• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $150,000-$170,000

Position Summary

The Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL) is a Columbia University-based partnership of professional schools that prepares students for leadership positions in public education organizations committed to improving the life chances of all children, particularly those of color, from low-income households, or otherwise traditionally underserved. The program brings together upper-level graduate students in data sciences, business, education, law, and policy from universities across the nation to study and engage in consulting projects serving public- and social-sector organizations undertaking and supporting transformational change in PK-12 education and in the public sector as a whole. The program offers graduate students the rigorous, multi-disciplinary, academic, and experiential preparation they need to flourish in exciting leadership, management, and professional positions in those same organizations while simultaneously offering the organizations high-quality consulting support.

The Director for Strategy and Operations is directly responsible for the comprehensive oversight of CPRL???s financial operations and planning, grants management, and student support. The Director of Strategy and Operations reports to CPRL???s Deputy Director of Strategy and Operations.

The Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL) is seeking a Director of Strategy and Operations. This full-time position is located in New York City. 

Responsibilities

The Director for Strategy and Operations will divide their time across the following areas of center activity:

Financial Management:

• Lead financial strategic planning processes, and identify and implement systems and processes to ensure scalable and secure financial operations.

• Oversee all financial, project, and grants accounting, reporting, and forecasting, including creating and implementing comprehensive financial reporting systems.

• Partner with CPRL???s leadership team to monitor and track revenue goals and projections.

• Update and manage CPRL???s financial model and develop annual and quarterly budgets.

• Monitor day-to-day program expenditures against budget; run and analyze reports in the university???s Accounting and Reporting at Columbia (ARC) system.

• Prepare client contracts and manage other agreements and CPRL???s invoicing process.

Student and Partner School Support:

• Oversee comprehensive academic administration for partner school relationships including managing variations in earned course credits, admitting and enrolling students, and overseeing all fiscal transactions between institutions.

• Oversee the awarding of scholarship funds to students.

• Oversee enrollment and onboarding of students at CPRL, and manage ongoing student support during each semester.

Vendor and Personnel Management:

• Working with Columbia Law School???s business office and other departments within the law school and university, manage vendor onboarding, contracting, and invoicing.

• Working with Columbia Law School HR, manage onboarding of CPRL Project Associates (TAs).

Support Fundraising efforts:

• Responsible for grants management:

  • Project manage CPRL???s institutional grants management and administration: prepare and track proposal for submission, monitor and ensure compliance with proposal guidelines, grant commitments, and reporting requirements.

  • Create budgets and budget narratives for CPRL???s grant proposals and interim and final reports; monitor need for and manage submission of requests for grant modifications or extensions.

  • Partner with CLS???s Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations to source and respond to grant opportunities; partner with Columbia Law School???s Sponsored Projects Finance and Columbia University???s Sponsored Projects Administration to garner university approvals for proposal and report submissions.

  • Manage grant expenditures, including personnel allocations and other expenses, and ensure fiscal compliance with sponsor regulations for all CPRL???s active grants.

  • Update and implement grants training for CPRL staff.

• Provide support for individual giving:

  • Support the creation of and monitor the implementation of CPRL???s individual giving strategy.

  • Conduct research and develop preparatory materials for donor cultivation meetings.

  • Maintain CPRL???s Donor Database.

• Provide support for management of CPRL???s Advisory Council:

  • Prepare materials for and, as appropriate, participate in CPRL Advisory Council meetings.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor???s degree required and advanced degree in business or management, accounting, education, law (JD, LLM), policy, or social sciences required, plus 5-7 years of significant experience.

• Strong analytical skills, with preference for candidates with expertise in financial modeling and experience with grants management and final responsibility for the quality and content of financial data.

• Demonstrated ability to design, direct and carry out complex projects with minimal supervision and to work closely with stakeholders in public sector or non-profit agencies.

• Intellectual capacity to think strategically in a fast-paced environment; understand multiple perspectives; learn about new topics; problem solve and develop responsive solutions under changing circumstances.

• Ability to respond to and integrate feedback from both peers and supervisors; ability to communicate feedback to individuals and teams in a clear and productive manner.

• Excellent interpersonal, organization and communication skills.

• Must be able to work with diverse constituencies and support an inclusive work environment.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.

About Columbia University

Columbia University is one of the world's most important centers of research and at the same time a distinctive and distinguished learning environment for undergraduates and graduate students in many scholarly and professional fields. The University recognizes the importance of its location in New York City and seeks to link its research and teaching to the vast resources of a great metropolis. It seeks to attract a diverse and international faculty and student body, to support research and teaching on global issues, and to create academic relationships with many countries and regions. It expects all areas of the university to advance knowledge and learning at the highest level and to convey the products of its efforts to the world.

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