Research Grants & Contracts Administrator

Gillette Children's•Saint Paul, MN

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Gillette Children's is seeking a Research Grants & Contracts Administrator to join our team! This role provides full-lifecycle research administration support across pre-award, post-award, and compliance functions for all sponsored projects at Gillette Children’s. This position serves as the institutional point of contact for contract and award management, research financial operations, effort reporting, sponsor invoicing, and federal compliance activities. The incumbent manages post-award financial workflows, effort certification, cost allocation, and audit readiness across all active research studies. This position works closely with the Vice President of Research, Director of Finance, Research Program Directors, Institutional Compliance Officer, Legal, and research project teams to ensure effective stewardship of sponsored funds and compliance with institutional, sponsor, federal, and state requirements.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, business administration, or related field and three (3) years of research administration experience spanning pre-award and/or post-award functions, OR a combination of education and relevant experience totaling seven (7) years.
Ability to interpret and apply federal regulations, sponsor terms and conditions, and institutional policies to research administration decisions.
Demonstrated knowledge of 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance), OMB Circulars, and federal grant compliance requirements.
Working knowledge of GAAP, financial reporting, and enterprise resource planning systems.
Proficiency in Microsoft Excel (advanced formulas, pivot tables, data reconciliation) and Microsoft Office Suite.
Experience with sponsor invoicing, cost reconciliation, or financial reporting for research awards.
Experience working on proposal submissions for a variety of funding sources (e.g., NIH, corporate sponsors, industry, foundation).
Excellent communication, organizational, and leadership skills.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with meticulous attention to detail in financial reconciliation and compliance documentation.
Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects with competing deadlines across pre-award and post-award functions.
Effective written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex regulatory requirements to investigators and research staff.

Nice To Haves

JD from an accredited law school, with demonstrated knowledge of federal grant regulations, contract law, and research compliance in a healthcare or academic setting.
Certified Research Administrator (CRA) or Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
Advanced degree in business, healthcare administration, or related field.
3-5 years of experience in sponsored projects administration at a healthcare or academic institution.
Familiarity with the Single Audit Act, Federal Acquisition Regulation, and sponsor-specific policies (NIH, PCORI, industry, foundation).
Experience with clinical trials management systems, grants management platforms (e.g., Grants.gov, eRA Commons), and Oracle Health or similar EHR billing systems.
Experience managing outsourced service provider relationships in research administration.
Familiarity with electronic research support systems and other financial and human resource systems.

