Research Administrator

Northwestern University; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 70,017 - 87,522; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Paid time off

Tuition benefits

Job summary

Northwestern University’s Institute for Public Health and Medicine (IPHAM) at Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago is seeking a research administrator to support faculty with pre- and post-award grants management. The role requires handling complex proposals, budget reviews, and compliance with NU policies while collaborating with OSR, sponsors, and internal partners.

Supervisors set objectives and deadlines; responsibilities include managing a diverse portfolio of grants, ensuring timely

Qualifications

• 4-year degree required or higher.
• 3 years research administration or related experience required.
• Strong organizational and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Manages pre-award administration of grants and/or contracts.
• Reviews solicitation and resolves issues with OSR and/or sponsor.
• Prepares and reviews complete budgets and cost sharing.
• Oversees post-award administration of research grants and/or contracts.
• Interprets awards documents and reports expenditures.
• Serves as liaison between department, OSR, ASRSP and other stakeholders.

Skills

Organization

Time management

Detail oriented

Multi-tasking

Communication

Self-starter

Diplomatic

Pro-active

Manage stress

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher

Job description

Job ID: 54187

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Department

MED-Inst for Pub Health & Med

Salary/Grade

EXS/8

Job Summary

The Institute for Public Health and Medicine (IPHAM) within Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine was founded in 2012 with a vision to achieve the best possible health for all people. It is comprised of 13 thematic research centers and over 600 members all dedicated to impacting the community through their unique lens. IPHAM is recruiting a research administrator to collaboratively support IPHAM's faculty with pre and post award grants management.

Please note: Supervisor provides objectives & deadlines. Work is reviewed for fulfillment of objective & deadlines & overall compliance with policy & procedures. EE completes some activities without direction, informing supervisor only of potentially controversial matters, &/or far-reaching implications. EE uses some judgment to adapt an advanced knowledge of skills, methods, practices, policies &/or procedures & a moderate degree of innovation, analysis & reasoning to complete.

Specific Responsibilities

Complexity

• Typically administers multiple research projects such as:
  • Single Principal Investigator (PI) proposals, grants &/or contracts
  • Basic multi-PI or multi-unit proposals, grants &/or contracts
  • Research portfolio for a small to mid-sized unit
  • NIH U-approximately $500K+/yr. over multiple yrs.
  • NIHP-approximately $500K+/yr. over multiple yrs.
  • NIH T-approximately $100-$200K+/yr. over multiple yrs.
  • DOD and industry awards
  • Center or program grants
  • Proposals with cost sharing
  • Fixed-price contracts
  • Non-funded negotiations such as NDAs, user agreements

Pre-Award

• Manages pre-award administration of grants &/or contracts.
• Reviews solicitation and proactively resolves any issues/questions within the solicitation with OSR and/or sponsor.
• Establishes procedures at the small to mid-sized unit level related to pre-award administration.
• Coordinates large-scale proposals, teaming/collaboration agreements, confidentiality agreements, intellectual property agreements or user agreements.
• Manage representation of sub-recipients, cost sharing and administrative costs on a proposal.
• Prepares &/or reviews complete budget.
• Assesses the need for the redistribution of project F&A among multiple redistributed chartstrings.

Post-Award

• Completes post-award administration of research grants &/or contracts.
• Reviews account establishment.
• Manages effort commitments of key project personnel.
• Approves high-value/high-risk expenditures.
• Interprets awards documents.
• Reviews and reports expenditures.
• Verifies processing of cost share transactions.
• Reviews award budget status with PIs.
• Provides data needed for interim and final financial and technical progress reports.
• Facilitates account close out activities, coordinating with ASRSP as needed.
• Establishes procedures at the small to mid-sized unit level related to post-award administration.
• Serves as liaison between department & OSR, ASRSP, IACUC, IRB, internal audit, funding & regulatory agencies, subcontractors, collaborators, institutes, centers, etc.
• Participates in efforts to improve research administration including serving on university committees related to research administration.

Financial

• Oversees unit's entire sponsored project portfolio.
• Reviews transactions and resolve issues that requires a more complex level of financial understanding such as cost-sharing &/or effort reporting knowledge.
• Provides information to senior management that is used for department budgeting purposes.

Compliance

• Ensures compliance with all appropriate NU policies & practices; local, state, federal, agency & sponsor rules, regulations & requirements regarding grant &/or contract administration.
• Alerts supervisor to potential higher risk compliance issues

Miscellaneous

Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree; OR appropriate combination of education and experience.
• 3 years research administration or other relevant experience required.

Minimum Competencies

• Organization, time management, detail oriented
• Multi-tasking, communication
• Self-starter, diplomatic, pro-active, manage stress

Target hiring range for this position will be $70,017 -$87,522 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data.

Benefits

At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful and competitive benefits. The available benefits package for this position will include health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance; paid vacation and holidays; paid medical/sick and parentalleave;tuition benefits for the employee and dependents; pre-tax and flex spending accounts for commuting and dependent care; generous retirement savings options; and wellness programs. For a comprehensive overview of available benefits, including eligibility details, visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/index.html to learn more.

Work-Life and Wellness

Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life's challenges and opportunities, and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles.

We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/work-life/index.html to learn more.

Professional Growth & Development

Northwestern supports employee career development in all circumstances whether your workspace is on campus or at home. If you're interested in developing your professional potential or continuing your formal education, we offer a variety of tools and resources. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/learning/index.html to learn more.

Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics, including disability and veteran status. View Northwestern's non-discrimination statement. Job applicants who wish to request an accommodation in the application or hiring process should contact the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance. View additional information on the accommodations process.