Research Administrator, Pre Award

Overview

In the role of Research Administrator (RA), Pre-Award, the RA will assist faculty and staff to provide, but not limited to:

• Prepare, review and submit proposals and ensure proposals are complete, in compliance with university and NSHE/UNLV policies, state and federal laws and regulations, and align with the policies, procedures and requirements of sponsoring agencies.
• Assist faculty and staff with the development and review of proposal budgets.
• Submits applications through federal and non-federal online submission platforms including NASA, NIH, NSF, DOE, and Grants.gov.
• Submit highly complex proposals to an extensive variety of agencies involving one or more of the following situations: multiple departments; multiple institutions (subawards); institutional cost-sharing; institutional commitment proposals; training grant applications.
• Educate and train faculty and staff on all aspects of proposal development and submission.
• Utilize and become proficient in Cayuse for grant management activities.

Flexible work arrangements for the weekly schedule may be considered.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required: This position requires a Bachelor’s Degree from a regionally accredited college or university and 2-3 years of related professional experience. Credentials must be obtained prior to the start of employment.

The successful candidate must possess

• Knowledge of the functional areas of sponsored program administration (Pre-award through Post-award) and general knowledge of the nature of research in all academic disciplines.
• General understanding of the nature and requirements of sponsored project contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, requests for proposal or quote
• Knowledge of major funding sources and their unique policies, procedures and submission platforms such as NIH, NSF, DOE, NASA, Grants.gov.
• Possess knowledge of federal procurement regulations, including the CFR & FAR, agency CFR/FAR implementations, and the Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200 and audit regulations (Single Audit) that pertain to institutions of higher education.
• Demonstrated ability to interpret policies and act independently in a highly complex regulatory/legal/fiscal environment.
• Ability to effectively communicate verbally and in writing, strong analytical and organizational skills, detail oriented and ability to work independently with a high degree of reliability, accuracy and consistency.

Preferred:

• Certified Research Administrator credentials
•  Experience in Sponsored program 

Primary Job Duties:

• Promotes competitive research and other scholarly activity proposals that comply with a gency requirements as well as institutional requirements. 
• Provides critical analysis and guidance in the review and interpretation of funding opportunity announcements.
• Answers inquiries that require an explanation of rules, regulations and procedures that requires knowledge of the individual program and a high degree of problem-solving, and analytical and creative thinking.
• Responsible for managing a significant volume of proposals.
• Prepares, reviews and educates faculty and staff on detailed proposal budgets.
• Provides proposal component review on budgets, CV/Biosketches, required templates, standard forms, and the narrative to ensure compliance.
• Reviews and endorses completed proposals to ensure use of the correct processes, forms and submission requirements.
• Collaborates with other University groups such as Principal Investigators and study teams, IRB (Office of Research Integrity), Risk Management, sponsors an d other relevant offices to ensure that sponsored research projects are managed in an efficient and effective manner consistent with UNLV policies and procedures, and applicable agency guidelines, laws and regulations.
• Serves as a resource on Pre-award activities and overall technical resource to principal investigator and other university staff. 
• Maintains standards: budget templates, standardized checklists for core staff and PI’s tailored to the sponsor/mechanism, standardized filing system using shared drives.
• Provides advice to faculty and staff regarding sponsored research administration issues, interpreting a broad range of sponsor policies, government regulations and terms and conditions.
• Assist faculty and staff with registration, affiliations and training on all major submission portals. 
• Communicates with extramural agencies on proposal and grant-related matters.
• Work closely with the Grants & Con tract and Financial Research Administrator teams on various issues related to proposals and award management,
• Creatively and proactively evaluates and resolves problems and makes decisions.

• Assist in educating faculty, departmental administrators and other staff members in understanding all areas of proposal development and submission including proposal and budget development, and unique sponsor requirements.
• Educate and train faculty and staff on the use of the Cayuse grants management system. 
• Work independently or with others on various projects such as surveys, policy/procedure development, form development, or special reports. 
• Participate in and contribute to process improvements.
• Maintain expertise in federal, state and university regulations, policies and procedures.
• Regularly review federal sponsor policies and proposal guides and participate in webinars, trainings or conferences to keep updated on ever changing regulatory compliance pertaining to grants and contracts.