Research Contract Specialist

About the role

The Research Contract Specialist (Non-Funded Agreements) reviews, drafts, and negotiates non-funded research agreements that support collaborative work with external partners. The role ensures agreements align with University policies, regulatory requirements, and risk-management standards, and provides guidance to faculty and staff on contractual and compliance considerations.

Responsibilities

• Drafts, reviews, redlines, and independently negotiates a broad range of non-funded research-related agreements with external entities, including industry partners, academic institutions, foundations, and non-profits, such as Non-Disclosure, Material Transfer, Data Use and Collaboration agreements, memorandums of understanding, and other research agreements, assessing terms for acceptability and recommending revisions or alternative language as needed.
• Develops, uses, and maintains a clause library consisting of language of approved exceptions, explanations, and policies.
• Maintains and improves standard agreement templates, ensuring they remain aligned with evolving University policies and regulatory requirements.
• Identifies and addresses intellectual property considerations embedded in MTAs, DUAs, NDAs, and other research agreements, ensuring appropriate rights and protections for University researchers.
• Uses knowledge of intellectual property rights to advise researchers and administrators on implications of agreements language for data rights, confidentiality, publication, and ownership.
• Maintains a high level of familiarity with university research-relevant laws and regulations.
• Ensures all agreements comply with federal and state laws, regulations (e.g., Uniform Guidance), and University policies and procedures.
• Performs risk assessments to identify and mitigate potential legal, financial, regulatory, and operational risks to the University and its Principal Investigators (PIs) and communicate those to research administration leadership.
• Serves as a primary contact for PIs and department/college administrators, providing guidance on contractual requirements for all non-funded agreements, including interpreting terms and conditions as well as advising on operational implications, and internal University policies.
• Utilizes electronic research administration systems to track, document, and manage the lifecycle of agreements from initial review to execution and closeout, supporting accurate recordkeeping for audit and compliance purposes.
• Collaborates with other university offices to ensure all necessary approvals and compliance checks are completed and incorporates outcomes of specialized compliance reviews into final agreement terms.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Over three (3) years of relevant experience in Research administration, contract administration, or legal support.
• Experience reviewing and negotiating NDAs, MTAs, DUAs, or similar agreements.
• Working knowledge of contract principles (liability, indemnification, IP, confidentiality) and federal regulations (e.g., Uniform Guidance).
• Strong analytical and risk assessment skills.
• Demonstrated ability to Interpret policies and apply them to agreements and communicate complex terms to non-legal audiences.
• Experience using administrative or contract tracking systems.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Public Administration, Legal Studies, or related field.
• 5–7+ years of progressive contract/research administration experience.
• Experience in higher education research environment.
• Direct experience with intellectual property provisions and data privacy regulations (HIPAA, FERPA, GDPR exposure).
• Experience with agreements requiring secure computing/CUI.
• Experience developing contract templates or clause libraries.
• Familiarity with electronic research administration systems (Kuali).
• Experience negotiating with industry sponsors or complex external partners.
• Prior experience providing training or guidance to faculty/staff.