Financial Administrator 2, Spon Act, SRS

Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is seeking a Research Administrator (RA) to support pre-award activities, develop and submit research proposals, and manage budgets in collaboration with the RLE fiscal team. You will act as the primary information and operations resource for PIs and coordinate with the Assistant Director for best practices.

You will also partner with the Director on post-award administration, ensuring proposals comply with sponsor policies and internal controls.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree; minimum three years in accounting or finance.
• Experience with federal contracts and financial administration in academia.
• Experience managing sponsored awards and with research proposal processing.
• Proficient in Excel; familiar with MS Office programs.
• Strong organizational, communication skills and attention to detail.
• Willingness to learn new business methods and computational skills.
• Ability to work independently and in a collaborative team; thrive in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop and submit research proposals per MIT/sponsor policies; craft budgets and administrative content.
• Serve as primary information/operations resource for principal investigators.
• Interact with PIs to finalize proposal materials and budgets.
• Collaborate with Director on post-award administration for a portfolio of PIs.

Skills

Accounting/Finance

Federal contracts

Sponsored awards

Pre-award administration

Excel proficiency

MS Office

Attention to detail

Communication skills

Independent & team work

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Grants management tools

Enterprise financial systems

Multidimensional databases

Job description

Posting Description

RESEARCH ADMINISTRATOR (RA), Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE), is a member of the fiscal team in a large, interdisciplinary laboratory with a diverse sponsor base and annual activities exceeding $85M and more than 230 federal and industrial sponsor proposal submissions per year. The RA will work collaboratively with the Assistant Director, Research Administration for all pre-award administration activities including the development and submission of research proposals in accordance with MIT/sponsor/donor policies; act as a primary information and operations resource for principal investigators (PIs); and interact with PIs to develop research proposal budgets and all administrative content for proposals. The RA also works collaboratively with the Director, Research Administration on a portfolio of PIs for post award administration.

Job Requirements

• REQUIRED : A bachelor's degree; a minimum of three years of experience in accounting or finance; related experience with federal contracts and financial administration experience in an academic research environment; experience managing sponsored awards; experience with research proposal processing and pre-award administration; be highly proficient in the use of Excel and be familiar with other MS Office programs; exemplary work ethic, strong customer service skills and professional focus; excellent organizational and communication skills with strong attention to detail; willingness to embrace learning new business methods and computational skills, as well as a demonstrated record of assuming greater responsibilities over time; Equal ability to work independently and as a member of a productive, collaborative and innovative team; and aptitude for working in a fast-paced and challenging environment.
• PREFERRED : Knowledge of enterprise financial systems, grants management tools and multidimensional databases; and MIT experience.

9/23/2026