Assistant Director, Award Management
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Job Location:
Lawrence, KS - USA
Monthly Salary:
Not Disclosed
Posted on:
11 hours ago
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Job Summary
30% Sponsored Project Accounts Receivable Oversight and Escalation
Disclaimer
The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race color ethnicity religion sex national origin age ancestry disability status as a veteran sexual orientation marital status parental status gender identity gender expression and genetic information in the universitys programs and activities. Retaliation is also prohibited by university policy. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies and is the Title IX coordinator for all KU and KUMC campuses: Associate Vice Chancellor for the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Room 1082 Dole Human Development Center 1000 Sunnyside Avenue Lawrence KSTTY.
Work Schedule
M-F 8a-5p
Contact Information to Applicants
Jessica Johnson Webb
Position Overview
The Assistant Director Award Management Services (AMS) provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for key post-award research administration functions within the KU Office of Research. This position is responsible for managing sponsored project accounts receivable escalation ensuring compliance with institutional and sponsor requirements and leading training initiatives for AMS and related units. The role supervises staff develops reporting tools and drives process improvements to strengthen financial accuracy compliance and customer service.
The Assistant Director collaborates with KUOR leadership principal investigators and departmental administrators to resolve complex issues maintain audit readiness and support the research enterprise through effective policy implementation and staff development.
This position is designated as fully remote meaning most activities will be performed from an agreed-upon off-campus location. Some in-person activities will be required on occasion such asrequired trainings PI meetings or all-staff meetings etc.
Due to complex state employment laws the University of Kansas may be unable to hire fully remote workers for this position outside of Kansas. Specifically we cannot currently offer employment to candidates residing in the following states: California Delaware Idaho & Minnesota. We appreciate your understanding and invite interested individuals from eligible states to apply.
- Serves as the primary escalation point for Sponsored Projects Accounts Receivable (SPAR) including direct engagement with sponsors to resolve complex or disputed payment issues.
- Supervises the SPAR Grant Manager and provides leadership for AR operations ensuring adherence to institutional policies and sponsor requirements.
- In partnership with the SPAR Grant Manager ensures accurate and timely invoicing SF-425 reporting and reconciliation of sponsored project accounts; monitors invoicing status to meet deadlines.
- Oversees aging receivables tracks outstanding balances and implements escalation protocols in collaboration with KUOR leadership to resolve overdue accounts promptly.
- Develops and maintains AR performance metrics and reporting for leadership review; recommends process improvements and policy updates to strengthen compliance and efficiency.
- Coordinates with PIs departments and central offices to resolve payment delays and disputes ensuring proper documentation for audit readiness.
- Focuses on accounting accuracy and compliance with federal regulations institutional policies and Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) standards.
- Monitors and follows up with award managementstaff on compliance-related tasks including but not limited to Financial system transactions (including Oracle PPM exceptions outstanding manual events) effort certification statements payroll on closed projects and conflict of interest disclosures.
- Develops implements and maintains reporting tools and dashboards to track compliance activities and identify areas of risk. Provides reporting for leadership review.
- Conducts rootcause analyses of non-compliance trends; in conjunction with AMS leadership recommends and helps to implement process improvements to reduce recurrence.
- Partners with Fiscal Affairs to clean up old projects; attends Contracts with Issues List (CWIL) meetings monitors new entries follows up with AMS/LSI/KUOR staff who are working to resolve issues and supports mitigation strategies to prevent future issues.
- Oversees PPM exception management and clearing; identifies exceptions and distributes them for clearing as appropriate. May clear some exceptions.
- In conjunction with AMS Leadership oversees AMS Project Close-Out in TDX ensuring deadlines are met and steps are completed accurately. Assists with troubleshooting.
- In conjunction with AMS Leadership develops maintains and monitors sponsor reporting schedules for AMS and LSI and ensures deadlines are met. May serve on KUORs NIH RPPR (Research Performance Progress Report) team.
- Supports financial reporting processes to ensure accurate accounting across compliance tasks.
