Director of Research Administration

Overview

Job Purpose:

Position reports to the College of Health Profession's Assistant Dean for Finance & Administration. Directs and manages the Research Administration Team, which has a significant impact upon the College and the University. Responsible for providing leadership and direction for College-wide research program administration, regulatory compliance, and contract administration. Participates in all pre-award activity and manages a portfolio of grants for all post-award activity as a Grant Administrator to stay current in all proposal development and all grant management activities.

Requirements (Education, Work Experience, Licensure, Registry &/or Certifications):

A bachelor's degree and three years relevant program experience.

Special Knowledge, Skills & Abilities, including Special Certification or License:

Incumbent must possess: Knowledge of administrative and business management principles, practices, and procedures; Knowledge of State and Federal laws, rules, and regulations especially those relating to sponsored projects including OMB Uniform Guidance, the Federal Grants Management Handbook, and MUSC Cost Accounting Standards; Knowledge of fiscal policies, practices, and procedures; Ability to plan, organize, and direct administrative and support activities and staff; Ability to formulate and implement administrative policies and procedures; Ability to establish and maintain effective and positive working relationships and effectively communicate.  Certified Research Administrator (CRA) from the Research Administrators Certification Council a plus and expected within one year of hire.

Guidelines, Supervision, and Employee's Independence and Discretion:

Incumbent must have the capacity to work independently under limited supervision. Incumbent must demonstrate ability to make decisions using good judgement. Incumbent must maintain discretion and confidentiality. Incumbent must be a self-motivated individual who is able to work effectively and efficiently in a dynamic environment, which is fast paced and involves multiple frequently changing priorities.

Job Responsibilities:

1. RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION MANAGEMENT: Overall accountability for Research Administration operations for the College of Health Professions, including all financial and administrative functions. Provides operational and administrative management, guidance and authorization for all life-of-grant issues, including, but not limited to pre-award costs, funding grant personnel, major budget revisions, cost transfers, cost shares, no-cost extensions, reporting, close-out, etc. Coordinates and approves administrative requests for change of personnel, change of workscope, certifications, construction, and administrative amendments. Works with the Grant Administrators to monitor research budgets and make determinations on overruns, transfers and adjustments to contract provisions. (20%)

 2. POST-AWARD: Performs grant/contract activities related to fiscal management, personnel management, procurement, supply services, auxiliary services, etc. Serves as college-wide liaison with Principal Investigators, Sponsors, Consortia, Consultants, MUSC IRB, MUSC ORI, MUSC HR, MUSC ORSP, and any necessary contacts within the MUSC Office of Finance and Operations, to include but not limited to, Office of Grants and Contracts Accounting, Mail Services, Payroll, Purchasing, and Tax Services and the many departments and divisions of the six colleges of MUSC.

  • Manages all Grant/Contract activities of designated primary and associated sub-recipient or consortium agreements. Responsible for ensuring all budgetary, personnel and reporting requirements are met and in compliance with all pertinent regulations and guidelines. Develops and monitors organization of complex financial tracking system for a substantial number of research grants and associated cost share and F&A UDAKs associated with CHP grants. Initiates and facilitates revenue transfers with non-CHP Business Administrators for revenues required in Cost Share UDAKs. Prepares and manages adjustments to research awards, contracts, supplemental fund requests, amendments, subcontracts, re-budgeting, extensions, and other business and financial provisions. When appropriate and needed for corporate-sponsored studies, prepares and submits invoices for payment; tracks deliverables; and ensures payments are received and processed. Monitors research budgets and makes determinations on overruns, transfers and adjustments to contract provisions.
  • Assists with the post-award regulatory process by monitoring and approving protocols through the IRB/IACUC approval system. Assists investigators, as requested, with meeting ongoing regulatory requirements through: Initial submissions, revisions, amendments, subject consent documents and other documents including, financial disclosures, new drug applications, advertisements, etc. Ensures participant remunerations are compliant with study protocols and assists Grant Coordinator and Fiscal Technician with managing payments and maintaining documentation. Continually reviews and conducts internal audits to ensure compliance with Federal, State, University, college and granting agency laws, rules, regulations, policies and procedures. Tracks multiple IRB/IACUC/IBC protocols associated with Center grants and ensures that amendments and renewals are collected for reporting purposes.
  • Responsible for management of college-wide grant expenditures to ensure compliance with approved grant budgets and institutional and state policies and procedures. Consults with and advises the Principal Investigator regarding availability of funds, allocation of personnel and the preparation of funding requests. Supervises and coordinates the preparation and maintenance of all grant related fiscal records to include expenditures, encumbrances, commitments, and projected needs. Prepares and submits requests for budget revisions, working with MUSC ORSP, consortium partners, or the Sponsor. Assists Grants Coordinators with resolving any expense or reconciliation discrepancy of grant transactions, when needed, monthly.
  • Responsible for the transfer of grants from other institutions to MUSC-College of Health Professions for new faculty being employed by MUSC who have existing grants. Interacts with MUSC Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, Grants and Contracts Accounting, the entity currently overseeing the grant(s) and the new faculty member to ensure that grants are appropriately transferred.
  • Provides reminders of necessary actions for invoicing, progress reports, milestone documentation or other required elements during the life of the grant/contract. Assist Principal Investigators with procurement of data, supplies, equipment, or other items necessary for conduct of the research as specified in the grant. Coordinates any required reports to include annual, monthly, quarterly, or closeout for grants and contracts, review budgets, expenses, personnel, and accounting adjustments. Provides reminders of necessary actions for expiring grants and contracts, verifies financial reports prepared for the sponsor by MUSC Office of Grants and Contracts Accounting. (20%)

