Sponsored Research Program Specialist

Wellesley, MA, United States

The Sponsored Research Program Specialist has a pivotal role in supporting faculty and the College in the full life cycle of sponsored research administration in connection with all facets of federal and internal sponsored projects. As Babson expands its research portfolio, the Sponsored Research Program Specialist will play a key role in developing, documenting, and managing post-award operational processes; monitoring, reporting, and processing grant closeout procedures; updating policies and procedures and thinking creatively to engage all stakeholders in these new processes; responsible for post-award administration for federally sponsored projects including keeping abreast of new and existing regulatory compliance, supporting day-to-day operations of the research faculty committee entitled Babson Faculty Research Fund (BFRF), and taking the lead on a portfolio of programs and project management initiatives such as Babson Research Day; assisting with Babson’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) training and administration; and supporting and assisting with faculty trainings, website management, data entry, and reporting.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

General

Helps build and be responsible for post-award operations and procedures and infrastructure by working with key stakeholders at Babson and using Uniform Guidance and other relevant regulations.

Supports the operational functions of the Office of Sponsored Research which includes providing tools and support to the faculty members seeking federal and internalgrants.

Responsible for working with department administrators on federal award budgets; prepares financial reports to federal agencies.

Collaborates with department administrators to review federal expenditures for allowability, reasonableness, allocability, and consistent treatment.

Works closely with faculty members elected to the BFRF to manage the ongoing operations of the committee which includes aiding the BFRF Committee in running their internal competitions for research funding including using software dedicated to this process and training new faculty in their role as reviewers; scheduling BFRF Committee meetings, preparing materials for these meetings, taking notes, and sending out action items; and working with the BFRF Research Day subcommittee to plan and execute the Research Day event including managing the logistics for Research Day.

Under the direction of the Manager, manages the communication of faculty research activities to the Babson community including coordinating and scheduling the series of research talks, trainings, and presentations to the Babson community; maintaining the internal website for Sponsored Research and its integration with the external College website, and producing newsletters and reports for community distribution.

Updates application materials and sets up the InfoReady application systems, downloading applications and compiling application packets for committee members.

Under the direction of the Manager, collaborates with General Counsel, the Director of Compliance & Enterprise Risk, and the Dean of the College to ensure relevant training and ongoing compliance with federal and local regulations on sponsored research.

Works with internal and external Institutional Review Board (IRB) contacts to assure updates to Federal Wide Assurance (FWA) and related items.

Collaborates with IRB partners to determine Babson faculty CITI training requirements for both human subjects training and responsible conduct of research.

Works the Manager of the Office of Sponsored Research to assist in ongoing programs.

Assumes additional responsibilities as required.

Post-Award

Works with departmental administrator to review federal expenditures for allowability, reasonableness, allocability, and consistent treatment. Responsible for collaborating with departments to assure compliance if cost sharing is required.

Completes federal expense and labor distributions transactions in compliance with Uniform Guidance.

Prepares annual or periodic and final reports and completes close-out procedures for sponsoring projects.

Under the direction of the Manager, creates roles and responsibilities and procedures for Babson post-award activities, reviews federal proposal budgets, and assists with audit review.

Keeps abreast of the ever-changing landscape of Federal and non-Federal Sponsors including changes to sponsor regulations and policies and broader research relatedlandscape.

Assumes additional responsibilities as required.

WHAT EDUCATION AND SKILLS YOU WILL NEED

Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent experience.

Must have at least 5+ years of experience with federal government sponsored research in a higher education setting (post award experience strongly preferred).

Must have strong accounting and analytical skills.

Knowledgeable and have the necessary skills in accounting for research related financial transactions, grant monitoring, effort reporting, and federal post- award reporting and close out requirements.

Must be a motivated self-starter, can recognize opportunities for improvement in research administration post-award and can develop effective post-award program operations as the College’s research portfolio expands.

Must have project management expertise

Must have excellent oral and written communication, financial, and interpersonal skills as well as the ability to establish a strong network

Must have computer proficiency, including databases, desktop publishing, and word processing and Web page/html software ; flexible in learning new on-line tools.

Ability to work independently, meet deadlines, manage diverse responsibilities simultaneously and ability to work with all constituencies.

Demonstrated ability to improve processes and enhance systems

Ability to envision and propose new methods to perform tasks that support ET&A; take thoughtful risks; and accept new and ongoing initiatives, objectives, and solutions to gain sought-after results.

Ability to anticipate and embrace change ; demonstrate willingness to achieve, acquire, and utilize new skills and challenging tasks; and is flexible in changing conditions.

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