Administrative Officer - Remote

Vanderbilt University Medical Center • Nashville, TN

1d • Remote

About The Position

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center: Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health is committed to an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your uniqueness is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research. Organization: Office of Sponsored Programs Job Summary: OSP-Financial Management Unit The identified individual(s) is a member of the Office of Sponsored Programs-Financial Management Support and delivery team (OSP-FMS) whose mission is to provide the best possible customer service to the VUMC research community for frontline financial and selected award management activities. Working in a high-volume, deadline driven, fast-paced, and dynamic team environment, the OSP-FMS is a group of professionals structured with expertise focused on achieving department and institutional goals by providing services and support to an assigned portfolio with duties of a complex and confidential nature. The individual must have attention to detail; a strong work ethic; social and communication skills as a team player and resource; and the ability to work in a multifaceted, collaborative, central office environment. OSP-FMS is critical in maintaining the integrity of the research enterprise. The position(s) ensures that research activities are conducted efficiently and in compliance with all relevant regulations and policies. The individual(s) works in close collaboration with various groups to provide consistent expertise, knowledge, guidance, using key performance indicators, fostering continuous improvement and support to the research enterprise. On an annual basis, the OSP-FMS unit supports: • ~1,000 Principal Investigators from 40+ VUMC Departments, Institutes, and Centers submitting 4,000+ applications achieving ~$900M in sponsored awards annually from 500+ unique external sponsors resulting in the monitoring of an awards portfolio of over 4000 Workday AWDs and 6000 unique grant tags supporting nearly $800M in grant and contract expenditures .

Requirements

• Relevant Work Experience Experience Level: 3 years
• Education: Bachelor's

Nice To Haves

• Proficient and excellent knowledge of commonly used software packages (i.e., Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Adobe and email programs)
• Candidate must have extensive knowledge of the federal regulations governing sponsored research (i.e. OMB Uniform Guidance)
• Must be organized and analytical
• Excellent written and oral communication skills are critical
• Demonstrated ability to work both as a member of a team and independently
• Demonstrated ability to work under the pressure of hard deadlines and competing priorities
• Must have advanced knowledge and experience utilizing VUMC and sponsor-specific electronic grants management systems (i.e. NIH eRA Commons, Coeus/PEER/Workday/Aries/Discover-E)
• Ability to identify resources, solve problems and take initiative
• Commitment to providing professional, efficient, and timely service to the VUMC research community is a must

Responsibilities

• Grants and Contracts Management: Act as a subject matter expert for PIs, program managers, research administration staff, and research lab staff. Collaborate with the Department of Finance on all post-award activities, ensuring proper oversight and submission of close-outs and other post-award requirements. Work with the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) pre-award grant administration team to support and address issues related to grant and contract submissions. Ensure effective cost management to meet both current and future needs.
• Financial Oversight: Responsible for the daily fiscal management of research awards and sponsored funds for an assigned portfolio, as well as the operational oversight of post-award processes, including effort reporting, financial reporting, and project close-outs. Work in partnership with the Department of Finance team to conduct analyses of center deficit/surplus corrections, grant closeouts, year-end closings, invoices, and other financial activities. Review, create, and optimize Workday financial reports for dissemination. Authorize Workday transactions pertaining to grants, and core activities including effort changes, purchases, accounting adjustments, journal entries. Collaborate with the department on the annual research budget. In collaboration with team lead, establish and update financial controls and reporting systems in the research enterprise whenever possible.
• Compliance and Risk Management: Monitor quarterly effort certification processes in partnership with faculty PI’s and the Effort Certification and Allocation team. Support faculty and staff by monitoring compliance including managing end dates and effort changes. Address and respond to inquiries from the department, Department of Finance (DOF), Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and external agencies. Ensure adherence to institutional policies and federal regulations (e.g., foreign travel, Export Control, subaward monitoring, IRB, IACUC, IT and procurement, etc.). Ensure accurate and timely documentation of research activities, funding, and compliance.
• Training and Development: Aid in prioritizing tasks to effectively fulfill research administration responsibilities. Provide mentoring and training to team and support to faculty and staff in managing awards and other research administration activities. Promote self-professional development opportunities.
• Collaboration and Communication: Facilitate achievement of research aims and objectives by supporting the PIs and their teams in all facets of their research projects/programs. Assist the research team, including faculty, postdocs, trainees, and research staff, by providing instruction, guidance, coordination, communication, and problem-solving support. Address issues and questions from faculty members and staff, continually enhancing research program operations alongside team lead. Cultivate collaborative relationships regarding research matters with internal and external stakeholders: faculty, staff, VU, VA, and sponsors. Maintain regular communication with principal investigators (PIs) regarding research portfolios and team effort distribution. Conduct meetings with faculty to review financial reports and effort distributions, trends, and projections.
• Data Management and Reporting: Optimize Workday and other research system processes and enhance reporting capabilities by addressing and resolving a wide range of issues, delays, and inquiries. Manage, respond, and complete reporting requests from internal and external customers regarding research programs. Produce reports and analyses to aid in decision-making and strategic planning.
• Additional Responsibilities: Serve as a member of the departmental administrative team Attend meetings and interact with other departments as requested by the department chairman and/or departmental administrator. Resolve problems directly, or in consultation with department chairman/administrator concerning staffing, utilization of facilities, equipment and funds Provide sound personnel and payroll administration Ensure internal salary equity within the department. Maintain confidential personnel records for professional and non-professional staff. Make staffing recommendations, interview and screen applicants for hiring. Train in departmental systems and procedures. Assign work priorities; conduct performance reviews, disciplinary actions and in concert with others, terminate employees when necessary. Analyze and develop the annual departmental budget Recommend distribution and allocation of general department resources Review grant preparation for compliance with restrictions. Authorizes, approves and signs purchase and equipment requisitions, travel and entertainment expenses, etc. Monitor collections and expenditures against budgets and grants, analyzes requisition for conformance to budget and compliance with specific requirements and restrictions. Manage and coordinate administrative and support functions within the department Develop and interpret policies and procedures for clerical staff Assure that all policies are in conformance with University guidelines Prepare reports for management review

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees