Assistant Director of Research Administration, School of Medicine / Neurology

All full-time university staff are eligible for VCU’s robust benefits package that includes: comprehensive health benefits, paid annual and holiday leave granted up front, generous tuition benefit, 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. Learn more about VCU’s benefits here.

Summary:

Under the direction of the Associate Director for Research Administration and Operations, the Assistant Director for Research Administration will be responsible for day to day pre- and post-award management for all Neurology faculty assigned. The focus of this position will be to establish and lead a team that supports Principal Investigators and study teams in the development and successful submission of proposals for research funding, as well as provides compliant financial and administrative management of funded grants and contracts. This position will also support the Associate Director as a key advisor on research administration matters across the entire department and its affiliated centers, as well as help lead the development and distribution of research reporting at PI and department levels.

Typical Duties

Post Award Research Administration and Compliance (50%)
• Manage the department’s biannual effort reporting cycles, and ensure total compliance.
• Ensure all assigned portfolios are actively managed and administrative reporting requirements are met.
• Review monthly expense reports and identify any initial errors. Educate new faculty on the process, and ensure timely certification of allowable and allocable expenses.
• Establish monthly financial reviews with PIs to evaluate expenses, revenue, and time periods, and make needed updates or corrections. Create projections to ensure timely and appropriate spending, and/or anticipate the need for a no cost extension. The financial reviews will include grants and contracts, and a collaborative approach with the Financial Associate Administrator for startup funds and retention agreements.
• Creation and management of salary funding projections for each grant/contract funded faculty member, including associated cost shares.
• Facilitate administrative process for amendments, continuations, supplements, no cost extensions, closeouts, and progress/annual reports by established deadlines.
• Manage sub awards: initiate sub award administrative actions, receive invoices, monitor finances, and obtain PI approval for invoice payment, process payments.
• Provide oversight for subaccounts managed by other schools/departments. Notify PI if action is needed.
• Review and management of outstanding accounts receivable, ensure that invoices are being sent to the sponsor and funds are being received timely from the sponsor.
• Comply with all department, school, university, health system, and sponsoring agency standard operating procedures, policies, guidelines, regulations, and other related requirements.

Pre-Award Research Administration Support (30%)
• Work directly with investigators on assigned grant proposal submissions to ensure proposals meet technical, administrative, and financial requirements, deadlines are met, and all SOM Research Administration Standard Operating Procedures and established policies/requirements of both VCU and sponsoring agencies are followed.
• Develop necessary timelines for investigators to ensure deadlines are met. Communicate clear expectations regarding submission requirements, assignments, and responsibilities for each submission.
• Prepare non-technical components of submissions, seeking PI input where needed.
• Prepare cost share authorizations and advance index requests, seeking department approval, as needed.
• Participate in clinical trial pre-award award activities, including budget development, study coordinator effort, and milestone development in collaboration with the PI and clinical study team(s) and SOM Clinical Research Office.
• Facilitate completion of compliance training requirements with the PI.
• Host regular meetings to review and discuss proposals under development.

Other Duties (20%)
• With direction from Associate Director, develop and maintain research financial reporting at PI and department levels. Establish routine reporting distribution timelines and facilitate meetings to ensure finances are proactively managed and issues are escalated in a timely manner.
• Support Associate Director in developing other research reporting and analytics to drive departmental business decisions; particularly in areas that aid workforce management and staffing decisions that foster continued research growth.
• Assess, develop and implement process improvement or communication strategies to increase efficiency and effectiveness in pre and post award support for all units assigned.
• As staff is added; directly supervise and mentor junior research administration staff; establishing clear goals, objectives, and providing constructive feedback.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant experience
• Minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience in direct pre and/or post award research administration and portfolio management
• Direct research administration experience with a broad range of sponsors, especially NIH, DoD, Industry, Non-profit, including experience with clinical trials financial management.
• Experience in analytics, pre/post award process management
• Experience in financial management, forecasting, and effort allocation
• Strong analytical, problem solving and time management skills
• Ability to and experience in interpretation and application of complex government regulations and contractual terms
• Problem solving skills
• Strong supervisory and training experience
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Demonstrated experience working in and fostering a diverse faculty, staff and student environment and commitment to do so as a staff member at VCU

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree preferred
• Research administration experience in an academic medical center environment is strongly preferred.
• Professional certification such as Certified Research Administrator (CRA) is preferred.
• Understanding of IRB policies pertaining to regulatory requirements in human research preferred

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. All full-time university staff are eligible for our generous benefits package that includes choices for health, vision, and dental coverage, life-insurance, short and long-term disability coverage, retirement planning, tax-deferred annuity and cash match programs, flexible spending accounts, tuition benefits, significant paid-time off, 12 paid holidays, and more.  Explore our benefits further here: https://hr.vcu.edu/current-employees/benefits/university-and-academic-professional-benefits/


This position is Open Until Filled

VCU is committed to hiring veterans! VCU will include a veteran's period(s) of military service in the calculation of their annual leave accrual rate. This may provide veterans with an increased leave accrual!

Virginia Commonwealth University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action university providing access to education and employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, political affiliation, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or disability. 

Please note that if you are employed as a university employee working in any of the health system's facilities, you will need to follow VCU Health System policies, which will include but will not be limited to, vaccination requirements.

The School of Medicine continuously strives for our workplace and learning environment to reflect the demographic and social milieu of the communities we serve.  All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply.

Kelly Cecil
kelly.cecil@vcuhealth.org