Program Operations Specialist

University of Washington•Seattle, WA

5h•Remote

About The Position

The SECURE Center has an outstanding opportunity for a Program Operations Specialist to join their team. Reporting to the Assistant Director, the Program Operations Specialist provides day-to-day operational, administrative, and customer-support functions of the National NSF SECURE Center located in Seattle, Washington at the University of Washington. This role helps define and implement systems and processes that drive Center staff efficiency and allows the research community to have a reliable, seamless experience with the Center. This is an evolving role, and responsibilities may change as Center operations mature. The NSF Safeguarding the Entire Community of the U.S. Research Ecosystem (SECURE) Center empowers the research community to make security-informed decisions about research security concerns. The SECURE Center operates as a mostly virtual organization with team members and activities happening throughout the U.S. The Program Operations Specialist supports a nationally scoped, NSF-funded research center that operates as a largely virtual organization, with staff, partners, and stakeholders distributed across the United States. The role requires navigating complex operational environments that span multiple institutions, time zones, and organizational cultures, while ensuring consistency, compliance, and high-quality service delivery. As the SECURE Center continues to mature, the position must adapt to evolving programmatic needs, develop new systems and processes, and respond to shifting federal requirements and stakeholder expectations. The Specialist must balance day-to-day operational demands with continuous improvement efforts in a dynamic and highly visible research environment. This position plays a critical role in enabling the effective operation of a nationally prominent NSF center housed at the University of Washington. By supporting efficient, reliable, and well-coordinated Center operations, the Program Operations Specialist directly contributes to the University’s ability to steward federal research funding and serve the broader U.S. research community. The role enhances UW’s reputation as a trusted national leader in research security by ensuring a seamless experience for external partners, researchers, and federal stakeholders. The position also strengthens UW’s internal research infrastructure by developing scalable operational practices that may inform future multi-institutional and virtual research initiatives.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in relevant field (e.g Public Admin, Business, Project Management)
One year in operations, program coordination, customer support operations, or online services. Ideally in research, academic or government setting
Strong organizational and multitasking skills with high attention to detail.
Excellent written and verbal communication abilities.
Ability to collaborate across teams and manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Proficiency with web-based productivity tools (e.g., Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, project management platforms).

Nice To Haves

Experience using Monday.com
Experience working in a web-based service company
Familiarity with customer support platforms, CRM systems, and data tools (Excel, Power BI, etc)
Experience coordinating subawards, budgeting, invoice tracking, or sponsor reporting.

Responsibilities

Help implement and administer tools and systems to support Center operations.
Create and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) related to Center tools and systems.
Maintain the Center’s email accounts, collaboration and conferencing tools, calendars, task lists, and shared documentation repositories.
Conduct periodic audits and file cleans of shared record repositories for compliance with access and records retention policies.
Organize and facilitate Center staff onboarding and offboarding.
Create and maintain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) related to customer account provisioning, service delivery, and internal operations.
Represent Operations while working with product development teams to define support processes and assess Operations readiness prior to deployment.
Help prepare support documentation such as Knowledge Base (KB) articles and customer facing FAQs.
Serve as a point of Customer support, responding to inquiries/issues, facilitating information flow, and escalating as appropriate.
Ensure timely resolution of Customer support requests, track and report status.
Assist with Operations projects related to service enhancements, customer experience improvements, and operational readiness.
Support development and tracking of workplans and deliverables for Operations projects.
Evaluate existing workflows and identify opportunities to streamline processes and improve efficiency.
Support rollout of new features, ensuring operational alignment, documentation updates, and internal training.
Gather data for reporting on stakeholder engagement, participation, program adoption, and related operational metrics.
Assist in preparing summaries, dashboards, and visualizations to support internal decision-making and NSF reporting.
Assist with preparation, editing, and submission of required NSF documentation including quarterly reports, annual reports, and compliance-related materials.
Assist the Finance & Operations Manager with routine financial administration, including expense monitoring, procurement requests, and budget tracking.
Support coordination with subawardee institutions (e.g., tracking invoices, confirming deliverables, monitoring payment status, and maintaining documentation).
Manage sponsor-related payment tracking to ensure accurate and timely processing.