Research Administration Hub Manager

Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm; position is eligible for flexible work schedule arrangements based on operational needs. Extended hours may be required during peak college submission deadlines.

Raleigh, NC

About The Department

The College of Engineering (COE) Office of Research Administration (ORA) operates under a college-managed, departmentally embedded operating model designed to deliver standardized, high-quality administrative infrastructure and regulatory safeguarding for the College’s extensive, multi-million dollar sponsored research portfolio. Under this unified organizational structure, research administration professionals are centrally employed, trained, and evaluated by the College’s ORA, but are strategically deployed and embedded directly within individual academic departments and units. This matrixed model merges the benefits of centralized institutional oversight—such as equitable workload balancing, continuous professional development, and uniform compliance tracking—with the agile, relationship-driven advantages of local integration.

Embedded staff act as direct, day-to-day strategic partners to principal investigators (PIs), faculty, and departmental leadership, providing seamless cradle-to-grave support tailored to the unique research nuances of their assigned units. Collectively, this distributed network manages an exceptional volume of activity across all departments and units in the College, processing over 1,100 research proposals and administering more than 800 new awards, continuations, and supplements annually. Because the research administration landscape is shaped by shifting federal mandates (including Uniform Guidance and Cost Accounting Standards), state policies, and evolving Electronic Research Administration (eRA) platforms, the ORA ensures absolute institutional compliance. Operating as a high-volume, strictly deadline-driven organization, the unit mitigates severe financial, legal, and reputational risks while optimizing NC State’s competitive edge in securing external funding.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, and Vision
• Flexible Spending Account
• Retirement Programs
• Disability Plans
• Life Insurance
• Accident Plan
• Paid Time Off and Other Leave Programs
• 12 Holidays Each Year
• Tuition and Academic Assistance
• Childcare benefits
• Wellness & Recreation Membership
• Wellness Programs

Perks and Benefit eligibility is based on Part-Time or Full-Time Employment status.

Responsibilities

Personnel Leadership, Supervision & Workload Balancing

• Direct Supervision: Lead, manage, and provide direct oversight for a team of permanent sponsored research professionals (SRAs) embedded within the hub’s assigned academic departments. Monitor and assign portfolios, counsel and discipline employees, develop comprehensive work plans, and execute formal performance appraisals for permanent SRAs within the assigned hub.
• Dynamic Workload Allocation: Actively monitor macro-level proposals and award metrics across all departments within the hub’s footprint. Dynamically redistribute research portfolios, reassign staff coverage, and balance workloads across departmental boundaries during peak sponsor submission windows, staff absences, or sudden spikes in volume to ensure college-wide operational continuity, meet Service-Level Agreement (SLA) targets, and mitigate staff burnout.
• Performance Standardization & Mentorship: Establish objective performance standards and hub-wide key performance indicators (KPIs) for embedded sponsored research professionals to ensure uniform service delivery. Provide continuous technical mentorship, advanced training coordination, coaching, and professional guidance to cultivate a high-performing, agile, and cohesive hub team.

Advanced Compliance, Risk Management & Escalation Governance

• Expert Policy Interpretation: Evaluate, interpret, and apply complex Federal, State, University, and sponsor-specific fiscal policies (including Uniform Guidance, Cost Accounting Standards, and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) to safeguard the university’s research enterprise.
• Complex Issue Triage: Serve as the first formal escalation point for embedded SRAs, faculty, and departmental leadership regarding high-risk or ambiguous research administration challenges (e.g., complex cost-share arrangements, subrecipient monitoring complications, justification of unusual direct costs, or severe budget over-expenditures).
• Audit Readiness & Internal Controls: Develop, implement, and maintain rigorous internal quality-control frameworks across the hub’s departments. Perform spot-audits of proposal files, award setups, Project Modification Requests (PMRs), and closeout packages to ensure absolute data integrity and audit readiness.

Strategic Operations, SLAs & Stakeholder Relations

• SLA Accountability: Monitor and enforce adherence to the College’s standardized Service-Level Agreements (SLAs), ensuring embedded SRAs deliver timely, accurate pre- and post-award support to departmental principal investigators (PIs).
• Departmental Collaboration: Partner regularly with Department Heads and Departmental Financial Leads within the hub’s footprint to align research administration capabilities with departmental infrastructure, faculty recruitment plans, and strategic research objectives.
• University Liaison: Represent the College hub on cross-institutional committees, professional groups, and central administrative offices (such as the central Contracts and Grants Office and the SPARCS office) to align hub operations with broader university initiatives.

Training, Professional Development & Process Optimization

• Staff Onboarding & Training: Lead the structured onboarding and continuous training of hub personnel, ensuring all team members achieve mastery of electronic research administration portals (RED PD/PT/PAM, Research.gov, Grants.gov, eRA Commons) and core institutional financial systems.
• Continuous Improvement: Identify operational bottlenecks within the hub’s workflow and design streamlined, innovative procedural solutions to maximize efficiency in proposal processing and award management.

Requirements

Minimum Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Business, Finance, or a related discipline with 12 Credit Hours of accounting coursework and three years of professional accounting experience, of which at least one is supervisory; or an equivalent combination of training and experience. All degrees must be received from appropriately accredited institutions.
• Minimum of two years of progressive experience in sponsored research management within a tier-one (R1) research university or complex research enterprise.
• At least 3 years of demonstrated experience directly supervising professional-level employees and managing complex fiscal programs.

Other Required Qualifications

• Expert-level knowledge of public fund accounting principles, financial management methods, budgetary control, audit guidelines, and federal circulars (Uniform Guidance / 2 CFR 200, CAS).
• Advanced technical proficiency within complex enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms (such as PeopleSoft Financials and HR), institutional research portals (RED), and master-level execution of data tracking tools (Excel, Word, Access).
• Excellent executive-level written and verbal communication, leadership, organizational, and complex problem-solving skills.
• Proven ability to operate effectively and maintain high customer-service standards within a highly matrixed or shared-services environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• 5+ years of extensive financial and research administration experience specifically utilizing NC State University financial modules (PeopleSoft, RED, and Payroll Distribution frameworks).
• Successful completion of the Research Administration Management Program (RAMP) training or equivalent institutional master-level certificates.
• Active Certified Research Administrator (CRA) credential.