Assistant Vice President, Research Administration & Security

About the role

The Assistant Vice President for Research Administration and Security (AVP RAS), reporting to the Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer, with dotted lines to both the Office of the General Counsel and Vice President of Research, is responsible for leading Research Administration by overseeing, managing and evaluating the Pre- and Non-Financial Post Award aspects of contracts, grants, and awards for the Institute.

The AVP is responsible for the development, implementation and coordination of policies, procedures, processes and practices related to research administration and finance services necessary to support and promote faculty research efforts.

Responsibilities

• Directs on-going management activities of Research Administration and the entire award process.
• Function as the senior Authorized Institutional Officer responsible for sponsor contracts and grant negotiations and acceptance.
• Directs verification of the accuracy of awards and adherence to internal and external regulatory requirements and assurances and cost sharing.
• Oversees non-financial post-award award management (e.g., requests for prior approval, such as no-cost-extension or re-budgets) and closely coordinates with research finance on matters related to expenditure review, invoicing, reporting, award closeout and accounts receivable management.
• Establish appropriate metrics to measure staff productivity and customer service levels.
• Oversees proposal review and submission processes to ensure sponsored research proposals are in compliance with and adhere to internal and external policies.
• Develop internal practices to streamline the process for submitting sponsored research proposals and applications, as well as evaluative metrics to gauge customer service and staff productivity.
• Lead, in coordination with the Office of General Counsel, implementation of campus-wide policies and procedures related to all relevant export control and research security regulations, including training, education, and guidance to the campus community on such matters.
• Cook up closely with the institute’s compliance officer, HR, and other senior leaders on the administration of such programs.
• Conduct regular quality assurance of export control and research security documents, processes, and procedures or investigations and assist with the implementation of RPI’s controlled research (CUI) program and other relevant information security and data management policies for research.
• Enhance Research Administration, Export Controls and Research Security functions in support of service to faculty through the strategic use of technology, including hardware, software, databases and web-based services.
• Determine what technological enhancements will make the greatest positive impact on the research enterprise and then work with other appropriate individuals and departments to acquire and implement such technology.
• Support and coordinate, in collaboration with the AVP for Finance & Controller, audit activities of external agencies that arise subject to the financial statement audit, Uniform Guidance audit, internal audits, sponsor audits and others.
• Coordinate activity related to the audits, including resolutions of any findings.
• Work with Human Resources on investigations concerning Research and Security oversight activities.
• Represent the Institute in the context of national organizations by attending relevant meetings of the Federal Demonstration Partnership, Council on Government Relations, Association of University Export Control Officers, Academic Security and Counter Exploitation (ASCE), Safeguarding the Entire Community in the U.S. Research Ecosystem (SECURES), and others as necessary, and distill key trends and updates from those groups into practice at RPI and provide management and cabinet as requested with updates on key regulatory, enforcement, and best practices.
• Oversees the recruitment and selection of staff to assist in attainment of goals and objectives; carries out human resource functions for direct reports including hiring, evaluating, training, developing, supporting, coaching, and when necessary, counseling and initiating disciplinary actions.
• Manage RPI’s relationship with key technology and consulting vendors which support research operations and security goals (e.g., Cayuse, Huron, Maximus, etc.) and develop annual budget and plans for strategic engagement and use of such resources to optimize their efficient deployment in the furtherance of RPI’s research mission (and annual financial objectives).
• Shift Business Hours with weekends or evenings occasionally required.
• Travel Local travel between campus locations only.
• Driving Incidental driving possible, but not required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in research administration and research security
• Extensive knowledge of research administration functions with demonstrated leadership and team management experience
• Prior experience implementing and redesigning processes to improve operational efficiency, financial sustainability, and regulatory compliance
• Strong organizational, interpersonal, supervisory, and change management skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Finance or related field
• Experience with Banner and Cayuse systems