Research Operations Lead: Contracts, Vendors & Spend

Cypress HCM; United States; On-site; USD 141,000 - 152,000; Full time

Job summary

Cypress HCM is seeking a Research Operations Specialist to own the spend lifecycle for contractors and vendors, aligning procurement with research needs. You will coordinate across Finance and Legal, manage vendor on/offboarding, and streamline processes with AI-enabled tooling.

The role requires strong Airtable, Po-to-Pay system experience, regional contracting awareness, and a focus on efficiency and accuracy in a fast-paced research environment.

Qualifications

• Experience in procurement, contracts administration, or vendor operations in a research/tech environment.
• Fluency with procure-to-pay systems such as Zip, Oracle, or Coupa.
• Hands-on Airtable skills and data-management.
• Ability to read contract terms and engage Legal when needed.
• Familiarity with regional contracting, procurement, and privacy requirements.

Responsibilities

• Own spend-request intake through Airtable, Zip, and Oracle, including PO changes and invoice approvals.
• Onboard and offboard vendors and tools end to end: supplier questionnaires, NDAs, risk/privacy review, legal routing, and tool access.
• Facilitate MSAs, SOWs, NDAs, and renewals with Legal and Procurement across regions.
• Maintain contract repository, agency retainer trackers, and master supplier list; track renewals at 30, 60, and 90 days.
• Act as operations liaison to Finance and researchers: spend-tracker upkeep, forecasts, budget reviews, and syncs.
• Support vendor evaluation and consolidation, including data-use, model-training, and DPA terms for AI tools.
• Represent researchers in scoping and negotiation, translating study needs into commercial terms.

Skills

Procurement ops

Contracts administration

Vendor operations

Airtable proficiency

Zip/Oracle/Coupa familiarity

Cross-functional comms

Attention to detail

Tools

Airtable

Zip

Oracle

Coupa

DocuSign

Salesforce

Job description

Cypress HCM is seeking a Research Operations Specialist to own the spend lifecycle for contractors and vendors, aligning procurement with research needs. You will coordinate across Finance and Legal, manage vendor on/offboarding, and streamline processes with AI-enabled tooling.

The role requires strong Airtable, Po-to-Pay system experience, regional contracting awareness, and a focus on efficiency and accuracy in a fast-paced research environment.