CIMR Research Administrator

Advertising Summary: Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine is a premier academic medical center located in the heart of Richmond. Accounting for almost half of VCU’s sponsored research, the School of Medicine is internationally recognized for patient care and education. Virginia Commonwealth University is an equal opportunity employer.

https://vcujobs.com/why-richmond

Unit: School Of Medicine MBU

Department: Neurology

Department Summary: The Department of Neurology has a talented, robust team of faculty and staff members spanning nine divisions including representatives from every neurology subspecialty in adult and child neurology, plus award-winning educators, clinical and translational neuroscientists and master clinicians.

The Department of Neurology’s vision is to provide the best patient-centered neurological care while fostering the career development, education and training of our team members. We endeavor to realize this vision by fulfilling the following three missions:

• Improve the lives of children and adults with neurological disorders through compassionate, high-quality medical care and patient education.
• Provide exceptional education to our students, residents, fellows and the wider community of medical professionals.
• Advance the knowledge of neurological diseases by actively developing innovative treatments through basic, translational and clinical research.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Position Summary: As part of the Center for Inherited Myology Research, this Research Administrator would provide administrative support to the program, including grant and financial management of the related muscular dystrophy consortiums. These consortiums oversee multiple sites and awards designed to develop therapies for the muscular dystrophies. The Research Administrator will be responsible for providing direct pre and post award support for the Program. The Research Administrator will also contribute to infrastructure, personnel, policy, and process development for the program.

Core Responsibilities:

• Pre-Award Support (55%)
  • Work directly with investigators on assigned proposal submissions to ensure proposals meet technical, administrative and financial requirements, as well as ensuring deadlines are met and established policies and requirements of both VCU and sponsoring agencies are met. Submissions include federal grant proposals as well as other sponsoring agencies.
  • Assist with the proposal development and establish necessary timelines with the Investigators to ensure deadlines are met for all submissions assigned.
  • Create a management plan and communicate clearly with the Principal Investigators on submission requirements and assignments; ensure roles, responsibilities and timelines are clear for each proposal assigned.
  • Prepare non-technical components of submissions seeking PI input where needed: budget, budget narrative, coordinating administrative requirements for sub recipients, preparing RAMS-SPOT submissions, completing sponsor forms, etc.
  • Prepare clinical trial budgets and negotiate with sponsors as needed, with a clear understanding of various implications and reaching out to OSP as required and/or needed.
  • Prepare cost share authorizations and advance index requests seeking department approvals as needed.
  • Review terms and conditions of awards and communicate special terms to Investigators and department administration as needed.
  • Provide data and assist supervisor as needed to prepare department level pre-award reporting for areas assigned.
• Post-Award Research Administration and Compliance Monitoring (30%)
  • Provide financial and administrative support of program sponsored research portfolios as assigned to include: grants, cooperative agreements and contracts including industry clinical trials.
  • Work with investigators to establish new awards and initiate spending; ensure award financial record and budget are accurate in university systems.
  • Provide financial and administrative support including monthly reviews of: expenditures, projections, personnel allocations and cost share indexes. Ensure expenses allocated to project are allowable, reasonable and allocable. Compliance concerns should be brought to supervisor and primary investigators immediately.
  • Meet with investigators of projects assigned no less than quarterly to review project status and financial projections. Potential issues should be reported to supervisor immediately.
  • Ensure accurate labor distributions on sponsored and cost share indexes are maintained.
  • Manage sub awards: initiate sub award administrative actions, receive invoices, monitor finances, and obtain PI approval for invoice payment, process payments.
    
    
• Risk Management and Other Duties (15%)
  • Demonstrate a commitment to risk assessment (considering cost, benefit and impact)
    • Utilize identified internal control mechanism
    • Practice routine verification of the accuracy of data
  • Other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent related experience.
• Possess or have the ability to acquire skills in the following areas: analyze financial transactions for trends and variances; create reports, tracking tools and professional documents; budget development; expense forecasting; financial reconciliation; ability to interpret and apply complex government regulations and contractual terms.
• Pro-actively ask questions and seek guidance when needed.
• Excellent customer service skills, written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work as part of a team.
• Strong problem solving and time management skills are essential, including ability to adapt to frequent changes in work assignments, prioritize and manage competing priorities and deadlines.
• Must be precise, thorough, reliable and perform daily activities with minimal supervision.
• Must be proficient in the use of computers with the ability to learn new systems and software applications with ease. Proficiency in the use of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Adobe.
• Demonstrated experience working in and fostering an environment of respect, professionalism and civility with a population of faculty, staff, and students from various backgrounds and experiences, or a commitment to do so as a staff member at VCU.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s Degree or equivalent related experience.
• CRA or OSP certification.
• 1 – 2 years of experience in research administration in the areas of proposal development, financial management, effort reporting and project close out.
• Working knowledge of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and OMB Uniform Guidance for Federal Awards.
• 1 – 2 years of experience in administrative and financial management in an academic setting to include working knowledge of state/university purchasing, travel, personnel administration policies and procedures.
• General understanding of IRB and IACUC policing pertaining to regulatory requirements in animal and human research.

Salary Range: $58,000 - $75,000

Benefits: All full-time university staff are eligible for VCU’s robust benefits package that includes comprehensive health benefits, paid annual and holiday leave, generous tuition benefits, retirement planning and savings options, tax-deferred annuity and cash match programs, employee discounts, well-being resources, abundant opportunities for career development and advancement, and more.

FLSA Exemption Status: Exempt

Hours per Week: 40

Restricted Position: Yes

ORP Eligible: No

Flexible Work Arrangement: Hybrid

University Job Title: 34211N - Research Administrator 1

Contact Information:
Contact Name: Eric Hunsley
Contact Email: hunsleye@vcu.edu