3. PRE-AWARD: Provides operational and administrative management of grant/contract preparations and applications ensuring compliance with federal, state, sponsor-specific, and MUSC regulations, policies and procedures. Leads Proposal Development Meetings with investigators seeking to submit grant applications and the Research Administration Team.  Prepares and/or reviews and approves grant proposals and budgets for submission to the University Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and granting agencies. Proposals include complex, multi-component, multi-disciplinary center grants and clinical trials. This function includes the pre-audit and assessment of proposals for potential fiscal issues to ensure allocations are allowable such as cost sharing, F&A rates, fringe rates, travel costs, personnel costs, operating expenses, etc. Additionally, pre-audit and assessment includes review for additional potential regulatory implications such as biosafety, IRB, IACUC, etc. (10%)

4. FINANCIALS, FUNDING ANALYTICS & FORECASTING: Overall accountability for the preparation of financial reports and funding analytics to provide budget projections and forecasting for the research enterprise of the College. Responsible for providing accurate and timely budgetary information to the Business Managers to enable completion of original budgets and ongoing financial adjustments for research activity, including Personnel, Operating Expenses, Transfers, Revenue and F&A for grants, contracts and other UDAKs. Serves as a liaison with the CHP Finance and Administration Division on all fiscal and compliance matters. Trains team members and delegates workload to ensure financial information can be provided even with team members out of the office. Ensures Funding per Faculty Member workbook is updated at least biannually, and more often as requested.  (20%)

5. PERSONNEL/PEARS, ACTIVITY REPORTING, HR: Accountability for the timely creation and completion of all Position/Employee Action Request (PEAR) forms for research grant employees, students and designated faculty, staff and post-docs with grant funding. Ensures all Grant Administrators are monitoring PEAR forms to ensure research funding for all grant-funded personnel are updated as funding changes. Responsible for maintaining effective collaborations between team members and business managers both inside CHP and across campus to ensure cooperation in completing the required PEAR forms. Accountable for the maintenance of %FTE workbooks for all personnel with grant funding. Accountable for the timely completion, certification and submission of Quarterly Activity Reports for all CHP personnel who are required to submit a Report. (10%)

6. RESEARCH POLICY LIAISON: Manages and interprets Federal, State, University, and grantor policies and procedures pertaining to sponsored programs. Designs and implements College policies and procedures guiding the administration of sponsored programs and ensuring compliance with all regulations. Policies and procedures include those addressing conflict of interest, state ethical violations, effort reporting, etc. Advises administrators regarding agency requirements and contract provisions.

  • Serves as the College's official point of contact for research. Communicates and responds internally to the College and externally to University departments and to granting agencies to administer fiscal and regulatory policy requirements for proposals/awards administration, and to disseminate information throughout the College. Participates in budgetary and strategy building sessions; recommends and implements policy/procedure changes, and is held accountable for end results. Conducts or participates in education and instructional sessions regarding sponsored programs and compliance as requested or as needed.  (5%)

7. TEAM MANAGEMENT/TRAINING/KNOWLEDGE-BASE: Supervises, trains, mentors and directs the activities of a core of professional staff responsible for performing the research administration operations of the College adequately and accurately. Ensures staff training, continuing education and professional development optimizes the performance of all team members. Develops and implements disciplinary plans and actions to ensure workload distribution is fair and equitable and that conflicts and performance issues are addressed. Maintains own knowledge-base by participating in and attending College, University, regional and national training, meetings, conferences and webinars to keep pace with complex program issues and changes.    (10%)

8. SPECIAL PROJECTS: Carries out special projects and performs additional assignments as needed at the request of faculty, the Assistant Dean of Finance and Administration, Department Chairs, Division Directors or the Dean. Requests may also be made by others within the College or University.  (5%)

Link to Apply:

http://careers.pageuppeople.com/756/cw/en-us/job/512030/univdirector-of-research-administration-college-of-health-professions

Contact Information

Company
Medical University of South Carolina
First Name
Debra
Last Name
Battjes Siler
Address
Phone
8437928403
Contact Email
siler@musc.edu
Contact URL
www.musc.edu

Background Information

Education
4-Year Degree
Years of Experience
3 or more
Industries
  • College/University
Categories
  • Research Administrator/Manager
Work Authorization
Authorized to work in the US
Security Clearance
None

Target Job Information

Salary
Band 7
Job Type
  • Full Time