU is a selective, public institution with a growing national reputation for offering experiences that lead to an outstanding education and supportive environment for students, faculty and staff. The student body includes approximately 21,000 undergraduate and 1,800 graduate students, with over 1,000 full-time instructional faculty.

JMU offers thriving programs in the liberal arts, science and technology, and professional disciplines at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels. JMU has achieved national recognition for the high quality of its academic programs, focus on maintaining strong student/faculty interaction, and innovative faculty research.

 

General Information:

The Assistant Director for Sponsored Programs Financial Administration provides leadership, oversight, and operational management of post-award services supporting the institution’s research and sponsored projects portfolio. This role ensures compliant financial management, effective award monitoring, compliant spending on sub-awards, timely reporting, and exceptional service to faculty and project teams. With a customer service focus, support 'post award' analysis and monitoring functions for sponsored projects maintaining compliance with university, federal, state regulations in accordance with American Institute of Certified Public Accounts generally accepted accounting policies and procedures. Maintain high level of customer satisfaction acknowledging that Principal Investigators rarely embrace compliance, administrative, or accounting issues.

 

Duties and Responsibilities:

Sub-recipient Monitoring: Monitor/Approve payments for sub-recipients as budgeted in sponsored programs.
Review and approve financial transactions as approved for payments to sub-recipients and adjust transactions that require higher-level scrutiny.
Work with JMU’s PIs to gain approval to pay submitted invoices.
Work with Finance to gain approval for pre-payments to sub-awardees as approved by external sponsors.
Work with sub-recipients to audit submitted invoices for compliance with the submitted budget and the written budget justification.

Communications: Provide guidance to principal investigators, research administrators, and departmental staff on post-award requirements and best practices.
Represent the office in cross-campus meetings, committees, and working groups.
Act as a liaison to sponsors on post-award issues, financial matters, and award modifications.

Financial Compliance & Reporting: Ensure compliance with federal regulations (e.g., Uniform Guidance), sponsor requirements, institutional policies, and audit standards.
Oversee the preparation and submission of financial reports, invoices, drawdowns, and related documentation.
Oversee the financial and administrative management of sponsored awards, including budget setup, expense monitoring, and cost allocations.
Serve as an institutional resource for interpreting spon