Contract Manager, Office of Research Administration

Engineering a world of possibilities

Mines Office of Research Administration is seeking our next Contract Manager. This leadership position is responsible for the management of research and other sponsored agreements through the Office of Research Administration (ORA) at Colorado School of Mines (Mines). This position is a key member of the Contract Administration unit and serves as a resource to faculty and a liaison for Mines and sponsoring research organizations. The Contract Manager will serve as a lead resource to faculty and administrators in the administration of all sponsored research, specifically in interpreting and negotiating sponsored project.

As our Contract Manager, you’ll oversee our team of Contract Administrators. You’ll also be responsible for maintaining an accurate database of research agreements which will be accessed by ORA and other organizations on campus, including individual faculty members, department heads, deans and central administration. This position requires critical thinking skills to review and interpret terms and conditions, policies and procedures, sponsor expectations and is responsible for determining that a research agreement is ready for execution.

This position currently operates in a hybrid work environment, with campus presence required weekly. The incumbent must be able to commute to campus in Golden, Colorado, on a regular basis.

Primary Responsibilities

Contract and Grant Review and Negotiation

• Identify issues and present solutions and approaches for resolution; develop creative solutions to complex contract issues
• Asist with and work on Special Projects based on Mines’ large-scale and strategic initiatives
• Review sponsored agreements, both initial and modifications from external organizations. Analyze the agreement to determine if the terms and conditions meet federal and state regulations.
• Negotiate unacceptable terms with research sponsor by suggesting or insisting on alternative language or deletion of certain agency terms and conditions.
•  Determine if additional Mines personnel need to be advised of terms and conditions of an award and if their approval is required in order to accept the award.
• Review and evaluate intellectual property (IP) terms in sponsored agreements and make determinations on the appropriate IP approach, working with faculty to protect institutional and sponsor intellectual property interests.

Contract and Grant Management

• Determine if changes to a research project require prior approval from the project’s sponsor. If prior approval is required, this position will coordinate with the faculty member to create and submit the change request.
• Submit and approve requests for no-cost time extensions, budget deviations, and pre-award spending based on sponsor requirements
• Perform initial reviews on deficit spending requests (currently, At-Risk Spending Requests) to determine if the financial risk to Mines is acceptable under current policy and practices.
• If issues arise during the performance of a research project, this position will work with the applicable faculty members, ORA staff members, other departments and/or project sponsor, as applicable, to address such concerns.

Subcontracts

• Responsible for initiating, negotiating and managing research subcontracts.  This includes a review of the subcontractor’s proposal; determining which subcontract template is applicable, determining the applicable prime contract flow-down terms and conditions; negotiating, if necessary, the drafted subcontract; maintaining subcontract documentation to meet audit requirements; and manage annual review of subrecipients.
• Work with applicable departments to establish the payment mechanisms for subcontractor invoices.

Contract Team Manager

• With support from the Assistant Director, the Contract Manager will have direct supervision of the Contract Administration unit, 4-8 Full Time Employees, with the authority to hire, evaluate performance, and resolve personnel concerns.
• Determine work prioritization by evaluating workloads, deadlines, complexity of the work load, School policy and staff resources.  To facilitate these functions, this position will build standard and ad hoc reports to provide performance metric data.
• Establish a work environment in which participation, respect and excellence are fostered.
• Establish and promote and manage professional relationships and open communications among all departments. Promote team building, strong collaborative and people-oriented environment with a strong work ethic among team members.
• Acts to resolve complex administrative or legal questions or issues that arise and coordinates with and escalates to Assistant Director and/or ORA Director on resolution, as needed and as appropriate.