Research Administrator I

This position is in the College of Public Health and Health Professions, Office of the Dean's Research Core, and will have the opportunity to learn all facets of research administration. The position is focused on pre-award development and will have direct faculty interaction as we help them submit the best research proposals for national and international competitions.

The PHHP Research Core is dedicated to fostering the scientific advancement of investigators in the college, providing helpful information, guidance and assistance in navigating the overall administration of those projects. The Core provides college-level review of all requests for funding and proposal submissions to both internal and external agencies for the college’s eight departments and the Dean’s Office.

The Research Administrator (RA) I position, under the tutelage of senior research administrator(s), the Director of Research Administration, and the Pre-award Research Administration Manager will be able to learn about the intricacies of research administration, including the various rules, regulations and policies that govern the awards process. This position will begin in a more directed position, but as his/her knowledge grows in both the pre-award and post-award processes, it is expected that the incumbent in this position will be able to transition from primarily assisting to independently managing his/her own portfolio. 

Pre-Award Administration
This position will be assigned to work with a department and their assigned research administration team.  They will work with a small subset of the faculty from that department, with assistance and collaboration from their other team members, to assist in submitting proposals.  This includes learning how to review the request for application (RFA) selected by the faculty member(s) for administrative requirements, draft checklists to help faculty know what needs to be provided, and to identify places where the research administrator(s) can support the proposal submission.  After reviewing the RFA, this position works with the faculty member and their proposed research team to develop an accurate budget that is compliant with federal, state, sponsor, university, college, and departmental policies.  Throughout the proposal period, this position is responsible for identifying and ensuring all administrative requirements of the sponsor’s RFA are met, which may require coordination with several internal UF offices. 

 
Employee is expected to learn to manage the research proposal submission process to ensure compliance with sponsor, state and university policy. This would include ensuring budget accuracy by actions such as verifying salary levels and fringe rates determining the correct categorization and allowability of budget items per sponsor terms, verifying appropriate indirect cost rate,  identifying any unallowable costs for the research team and assisting them in finding an appropriate source of support for those charges or alternative options for the proposal. Applying sponsor, state and university policy throughout the application process is key. Responsive and effective email and verbal communication with partners is fundamental to this role.

Just in Time and Sponsor Requests 
After proposals are set-up, sponsors often come back and request additional documents, budget revisions, and clarifications from the University as to different aspects of the submitted proposal.  This position will be responsible for assisting faculty with the management and submission of these documents through the appropriate channels in our office and centralized in the University. 

Award Setup 
When the University receives notice of a new award from a sponsor, this position will be responsible with setting up the project file in UFirst and assisting the faculty and postaward administrator with any necessary budget adjustments to ensure the original award documents are properly processed at UF. 

Post-Award Administration  
This position provides administrative support in full at the PHHP college level for post-award research administration. We are looking for a meticulous, critical-thinking team member to train and then independently manage a post-award portfolio, with emphasis on excellent customer support. Post-award activities primarily consist of reviewing award documents for reconciliation and ensuring proper document retention. This position will be learning a high-level review of financial processes at the University of Florida, such as the procurement process, internal purchasing and processing procedures, tuition waivers, salary distributions, as well as the contracting processes in order to support their faculty and review these charges.  This position is expected to handle additional actions like no-cost extensions, budget transfers and navigating UFIRST comfortably.