Responsibilities

Serve as institutional liaison to outsourced pre-award and clinical contracts managed services providers, ensuring deliverables meet Gillette’s quality, compliance, and timeline expectations.
Manage and oversee all proposals by providing guidance, interpretation, and advisement during the pre-award and award initiation processes for internal and external sponsors (e.g., federal, state, non-profit, and corporate).
Review sponsor guidelines, policies, and procedures to ensure compliance and provide expert advice to investigators.
Use in-depth knowledge of the pre-award process to ensure proposal document compliance.
Communicate with funding agencies as needed to clarify policies, procedures, and interpretations of application instructions.
Act as a consultant to investigators, administrators, and others writing grant proposals regarding interpretation of policies and grant terms and conditions.
Lead or collaborate on budget development for proposals, ensuring compliance with sponsor and Gillette financial policies regarding personnel categories, effort, cost-sharing, direct and indirect costs, justifications, etc.
Negotiate budgets as needed and provide budget set-up details to finance departments and executive leadership.
Serve as the first-line reviewer of sponsor contract terms and subaward agreements, identifying risks, recommending and negotiating positions aligned with Gillette’s interests, and partnering closely with Legal to ensure consistent application of institutional standards and appropriate escalation of non-standard or higher-risk contractual provisions.
Evaluate, triage, and resolve contract and award management questions that arise from outsourced provider workflows, sponsor communications, or internal stakeholders.
Manage financial conflict of interest (FCOI) documentation and processes in coordination with the Institutional Compliance Officer.
Execute federal non-financial reporting obligations, including progress reports, research performance progress report (RPPR) submissions, and other sponsor-required documentation in collaboration with principal investigators.
Serve as or coordinate with the federal grant Authorized Official for institutional actions including award acceptance, no-cost extensions, carry-forward requests, and prior approval submissions.
Maintain organizational SAM.gov registration, UEI, and other federal system credentials required for sponsored project eligibility.
Monitor subrecipient and study vendor compliance under active contracts, including risk assessments, invoice review against subaward terms, and FFATA reporting as applicable.
Review award notices from sponsor and the Notice of Grant Award for accuracy against proposal details to assist accountants in establishing the grant in Finance.
Provide expert advice to principal investigators and accounting staff on terms and conditions.
Coordinate subaward proposals with other institutions.
Submit subaward initiation documents to legal and financial departments and assist with subaward set-up.
Prepare, submit, and track proposals using in-depth knowledge of sponsor's submission system.
Develop and maintain internal database of pending and active awards.
Record project-specific information in systems of record, including effort reporting, contractual obligations, financial details, timelines, and related data.
Review and understand sponsor terms and conditions as outlined in notices of award, contracts, agreements, or internal equivalents.
Maintain project-level contract records, allowable cost documentation, and performance period tracking across multiple systems of record (grants management, finance, clinical trials management system).
Monitor research project expenses, ensure cost matching and revenue recognition principles are applied appropriately.
Maintain and update planned effort percentages for all personnel working on research studies; ensure that effort allocations align with sponsor budgets and institutional commitments.
Coordinate fixed effort certification for principal investigators and manage non-payroll allocation processes (auto floats) in accordance with institutional policy and 2 CFR 200.430.
Conduct variable time allocation reviews and corrections with Payroll, including identification and resolution of payroll float discrepancies.
Manage patient care cost allocation and reconciliation between Oracle Health and the clinical trials management system (RealTime), ensuring charges align with coverage analysis designations and sponsor billing terms.
Administer participant remuneration management, tracking, and reporting through the clinical trials management system (RealTime), including IRS reporting coordination as applicable.
Prepare re-budgeting requests, amendments, and extensions in compliance with sponsor terms and conditions on an as-needed basis.
Prepare and submit allowable cost invoices to sponsors for cost-reimbursement awards, ensuring alignment with approved budgets, effort records, and sponsor terms.
Prepare milestone-based and fixed-fee invoices for industry-sponsored and non-cost-reimbursement agreements, tracking deliverable completion and payment schedules.
Investigate and resolve payment discrepancies, short-payments, and disputed charges with sponsors, maintaining documentation of dispute resolution.
Review and confirm foundation grant allocations and coordinate internal reimbursement requests with the Gillette Foundation.
Ensure all federally-funded research projects maintain compliance with 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance), applicable OMB Circulars, sponsor terms and conditions, and institutional policies throughout the award lifecycle.
Monitor and communicate with prime site or sub site as applicable to ensure transparent information sharing and compliance standards are being upheld by all parties.
Prepare documentation and provide support for the organization’s annual uniform guidance (Single Audit) as it pertains to federal research awards.
Conduct or support private business use evaluations concurrently with the Legal department as needed for tax-exempt bond compliance.
Maintain compliance documentation and monitoring records for all active federal awards, subawards, and industry-sponsored projects.
Develop and maintain custom reporting tools (e.g., PAN tracker, invoicing files, mileage trackers, ad hoc financial reports) to support research department operational needs.
Develop reporting, analytics, and interpretation of financial and non-financial data to arm the research and finance departments with valuable insights.
Perform analysis of pre-award research activities and provide reporting on annual research proposal activity.
Provide regular updates to investigators on upcoming proposal deadlines and important changes to funding agency policies and submission details.
Coordinate with research project teams to complete final financial, compliance, and regulatory close-out steps.
Communicate with relevant parties to issue final reports, invoices, and reimbursements.
Close appropriate systems of record and archive financial records in accordance with standard operating processes.
Continuously evaluate and improve pre-award and post-award processes, procedures, and workflows, including those interfacing with outsourced service providers.
Write and review policies, procedures, and guidelines supporting research administration roles and responsibilities.
Develop and maintain proposal resources, including databases, job guides, sample proposals, document lists, links to other relevant resources.
Honor ad-hoc requests from research department personnel and embrace a collaborative approach to challenging topics.
Complete special projects as assigned.
Participate in activities that promote professional growth, ease of access, quality improvement, and patient satisfaction.