Senior Research Administrator

Job Description

Responsibilities but not limited to:

• Pre-Award: Coordinates and supports overall grant proposal submission process, including budget development for new, resubmissions, and non-competing submissions.
• Interprets funding announcements (FOAs, RFPs) and summarizes requirements for investigators.
• Advises investigators of grant policies, due dates for progress reports, and compliance requirements.
• Reviews final proposals in the final stage prior to routing to Signature Official for signing and submission.
• Advise on regulatory compliance components of proposals (human/animal protocols, COI, data management).
• Provides technical mentorship on complex compliance and sponsor systems.
• Serves as an institutional resource on sponsor systems, advanced compliance requirements, and submission best practices; Conducts advanced compliance screening of proposals.
• Serves as a resource and mentor to Pre-Award I and II staff, supporting complex or high-priority submissions.
• Maintains advanced proficiency with sponsor submission systems (e.g., NIH ASSIST, Research.gov, Grants.gov, etc.) and trains investigators/staff in their effective use.
• Post-Award: Works with information from internal systems, grant management software, and other systems to monitor purchases, actual, and encumbered expenses as well as salary distributions.
• Must have a strong working knowledge of sponsored grants including budget management for federal and non-federal awards, contracts and subcontracts.
• Works with Financial Analysts and others as necessary to reconcile information/reports and provides investigators with regular financial status reports in user-friendly formats.
• Conducts regular meetings with investigators where projections are provided and reviewed to avoid deficit spending.
• Responsible for managing all time and effort reporting for defined areas of responsibility.
• Reports any unusual or non-compliant information to PI and team leadership.
• Approves routine invoices and purchase orders for complex and high-dollar portfolios.
• Reviews procurement transactions for compliance and escalates unusual or non-standard items to Grant Advisor Lead or Manager for approval.
• Maintains subrecipient agreements for reporting compliance and deliverables.
• Leads the effort certification process and resolves discrepancies prior to submission.

Team–Related Responsibilities

Works within team structure under a Grant Advisor Lead and participates in daily/weekly stand-up meetings to coordinate assignments and progress.

• Updates team trackers in real time to ensure accurate reporting for grant submissions, reconciliations, effort, and closeouts.
• Takes the lead on the most complex grant portfolios (multi-PI, multi-sub, or high-dollar awards).
• Provides early escalation of risks or delays to the Grant Advisor Lead for redistribution of workload.
• Provides technical mentorship and training to junior staff.
• Provides support to team members during absences or periods of high workload.
• Participates in team debriefs and continuous improvement discussions after closeouts or reconciliations to support team-wide improvements.
• Provides feedback after major submissions to improve processes.
• Acts as primary liaison to investigators within a complex or compliance-intensive portfolio, ensuring proactive communication on submissions, reporting, and audits.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• 5-8 years of grant administration experience required.
• Experience with grant management, budget preparation and financial management principles and regulatory requirements.
• Previously demonstrated understanding of policy and practice governing research compliance within a large institution.
• Experience with computer systems required, including web-based applications and some Microsoft Office applications which may include Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Access.

Competencies

• Decision Making: Ability to make decisions that are guided by general instructions and practices requiring some interpretation.
• Problem Solving: Ability to address problems that are varied, requiring analysis or interpretation of the situation using direct observation, knowledge and skills based on general precedents.
• Independence of Action: Ability to follow precedents and procedures. May set priorities and organize work within general guidelines. Seeks assistance when confronted with difficult and/or unpredictable situations.
• Written Communications: Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in written English with internal and external customers.
• Oral Communications: Ability to comprehend and converse in English to communicate effectively with medical center staff, patients, families and external customers.
• Knowledge: Ability to demonstrate full working knowledge of standard concepts, practices, procedures and policies with the ability to use them in varied situations.
• Teamwork: Ability to work collaboratively in small teams to improve the operations of immediate work group by offering ideas, identifying issues, and respecting team members.
• Customer Service: Ability to provide a high level of customer service to patients, visitors, staff and external customers in a professional, service-oriented, respectful manner using skills in active listening and problem solving.
• Health Care Status: NHCW: No patient contact. Health Care Worker Status may vary by department.

Pay Range

$85,000.00 USD - $125,000.00 USD