ORA Contracts and Grants Analyst 3 (A)

University of Miami•Coral Gables, FL

About The Position

The ORA Contract and Grants Analyst 3 provides financial and administrative oversight of complex federal and private contracts and grants as well as other external funds that subsidize various research and instructional programs supported by the organization. Further, the ORA Contract and Grants Analyst 3 establishes and supports institutional policies and procedures related to research compliance and administration.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in relevant field
Minimum 4 years of relevant experience in research administration, departmental research support, independent research site, sponsor or CRO, ideally in an academic setting. Appropriate combination of relevant education and/or experience may be considered.
Demonstrated extensive knowledge and experience in Pre-Award research administration, including clinical research agreements, proposals and awards financial review.
Demonstrated ability to work independently, exercising independent judgment and professionalism, as well as collaboratively, taking a lead in a dynamic team environment.
Demonstrated strong analytic and information research skills, ability to process complex information fast and accurate, proactive approach to expansion of professional knowledge and skills.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills with demonstrated outstanding customer service skills.
Demonstrated collaboration and compassion traits, professional experience and judgment to effectively serve faculty and sponsors while protecting, representing and advancing the University's best interests.
Ability to work well under deadlines pressure without sacrificing accuracy, quality, customer service, collegiality or ethics.
Knowledge of appropriate University and sponsoring entities research systems.
Strong financial analytic skills.
Solid knowledge of medical terminology, healthcare billing and reimbursement principles, Federal, State, Medicare and other applicable government regulations pertaining to research and investigational drug/device development process strongly preferred.
Skill in collecting, organizing, and analyzing data.
Ability to recognize, analyze, and solve a variety of problems.
Ability to exercise sound judgment in making critical decisions.

Responsibilities

Oversees general budget as it relates to state and external funding.
Provides analytical and technical assistance in the strategic planning and implementation of activities to build, sustain, and support contract and grant programs.
Advises investigators, administrative staff, and sponsor officials on grant and contract issues and interpretation.
Reviews proposals for compliance with both sponsor and University policies.
Supervises and trains junior staff members.
Reviews requests for advance spending authorization prior to receipt of award document and verifies funding commitment from the sponsoring agency representative.
Reviews and negotiates awards and contracts to ensure terms and conditions align with the institution’s policies and requirements.
Acts as liaison to investigators, fund issuing agencies, and other applicable third parties to facilitate fund distribution and dispute resolution.
Reviews on-going post-award issues, such as no-cost time extensions, carry-forward of funds, and re-budgeting between cost categories.
Adheres to University and unit-level policies and procedures and safeguards University assets.
Reviews, analyzes, negotiates and endorses financial provisions of complex clinical research agreements, proposals and awards to ensure use of the correct and compliant processes, and meeting funding requirements, focusing on University policies, Uniform Guidance and applicable federal and state rules and regulations.
Trains, and mentors department staff to develop talent and enhance performance.
Determines applicability and develops Medicare Coverage Analyses (MCAs) for all applicable studies that are complaint, consistent with University policies and state and federal regulations, to protect University resources and foster fiscally sound budgets and research billing compliance.
Collaborates with various University and external research entities, such as Principal Investigators and study teams, Compliance Office, IRB (Human Subject Research Office), Risk Management, Jackson Health System Clinical trials office (JHS CTO) sponsors and other relevant offices to ensure that sponsored research projects are managed in an efficient and effective manner consistent with UM policies and procedures, and applicable extramural entities guidelines, laws and regulations.
Provide advice to faculty and staff regarding sponsored research administration functions, interpreting a broad range of sponsor policies, government regulations, terms and conditions.
Maintains operations consistency and transparency and provides data on a work progress to appropriate Office of research Administration (ORA) leadership and academic departments’ research administration on an ongoing basis.
Collaborates with others at ORA to ensure consistent, smooth and efficient processes for various pre and post-award activities related to research projects carried out by the University.
Provides mentorship to Contracts and Grants Analysts and assists with on-the-job training and onboarding of new hires.
Keep current on relevant professional information by attending professional development opportunities and trainings, proactively monitoring publications and updates from relevant agencies.
Assist ORA leadership with development of reports and training materials and monitoring of work efficiency and productivity, suggesting new and efficient ways for carrying out assigned duties and other tasks as needed.