Senior Manager of Finance and Administration

Overview

Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) is an exciting, vibrant, and rapidly evolving discipline which plays a crucial role in addressing humanity's most vital societal challenges related to climate change, accelerated urban growth, and the depletion of natural resources.

The Senior Manager of Finance and Administration is charged with supporting the chair and faculty by executing policy and strategic direction for the department, developing and carrying out short- and long-term academic and operations planning in collaboration with the chair, and supporting critical priorities including faculty recruiting, promotions and retentions. The manager is responsible for ensuring that the faculty, students, and staff have the necessary resources to carry out their academic, research, and administrative duties.

The chair establishes the academic and intellectual direction of the department, and the manager provides support for the chair's vision. The manager supervises CEE administrative staff, and oversees the functional areas of budget management; academic programs and student services; facilities and operations; staff development and performance management; and policy and compliance. The manager reports directly to the department chair, with a secondary reporting relationship to the Senior Manager of Academic Administration.

CEE currently has 24 full-time faculty members; 11 administrative and technical staff; 50 research scholars, visiting scholars, and postdoctoral researchers; and 90 plus graduate students. The manager ensures that all internal deadlines are met and that the department is compliant with all internal guidelines and external regulations. The manager is responsible for attending all relevant training classes offered by the University pertaining to these duties.

Responsibilities

Budget and financial management: The manager develops the administrative budget for the academic department in collaboration with the chair. The manager is responsible for careful and appropriate management of the administrative allowance and a wide variety of endowed and restricted funds, as well as pre-award and post-award administration of grants and sponsored research projects (~ $10+M). The department manager monitors spending and provides regular and timely analysis and projections of the available funds to the chair. The manager establishes and communicates internal controls for relevant staff members in order to safeguard University assets, maintain accurate and reliable accounting information, promote operational efficiency, and ensure adherence to prescribed policies and procedures.

Personnel Management: The department manager supervises the hiring, performance reviews, merit increase process, performance improvement, reclassifications, staff training and development, award nominations and terminations of the administrative staff and technical staff. Human Resources staff members in the department have a formal reporting relationship to the manager, although they may have an informal or secondary reporting relationship to a faculty member or other staff member.

Academic administration: The manager supervises the administration of the teaching component of departmental activities, ensuring that the academic department meets all deadlines for the offices of the Dean of the Faculty, Registrar, Dean of the College, and the Graduate School. The manager is responsible for the teaching budget and Assistants in Instruction (AI) budgets with close communications with the Dean of Faculty Office; provides support for faculty recruitment, hiring, tenure and promotion, summer salary, and academic leaves of faculty; appointments of postdoctoral researchers and appointments of visiting fellows, visiting research collaborators, and visiting students. The manager works closely with the graduate and undergraduate coordinator, director of graduate studies and the director of undergraduate program in ensuring all academic policies and reporting are in compliance.

Policy and compliance: The manager is responsible for understanding and communicating all university policies to CEE faculty, staff, and students. The manager takes the lead on implementation of policies and regulatory compliance within the department, provides internal training workshops to administrative staff to ensure their policy understanding and compliance.

Facility and Space Management: The department manager is responsible for managing the allocation of departmental office and lab space. S/He has responsibility for overseeing departmental renovation projects in cooperation with the Office of Design and Construction.

Qualifications

Required qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree
• 7+ years in a management position that includes supervisory experience.
• Demonstrated leadership, problem-solving and decision-making skills.
• Ability to effectively manage the resources of the department: experience in budget management, oversight of financial operations, and grants management.
• Experience in the supervision, coaching and development of staff.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills; excellent interpersonal and customer service skills.
• Sensitive to the needs and concerns of faculty, staff, and students and other members of the University in a manner that is professional, objective and easily understood.
• Superior organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Ability to anticipate and initiate appropriate action in support of the Chair and department faculty.
• Proficiency in computer applications, including MS Office software (especially Excel) and Google Products.

Preferred qualifications:

• Advanced degree preferred
• Proficiency in University administrative applications and enterprise systems
• Experience in university administration strongly preferred
• Prior experience with facility management or renovations

Department: Civil and Environmental Eng
Category: Academic Administration
Job Type: Full-Time
Posted: 28-Mar-26
Location: Princeton, New Jersey
Type: Full-time
Categories: Other Staff/Administrative
Standard Weekly Hours: 36.25
Eligible for Overtime: No
Benefits Eligible: Yes
Probationary Period: 180 days
Experience Level: Director
Salary Range: $133,000 to $150,000

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.