Director, Federal and Non-federal Sponsored Projects

Overview

This position, offered through a partner organization, seeks an accomplished professional to lead the administration of federally and non-federally sponsored research projects within a collaborative academic and research environment in the United States. It involves strategic leadership in managing contract and grant operations, compliance, and service enhancement.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide overall leadership in sponsored projects administration including reviewing proposals, managing awards, negotiating agreements, handling clinical trial contracts, and overseeing subawards.
• Conduct complex negotiations with various sponsors such as federal, state, nonprofit, industry, and international entities, ensuring alignment with intellectual property, data use, confidentiality, publication rights, indemnification, and compliance standards.
• Create and execute strategic plans aimed at enhancing contract and grant operations, service quality, and organizational performance.
• Offer guidance to senior leadership, faculty, and other campus stakeholders on policies, compliance, challenges, and process enhancements related to sponsored research.
• Manage contract and grant teams through subordinate managers, focusing on recruitment, onboarding, performance evaluation, workload balance, and professional growth.
• Set operational objectives, productivity measures, workload expectations, and service standards, continually assessing team capacity and refining workflows.
• Act as a subject matter expert on regulations, policies, and procedures for sponsored projects across federal, state, sponsor, and institutional frameworks.
• Exercise delegated authority to review, approve, and execute contracts, agreements, grants, and subawards related to sponsored projects.
• Represent the organization in various research administration forums including campus-wide, system-wide, and national committees and meetings.
• Develop and provide training programs and workshops to enhance research administration skills among teams and stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field or comparable combination of education, experience, and training.
• More than 10 years of experience in sponsored projects administration, contracts and grants management, or related research administration roles.
• Proven ability to negotiate complex agreements and develop mutually beneficial solutions with diverse sponsors and partners.
• In-depth understanding of grant funding mechanisms, contract administration, compliance obligations, and research enterprise operations.
• Exemplary organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills with the ability to work independently.
• Strong leadership, communication, and interpersonal capabilities to engage various stakeholder groups effectively.
• Sound judgment and decision-making skills for managing complex and sensitive issues.
• Proficiency in widely used desktop applications, web-based tools, research administration systems, and operational databases.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Preferred: Extensive knowledge of organizational processes including personnel, financial transactions, and systems connected to contracts and grants administration.

Compensation and Benefits

• Competitive annual salary range from approximately $108,100 to $146,890, commensurate with experience and qualifications.
• Mainly remote work arrangement with periodic on-site presence as required.
• Access to comprehensive medical insurance plans.
• Paid sick leave and vacation benefits.
• Participation in retirement savings programs.
• Additional perks including employee discounts and wellness benefits.
• Chance to lead impactful research administration initiatives within a distinguished academic setting.
• Opportunities for professional development through leadership roles, training, and collaboration with research professionals.

Additional Information

This role employs an AI-assisted application review process to objectively shortlist candidates based on core job requirements. Final selection and subsequent recruitment steps are managed entirely by the hiring partner. Personal data will be processed in compliance with applicable data protection legislation, incorporating AI tools to support recruitment processes while ensuring decisions rest with human recruiters.