LEAD, CENTER SUPPORT

Position Summary

The Center Support Lead for the Center for Metabolic and Liver Diseases serves as a key strategic and operational leader in the development, submission, and management of complex research grants. Supporting the Scientific Research Office (SRO) and Research Development Office (RDO), this role facilitates pre-award processes including proposal development, budget preparation, and compliance coordination. Post-award responsibilities include progress reporting, regulatory compliance, and oversight of consortium documentation. The position also provides team leadership by supervising administrative staff, ensuring process efficiency, and serving as the primary liaison for external sponsors and institutional leadership. Additionally, this role manages Center events, meetings, and communications to support the research enterprise and administrative excellence.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Pre-Award Grant Administration

• Develop strategic proposals aligned with funding announcements in support of SRO and RDO
• Aid SRO with project timelines and checklist development for complex applications
• Aid SRO with detailed budgets and justifications
• Draft administrative portions of proposals
• Proofread, format, and edit complex proposals
• Solicit and verify required documents from consortia/collaborators

• Funding Opportunities Management

• In support of SRO and RDO, help to identify funding opportunities that support SBP’s research goals
• Use SPIN to identify targeted opportunities for center researchers
• Review Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA) for detailed eligibility requirements
• Disseminate targeted funding opportunities based on center focus
• Strategic coordination with PIs on funding opportunity notifications
• Manage submission plans via monthly communications with PI and SRO
• Track status of invited LOIs for full application development
• Assist PIs and key personnel with NIH Biographical Sketch Common Form and Current and Pending Support via NIH SciENcv

• Post-Award Administration and Compliance

• Prepare grant progress and final reports
• Verify patent and invention information
• Ensure compliance with NIH Public Access Policy
• Manage consortium relationships and documentation (agreements, subcontracts)
• Draft submission emails for SRO to issue to Center for Scientific Review (CSR)
• Aid SRO with complex JIT (Just-In-Time) responses including collection of collaborator documents
• Aid SRO and EH&S to manage complex compliance submissions (IACUC, IRB, ACURO, HRPO)
• Coordinate with PI on project award timelines
• Coordinate with PI and SRO on necessary prior approvals
• Manage collection of collaborator approval documents for multi-PI/institute grants

• Leadership and Team Management

• Supervise administrative staff within assigned Center; oversee team workload distribution and quality control; resolve conflict resolutions as needed
• Manage Time & Effort Certification for Center administrative staff
• Aid RDO in educating RAPs, admins, staff scientists, and graduate students on basic grant processes
• Provide performance evaluations of Center administrative staff with PI input
• Design and implement general and Center-specific administrative process improvements
• Serve as primary liaison with external sponsors and collaborators
• Serve as point person for Center Director on administrative matters

• Event and Meeting Management

• Supervise PI-sponsored meetings/seminars (logistics, food, etc.)
• Lead on-site execution and supervision of major PI-sponsored events from inception to close

Minimum Qualifications

• Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or other related field required
• Advanced degree preferred

• Experience:

• Seven years’ experience with research administration, including preparation of grant proposals, funding agency requirements, and budgets required
• Two years’ supervisory/management experience required

• Certifications, Licenses, etc:

• None

• Other Knowledge, Skills and/or Abilities:

• Possesses strong analytical, time management, organizational, communication (written and verbal), and interpersonal skills
• Able to exercise sound judgement
• Able to seamlessly switch from one task to another
• Able to prioritize workload
• Works independently as well as in a team environment
• Be responsible, organized, and a problem solver
• Possesses strong attention to detail
• Effectively interacts with individuals from various cultures and backgrounds
• Professional proficiency in Microsoft Office suite; Microsoft 2016 or Office 365 is preferred – skill in Outlook, Word, Excel and Power Point
• Capacity to learn department-specific software tools as needed

• Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Direct: Yes
• Indirect: None

Location

This is an onsite position; candidates must be willing to work onsite in San Diego.

Compensation

The expected hiring range for this position is $71,300 - $84,932/year commensurate with experience.