Sponsored Contracts Administrator

About the role

Join UTHealth Houston's Sponsored Projects Administration team and play a key role in advancing biomedical research, clinical innovation, and academic discovery across seven schools and multiple research institutes. As the primary negotiator and administrator for a diverse portfolio of research-related agreements, you will collaborate with investigators, department administrators, sponsors, industry representatives, and institutional stakeholders to review, negotiate, and execute complex contracts, including sponsored research agreements, clinical trial agreements, subawards, data use agreements, material transfer agreements, and collaborative research arrangements. This role offers the opportunity to work on cutting-edge research initiatives while applying expertise in contract negotiation, risk assessment, research compliance, intellectual property, and regulatory requirements.

The Sponsored Contracts Administrator independently reviews, drafts, and negotiates a wide range of complex research agreements, including sponsored research agreements, subawards, investigator-initiated clinical trial agreements, and collaborative research arrangements. Many of these agreements involve nuanced issues such as atypical intellectual property (IP) terms, ownership and use of data and materials, and regulatory obligations. This position applies working knowledge of research compliance, contract law (including IP law), and institutional policy to redline contract language, craft innovative solutions, and provide strategic input. Collaborates closely with faculty, departmental administrators, and internal stakeholders to ensure agreements align with project goals and institutional standards.

Responsibilities

• Independently reviews, drafts, redlines, and negotiates complex research agreements, including but not limited to collaboration agreements, sponsored research agreements, investigator-initiated clinical trial agreements, subawards, material transfer agreements, data use agreements, fee-for-service agreements, and other non-standard agreements.
• Places strict focus on protecting the university, its assets, and its faculty.
• Ensures compliance with federal, state, UT System, institutional policies, regulatory obligations, and risk tolerance, particularly regarding intellectual property (IP), data/materials ownership, and compliance requirements.
• Coordinates internal discussions between Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA) and the Office of Technology Management (OTM) and attends meetings with Principal Investigators (PIs) to assess the relationship between the PI, commercial entities, and the university.
• Determines appropriate intellectual property (IP) agreement terms and secures the necessary approvals.
• Collaborates with schools/departments, Legal Affairs, OTM, Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS), Procurement, and UT System to resolve research contract-related issues related to IP, data/materials ownership, and regulatory compliance.
• Serves as a subject matter expert for the Grants and Award Management team by reviewing non-standard grants and contracts to ensure appropriate IP and data/materials terms are included and consistent across documents; assists in revising language to meet institutional standards.
• Engages with faculty and departmental administrators to gather project details and ensure contract terms meet research/scientific, financial, regulatory, and other compliance needs; gains an understanding of the research project to draft original language for unique agreements, with appropriate and favorable terms, and leads negotiations with external sponsors and collaborators.
• Coordinates project account setup with the post-award team to ensure timely and accurate implementation of sponsored agreements.
• Participates in on-campus trainings and forums to educate faculty and administrators on IP, data/materials ownership, and other contractual policies and procedures.
• Develops and maintains working knowledge of research compliance, contract law (including IP law), and institutional policy; participates in internal process improvement efforts.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Minimum Education: Bachelor's Degree required; Doctorate Degree in a life science or JD preferred.
• Minimum Experience: 2 years of experience in research/research administration or research/healthcare contract negotiation required. May substitute required experience with equivalent years of education beyond the minimum education requirement.

Qualifications

• Expertise in contract negotiation, risk assessment, research compliance, intellectual property, and regulatory requirements.
• Working knowledge of research compliance, contract law (including IP law), and institutional policy.
• Ability to redline contract language, craft innovative solutions, and provide strategic input on complex agreements.
• Strong problem-solving and relationship-building skills.
• Experience managing a high-volume workload in a collaborative, mission-driven environment.
• Familiarity with sponsored research agreements, clinical trial agreements, subawards, data use agreements, material transfer agreements, and collaborative research arrangements.
• Ability to coordinate with multiple stakeholders including faculty, departmental administrators, Legal Affairs, Office of Technology Management, Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects, Procurement, and UT System.

Benefits

• 100% paid medical premiums for full-time employees.
• Generous time off: holidays, preventative leave day, vacation and sick time equating to around 37–38 days per year; vacation accrual increases with longevity.
• Longevity Pay (monthly payments after two years of service).
• Retirement/pension plan.
• Free financial and legal counseling.
• Free mental health counseling services.
• Gym membership discounts and access to wellness programs.
• Other employee discounts including entertainment, car rentals, cell phones, etc.
• Resources for child and elder care.
• Plus many more.

Schedule

Monday–Friday schedule; eligible for a hybrid work arrangement in accordance with departmental and university guidelines.

Additional requirements

• Security Sensitive: This position is a security-sensitive position pursuant to Texas Education Code 51.215 and Texas Government Code 411.094. If the role requires access to critical infrastructure as defined in Texas Business and Commerce Code 117.001(2), the ability to maintain the security or integrity of that infrastructure is a minimum qualification. Personnel in such positions are routinely reviewed for criminal history or continuous connections to the government or political apparatus of a foreign adversary (nations listed in 15 C.F.R. 791.4) that might prevent maintaining security or integrity.
• Residency Requirement: Employees must permanently reside and work in the State of Texas.