Pre-Award Research Administrator I - OVPR

Tufts University • Boston, MA

2d • Remote

About The Position

Tufts University is a student‑centered research institution committed to generating bold ideas, promoting innovation, and supporting collaborative scholarship. The Office of the Vice Provost for Research (OVPR) plays a central role in enabling faculty and researchers to secure and manage sponsored funding that advances discovery across Tufts’ campuses.
Why Build a Career in Research Administration at Tufts?
Research Administration makes research possible. Working in partnership with faculty, research administrators support the business, regulatory, and compliance activities that enable groundbreaking research and scholarly activity.
You may thrive in this field if you:
Enjoy detail‑oriented work, budgets, or problem-solving
Have a background in business, math, policy, or science (including those not pursuing lab work)
Are interested in a mission‑driven career supporting research that impacts society
This role offers significant flexibility and can be performed primarily remotely, with only occasional on‑campus presence as needed.

Requirements

• Knowledge and skills typically acquired through a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 0–2 years of research administration or related experience.
• Knowledge of major funding agencies and their programs.
• Understanding of federal research funding regulations and related compliance requirements.
• Proficiency with MS Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and internet‑based tools.
• Proficiency with, or the ability to learn, electronic grants management systems, such as: Grants.gov, NIH eRA Commons, NSF Fastlane, ProposalCentral, other applicable sponsor systems.

Nice To Haves

• Professional certification such as Certified Research Administrator (CRA), Certified Pre‑Award Research Administrator (CPRA), or Certified Financial Research Administrator (CFRA).

Responsibilities

• Review sponsored proposals for compliance with university and sponsor requirements, ensuring allowability, allocability, and consistency of budgeted costs.
• Prepare required documentation for non‑fiscal post-award actions, including no‑cost extensions, budget reallocations, contract amendments, and prior approval requests.
• Support agreement negotiations by facilitating the review of standard terms and conditions under supervision.
• Serve as a resource to principal investigators and departmental research administrators by interpreting policies, answering questions, and providing guidance.
• Assist with ad hoc reporting to support operational and compliance needs.
• Build expertise in research administration by staying current with evolving sponsor regulations and university procedures.
• Perform other duties as necessary to support the needs of the organization.

What This Job Offers

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