Job Description

The Research Administrator will join a team of four research administrators and will be responsible for a wide variety of faculty portfolio pre- and post-award management including a combination of federal, private, industry sponsored - including clinical trials, and gifts. This position will serve as a subject matter expert and be responsible for special projects including maintenance of the chart of accounts, developing process improvement tools and operating procedures, and helping to guide the team with ProjectOne/Oracle finance and research administration platforms. This position will also provide training, coaching, and mentorship to other team members to support professional development, knowledge sharing, and consistent research administration practices.

The Research Administrator is regarded by the faculty as an important working partner in planning for and guiding their financial well-being. This position is an independently reliable source of administrative information who has a sufficient understanding of the faculty goals and objectives to be able to (1) offer alternatives and ideas regarding the application of his/her funds and (2) flag important issues that require special attention and action. Further the position balances duties to support the faculty while at the same time understanding essential responsibilities as a representative of the departmental management and the larger interests of protecting the faculty and the department against deficits and audit risk.

The Division of Gastroenterology at UCSF Health is a large subspecialty division in the Department of Medicine. Divisional activities include patient care, teaching, and research at the UCSF Parnassus Medical Center as well as all other UCSF Health sites and the ZSFG and VAMC affiliated campus sites. The division has a total of 150 personnel, including 46 full time faculty, 29 fellows, 12 administrative support staff, and 63 research personnel. Teaching includes two ACGME-accredited fellowship programs and three non-ACME fellowship training programs, including Gastroenterology and Liver Transplantation, as well as Acute & Chronic Liver Disease, Advanced Endoscopy and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

The Division's research leads to new approaches to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases. The Division has over $40M in contracts, including private, federal, and industry sponsors as well as gifts.

Responsibilities

of time

Essential Function (Yes/No)

Key Responsibilities

(To be completed by Supervisor)

30
YesDepartment Role (DR): Leads the organization, planning, establishment and monitoring of fiscal budget control of contracts and grants administration, submissions, budgets, support documents, gifts, endowments, and privately funded projects for faculty research programs. Specific pre-award responsibilities include Other Support in SciENcv, developing a budget and budget justification.
20
Yes(DR): Administers, in coordination with central and departmental administrators, the administrative and financial aspects of complex, awarded projects with broad impact, including subcontract initiation, monitoring, and close-out..
20
Yes(DR): Provides highly complex projections, analysis, and recommendations, including bi-annual proposal and award overview.
5
YesAssists in support of audit as directed by senior staff.
10
YesProvides guidance and counsel on wide variety of highly complex research administration matters to principal investigators, senior departmental administrators and less experienced department staff, including process improvement tools and operating procedures. Leads education and outreach activities to facilitate connections between faculty and relevant programs / funding opportunities and promote research to external entities. Keeps up to date on Project One initiatives and reports back to the team. Reviews monthly BSRs for less experienced post award staff regularly.
5
Yes(DR): Ensures complete and accurate collection of research management administration data at all stages of the contract and grant life cycle. Independently oversees award reporting and closeout.
5
YesReviews budget allocations for policy exceptions, conceives of and maintains chart of accounts or other data management tools, and related business processes. Reviews and reconciles ledger accounts. Participates in gathering data from the general ledger for the collection of information for UBIT, preparing summary schedules, and either answering questions from departments or coordinating getting answers.
5
YesPrepares, reviews and / or approves financial transactions. Independently gathers information as needed to perform financial analysis.Other duties as assigned.
100%
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Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in related area.
• Five (5) or more years of relevant experience and / or equivalent experience / training.
• Extensive knowledge of program administration guidelines of Federal and non-Federal sponsors supporting research and educational activities, preferably in a university environment.
• Ability to manage high volume and complex transactions.
• Ability to perform highly complex financial analysis and customized reporting.
• Demonstrated advanced competence in the use of spreadsheet and database software in financial analysis, fiscal management and financial reports. Demonstrated exceptional ability in Excel.
• Ability to maintain independent judgment; strong organization and communication skills; and a customer service focus across broad and diverse subject areas.
• Maintains knowledge of and ability to interpret and apply sponsor, institutional and departmental policies. Knowledge of current compliance regulations in all areas of research administration.
• Demonstrated advanced knowledge of generally accepted accounting, fiscal and reporting principles.
• Experience with all types of award mechanisms, including grants, contracts, subcontracts, and cooperative agreements.
• Full knowledge of Federal Acquisition Regulation, Code of Federal Regulations, sponsor-specific policies, intellectual property policy, conflict of interest requirements, publication rights, application of indirect cost rates and other complex concepts in research administration.
• Ability to interpret policy for others.
• Knowledge of UCSF platforms including UCPath, BearBuy, MyTime, MyReports, General Ledger Verification, Award Verification, and PeopleSoft.
• Experience working effectively with individuals from diverse backgrounds and fostering an inclusive, collaborative workplace culture.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced knowledge of applicable compliance requirements related to use of human or animal subjects in research, financial conflict of interest, biosafety, etc.
• Advanced knowledge of effective grant funding processes, procedures and techniques
• Advanced ability to create and train grant writing and other communications skills in a variety of styles to ensure securing grant funding required.
• Knowledge of NIH systems, including SciENcv and eRA Commons and DOM portals such as PLUS, and knowledge of OSR Budget Template.
• Ability and/or willingness to leverage AI to optimize efficiency and to adopt AI and AI tools