Director of Finance

University of California - Los Angeles Health; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 98,000 - 215,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of California, Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, seeks a collaborative Director of Finance to guide strategic financial leadership across pre- and post‑award activities. You’ll manage finance, fund stewardship, procurement, and research administration while partnering with leadership to advance research and education.

This role requires supervisory experience, strong budgeting skills, and deep knowledge of federal and university policies to ensure compliant,

Qualifications

• Supervisory experience overseeing a team managing Federally funded research grants from application to closeout.
• Minimum 7 years of related experience or training.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent.
• Knowledge of OMB Circular A-21, A-110 and A-133 policies for contract and grant management.
• Ability to assess expenditure rates and budget projections.
• Uses UC accounting policies and procedures.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic financial leadership for a research‑intensive department.
• Oversee finance, fund management, procurement, and research administration.
• Lead budgeting, forecasting, and compliance for sponsored and non‑sponsored funds.
• Coordinate with campus, funding agencies to support research, education, and clinical missions.
• Partner with department leadership to optimize pre‑ and post‑award processes.

Skills

Supervisory experience

Grants management

Budgeting & forecasting

Regulatory compliance

Analytical skills

Grant policy knowledge

Excel

Microsoft Word

Time management

Interpersonal skills

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

BruinBuy

UCPath

Job description

Description

The Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology is seeking a collaborative Director of Finance to provide strategic financial leadership for a dynamic, research-intensive academic department. Reporting to the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and Director of Operations, this position oversees departmental finance, fund management, procurement, and research administration while leading a high-performing team that supports faculty across pre- and post-award activities. The Director of Finance partners closely with departmental leadership to drive financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and compliance, ensuring the effective stewardship of sponsored and non-sponsored funds and serving as the department's primary liaison with campus and funding agencies to advance its research, education, and clinical missions.

Annual Salary Range: $98,200.00-$214,600.00

Targeted Annual Salary Range: $140,000.00 - $160,000.00

Qualifications

Required

• Supervisory experience overseeing a team responsible for managing Federally funded research grants from application to closeout.
• Minimum 7 years of related experience or training
• Bachelor's degree and/or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Knowledge of OMB Circular A-21, A-110 and A-133 policies and procedures regarding contract and grant management.
• Demonstrated ability in perceiving and defining cause and effect relationships between expenditure rates and budgetary projections.
• Utilizes general accounting practices, in particular the accounting policies and procedures of the University of California.
• Demonstrated PC skills, including proficiency with Excel and Microsoft Word
• Ability to handle high volume of work with changing priorities and constant interruptions to establish priorities and meet deadlines.
• Analytical skills to assess personnel and financial information practices and procedures, define problem, formulate logical solutions, develop alternative solutions, make recommendations, and initiate corrective actions.
• Demonstrated ability in multi-million dollar contract and grants pre and post award management.
• Demonstrated knowledge of Office of Contract and Grant Administration, Extra Mural Fund Management, and Corporate/ General Accounting policies and procedures.
• Demonstrated skill in supervising groups of employees, including hiring, training, motivating and evaluating performance.
• Interpersonal skills to establish and maintain a cooperative working relationship with administrators, staff, faculty and students.

Preferred

• Expertise in fund accounting and performance metrics of research intensive health systems.
• Experience with the University's on-line system including transfer of funds (TOF), purchasing (BruinBuy), personnel and payroll (UCPath), expense transfers (NPEAR and SCTs), query database (QDB), effort reporting (ERS), etc.