- Partners with AMS Leadership in developing and delivering training for AMS and LSI staff including onboarding quarterly sessions refresher courses and training sites and materials.
- Works with AMS supervisor to coordinate and administer new hire training.
- In conjunction with AMS Leadership develops and implements ongoing skill-building including AMS/LSI quarterly training.
- Coordinates SPAR-specific training with the SPAR Manager:
- Delivers targeted sessions on accounts receivable workflows escalations expense reconciliation and sponsor billing requirements.
- Monitors training metrics assesses effectiveness and iterates based on feedback and performance outcomes.
- Supports other training efforts including but not limited to KUOR-sponsored topics departmental trainings and PI trainings.
Disclaimer
The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race color ethnicity religion sex national origin age ancestry disability status as a veteran sexual orientation marital status parental status gender identity gender expression and genetic information in the universitys programs and activities. Retaliation is also prohibited by university policy. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies and is the Title IX coordinator for all KU and KUMC campuses: Associate Vice Chancellor for the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Room 1082 Dole Human Development Center 1000 Sunnyside Avenue Lawrence KSTTY.
Work Schedule
M-F 8a-5p
Contact Information to Applicants
Jessica Johnson Webb
- Bachelors degree or higher andthree (3)years OR high school diploma and seven (7)years of related experience in research administration accounting finance public administration or a related field.
- Supervisory experience managing professional staff including performance management leadership and mentoring as demonstrated by application materials.
- Experience writing training materials creating PowerPoint presentations or drafting policy as demonstrated by application materials.
- Experience in process improvement and compliance oversight as demonstrated by application materials.
- Excellent written communication skills and attention to detail as demonstrated by application materials.
- Experience working with sponsored project administration especially in accounts receivable invoicing sponsored accounting and federal compliance as evidenced in application materials.
- Experience with federal progress reporting and federal reporting systems (e.g. eRA Commons PMS) including managing complex progress reports (e.g. Program NIH RPPRs) and sponsor communications as shown in application materials.
- Certified Research Administrator (CRA) or equivalent professional certification.
- Prior work experience that required Microsoft Excel including experience with pivot tables complex formulas and data visualization for financial and compliance reporting and analysis as evidenced by application materials.
- Previous experience with KU systems and tools (FITC FITC-PPM Perceptive Content HR/Pay OAC TDX) and strong ability to design and implement reporting tools and dashboards as evidenced in application materials.
Position Overview
The Assistant Director Award Management Services (AMS) provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for key post-award research administration functions within the KU Office of Research. This position is responsible for managing sponsored project accounts receivable escalation ensuring compliance with institutional and sponsor requirements and leading training initiatives for AMS and related units. The role supervises staff develops reporting tools and drives process improvements to strengthen financial accuracy compliance and customer service.
The Assistant Director collaborates with KUOR leadership principal investigators and departmental administrators to resolve complex issues maintain audit readiness and support the research enterprise through effective policy implementation and staff development.
This position is designated as fully remote meaning most activities will be performed from an agreed-upon off-campus location. Some in-person activities will be required on occasion such asrequired trainings PI meetings or all-staff meetings etc.
Due to complex state employment laws the University of Kansas may be unable to hire fully remote workers for this position outside of Kansas. Specifically we cannot currently offer employment to candidates residing in the following states: California Delaware Idaho & Minnesota. We appreciate your understanding and invite interested individuals from eligible states to apply.
In addition to the online application the following documentsare required tobe considered for this position:
- Cover letter describing how you meet the required and preferred qualifications.
- Resume.
- List of three (3) professional references.
Only complete applications will be considered.
Application review begins Monday February 16 2026. For consideration please apply no later than Sunday February 15 2026.
Required Experience:
Director
Key Skills
- Category Management
- Athletics
- Customer
- ABAP
- Hydraulics
- ITI
About Company
Thank you for your interest in employment with the University of Kansas. If you need assistance with the application process please contact Human Resources at [email protected] or 785-864-4946.
