Scheduled Hours

37.5

Position Summary

Research Administrators (RAs) play a vital role in the sponsored project life cycle, ensuring that research proposals adhere to sponsor guidelines and are successfully submitted. The RA supports faculty, center directors, and staff throughout the pre-award stage of sponsored projects, including proposal preparation and submission, just-in-time requests, and compliance. The RA will manage a portfolio of faculty post-award and payroll sourcing activities with minimal supervision/oversight for the research-intensive School of Public Health. May manage grants for Research Centers.

Job Description

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:

Proposal/Grant Management

• Responsible for the oversight and day-to-day management of research administration.
• Performs pre-award job duties in response to specific proposal guidelines and terms and conditions for more complex proposals, such as program projects, ARPA-H, DOD, DOE applications.
• Works with faculty in proposal preparation and submission.
• Manages budgeting, analysis, justifications for proposals; gathers information for protocols and non-technical proposal components as needed.
• Acts as liaison between the Faculty, and Department Administrators (DAs).
• Stays current on federal and university developments regarding research administration and complex regulations.
• Coordinates the submission, works with PI to prepare budget, obtain pricing quotes from other departments.
• Compiles and ensures accurate regulatory compliance of necessary data collected from various sources. Works with Principal Investigator to compile and submit the entire grant according to established agency/university guidelines.
• Prepares and reviews all agency forms for submission.
• Enters grant budgeting documents online, as needed.
• Obtains PI and institutional signatures for proposal submissions.
• Initiates subaward setup through SUBS system (new process/system). Uploads pre-award documents and hands it off to Post-award to enter fund number.
• Coordinates with the Post-award unit and OSRS to ensure timely implementation of contracts and subcontracts by examining and supplying the necessary requirements in the SUBS system.
• Serves as responsible for the oversight and day-to-day management of research administration.
• Implements and maintains procedures to ensure efficient workflow; responsible for the proper training of staff.

Award Management

• Manages reviews of more complex notice of award (NOA), including sponsor award documents, to SPA and PI, noting any special terms and conditions as well as committed effort.
• Tracks and maintains online database of grants submitted, awarded, rejected, etc.
• Monitors and works with PI to submit annual agency reports (e.g., Research Performance Progress Reports/RPPRs).
• Teams with the Post-Award unit on revised budgets.
• Oversees and coordinates the proper transfer of PI grants and contracts into WashU.

Research Compliance

• Coordinates the necessary support with internal and external requests for complex grant-related information (i.e. current biosketches, trainee information, and human/animal protocol approvals, other support).

Research Reporting

• Provides analysis of online database of grants submitted, awarded, rejected, etc. metrics and funding trends.

Grant Closeout

• Serves as responsible for closure of complex sponsored projects accounts.
• Submits final progress report and invention statement (if applicable) to the appropriate agency.
• Follows up with PI and facilitates submission of delinquent final technical, outcomes, patent, and property reports.

Post Award

• Manages and monitors complex sponsored projects budgets and ensures appropriate and timely expenditures and reconciliation of funds.
• Identifies and assigns payroll to appropriate sources and enter directly into Workday, with PI approval.
• Documents and confirms with PI all salary sourcing for project personnel, including research faculty, postdocs, staff and students.
• Notifies DA and/or initiates payroll accounting adjustments when cost transfers are needed to reflect retroactive changes.
• Approves purchasing documents and provides guidance to purchasing staff on appropriate expenditures according to specific grant policies.
• Manages subawards, including, receiving the subaward invoice, reviewing and forwarding to PI for approval.
• Checks for accuracy and provides complex troubleshooting error resolutions/solutions for fund profile setups and financial reports.
• Cre