The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) pioneers collaborative solutions to global ocean challenges. We steward the Gulf of Maine ecosystem and the hardworking communities that depend on it through a mix of science, education, and community programming.

GMRI has made a long–term investment in science literacy as a cornerstone of a 21st century economy by providing programs to ignite the curiosity, ambition, innovation, and problem–solving potential of Maine’s next generation. GMRI’s education department works to support teachers and students across Maine (and beyond) in engaging in authentic science experiences. These efforts engage hundreds of educators and more than 10,000 students a year. The range of programming across the department includes a regional citizen science effort to investigate how ecosystems are changing in response to climate change, a journal of middle school ecological research, ongoing curriculum and professional development efforts to support and deepen teachers’ comfort with authentic science and data literacy, and onsite and virtual delivery of science learning experiences based in real and local ecosystem change.

The Education department is a small, collaborative, and creative team. We work together to innovate, create, and test ideas in order to build robust learning experiences and communities of practice. The team is driven by big ideas and has big goals. The department works in collaboration with others across GMRI’s departments to share best practices and promote our work with a national audience as relevant models for authentic science learning.

The primary role of the Budget Administrator is to support the GMRI Education team in developing and tracking department, project, and proposal budgets. The department is funded through a robust but complex suite of individual, corporate, foundation, and federal funding with an array of tracking and reporting requirements. The goal of this position is to maximize the effectiveness of the Chief Education Officer with regard to budgets at all stages of the project life cycle, minimize the burden of financial management on program teams, and maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of collaboration and communication with financial stakeholders around the organization.

The position will be part time at 20 hours per week and located at GMRI in Portland, Maine.

Responsibilities/Tasks:

Collaborate with program managers, the Chief Education Officer (CEdO), GMRI Finance & Administration, GMRI Research Management, and the fundraising team to:

· Serve as the hub of communication and collaboration during the annual budget creation process; serve as point person to create first-round budgets based on information from program teams, collaborate with the CEdO on staff allocation across projects and programs, coordinate with the GMRI Development team on alignment of forecasted expenditures and revenue, and work with the GMRI Finance & Administration team to iterate and eventually finalize the department budget.

· Collaborate with program teams and with GMRI Finance & Administration to monitor project expenditures and report on financial management monthly or as required.

· Provide visualizations of project financial status in ways that facilitate decision making by all stakeholders including GMRI Management.

· Identify areas of concern and collaborate with all parties to remove obstacles and create solutions.

· Secure, contract, and manage vendors including review and payment of invoices in collaboration with GMRI Finance & Administration.

· Manage sub-award and consulting contracts in collaboration with GMRI Finance & Administration.

· Work with GMRI Research Management to support the development of proposals by creating and iterating project budgets and submit them for internal review.

· Support the Chief Education Officer in required monthly and annual reporting to funders.

Other General Responsibilities:

· Maintain a general understanding of GMRI’s organizational strategies, processes, and policies and support communication of those to the Education department

· Participate as an essential member of the Education team including regular team meetings, department retreats, GMRI staff retreats, and key project team meetings

· Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

· 5 years of relevant experience

· Demonstrated experience and advanced skill with Excel

· Experience with Office 365, Slack, and Google Drive and willingness to learn GMRI’s financial management systems and tools

· Able to prioritize and manage a high volume of competing work requests from a fast-paced team and organization

· Able to manage confidentiality and sensitive information, use good judgment, multitask, be a team player, keep a sense of humor and flexibility amid changing needs

· Strong oral and written communication skills with proven record of attention to detail and meeting deadlines

Other Preferred Qualifications:

· Prior experience with federally funded projects in a nonprofit or university context

· Prior experience with complex, multi-partner efforts

· Passion for, or experience with, education efforts