The University of Chicago Hiring for Director, Projects and Grants at Chicago, Illinois Full Time

Department

F&A Financial Systems Transformation

About the Department

Finance and Administration represents a committed group of people who serve the University in a variety of areas including financial services, information technology services, risk management, internal audit, compliance, human resources, and shared services. The goal of our division is to provide the services and support needed to foster an environment of academic and research excellence at the University of Chicago. Our team is dedicated to collaborative partnerships with our colleagues and customers that lay the foundation for an exemplary service delivery process. Finance and Administration is fully aligned with the strategic and academic priorities of the University, and each of the units within our division is tasked with implementing the processes necessary to achieve lasting excellence.

Job Summary

The Director, Projects and Grants is a hybrid role acting as both a functional leader to drive strategic University policy, process, security, and workflow decision for the areas of Projects and Grants, Clinical Trials, and Capital Projects. This position may manage multiple related teams of managers and/or professional staff responsible in the planning and execution of diverse IT projects, including budget creation, resource and schedule management, and implementation. Utilizes expertise and leadership skills to manage staff and to resolve issues to ensure project goals and requirements are met.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for the successful outcome of the entirety of the Financial Systems Transformation. The University’s ERP Financials Systems Transformation (FST) program will be carried out in three phases: pre-implementation, implementation and post-production support. This role will transition into a key leader of the post go-live support organization.
• Works with system integration consultants and functional and IT stakeholders to lead system configurations and integrations.
• Works with the vendor representative(s) to provide functional leadership and project management on the three phases (pre-implementation, implementation and post-production support) of the Financial Systems Transformation program.
• Partners with University Senior Leaders to drive strategic decisions and advance long-term strategic vision.
• Identifies key risks and mitigates issues related to configuration, policy, and process changes.
• Manages the Financial Systems Transformation team members. Provides the overall leadership and guidance for team members.
• Directs and manages work product of large and varied groups of central and academic University staff.
• Prepares executive summaries of project status, risks and issues.
• Sets up and maintains documentation and deliverable, etc. in central repository.
• Assesses change impact; identifies and manages anticipated resistance.
• Provides methods and guidance to business leaders to make informed decisions which facilitate the adoption of supporting change process.
• Provides status reporting to executive management and team on progress toward objectives.
• Prepares and maintains documentation of project activities such as weekly status letters, steering committee meetings and business process meetings.
• Manages and ensures all project issues are resolved promptly to avoid negative impact to the budget or schedule.
• Builds and maintains stakeholder relationships including with University executives, data stewards and SME’s, academic departments and end-users.
• Develops and timely submits deliverable set forth in the SOW and manages resources.
• Responsible for overall success of the pre-implementation, implementation and post-production phases of the project.
• Responds to day-to-day problems, manages issues and risks and provides input into the project to mitigate risks.
• Defines tasks, milestones, and deliverables that meet stated project objectives. Confirms roadmap aligns with project priorities and business case.
• Provides guidance to project teams on implementation methodologies and internal project processes.
• Develops detailed project plan, budget, and task management to achieve project objectives.
• Ensures that the work of the project team meets and remains in scope of the project.
• Prepares and presents comprehensive scope and definition documents that detail project objectives, scope, reporting strategy, resource requirements, and stakeholders.
• Oversees the ROI tracking and reporting effort.
• Produces reports, agendas, and minutes for project team meetings; sets up and facilitates meetings where needed.
• Manages project documentation and project governance processes.
• Helps train and realign process improvements and governance across multiple IT and business groups.
• Reviews plans governing all phases of the development of any applications, design, coding, unit testing, and documentation of the technology function.
• Collaborates with University IT services and Investment Office teams to ensure feasibility of IT project plans and functionality of their implementation.
• Manages managers and professional staff. Establishes performance goals, allocates resources and assesses policies for direct subordinates.
• Ensures the implementation and maintenance of collaboration systems and services for University faculty, researchers, students and staff. Represents Collaborative Services and serves as a key communication channel for the function.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications
Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 7+ years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Advanced degree.

Experience:

• Experience in a higher education setting.

Certifications:

• Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification – Project Management Institute.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Maintain and configure cloud based financial systems, such as Oracle and Workday.
• Knowledge of Oracle Portfolio Project Management as it relates to higher education and sponsored research.
• Knowledge of system integration design with cloud financial systems.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Project, estimating of tasks, scheduling of tasks, juggling resources and priorities, Microsoft Office, SharePoint and Box.
• Working knowledge of best practices for design, build, testing, and deployment of all functional and technical layers of financial systems.

Preferred Competencies

• Work with finance/accounting professionals.
• Demonstrated ability to develop, plan, and implement short-and long-range goals, to organize and establish priorities, and to manage, motivate and work with technical and non-technical resources.

Working Conditions

• Standard office environment.
• Hybrid, mixed remote/on-site.
• Sit for short or extended time periods.
• Stand for short or extended time periods.
• Extensively use computer.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• Cover Letter (required)

When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Posting Statement

Employees must comply with the University’s COVID-19 vaccination requirements. More information about the requirements can be found on the University of Chicago Vaccination GoForward.

The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University’s Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Staff Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

We seek a diverse pool of applicants who wish to join an academic community that places the highest value on rigorous inquiry and encourages a diversity of perspectives, experiences, groups of individuals, and ideas to inform and stimulate intellectual challenge, engagement, and exchange.

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history.  A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment.  Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.