Senior Research Contracts & Federal Agreements Officer

Stony Brook University•Stony Brook, NY

21h

About The Position

The Senior Research Contracts & Federal Agreements Officer drafts, reviews, negotiates, executes, processes, and administers a broad range of research contracts and agreements for the Research Foundation for The State University of New York at Stony Brook. The work includes federal research contracts and complex federal agreements, clinical trial agreements, testing and laboratory study agreements, research collaborations, and industry-sponsored contracts. The officer works with RF counsel, OR&I leadership and teams, faculty, sponsors, and university administrative offices, including technology transfer, grants management, research compliance, research security, procurement, and proposal development. The officer ensures that agreements comply with applicable federal, state, local, university, SUNY, RF, sponsor, and institutional policies and regulations. The role requires independent judgment in interpreting requirements, resolving contractual issues, assessing risk, and proposing mitigation strategies and alternative contract language. The officer also tracks agreement processing, maintains records and databases, monitors workflow, generates reports, and develops or updates processes to support compliance and timely execution. Additional duties include supporting proposal development and pre-contract review, assisting principal investigators with research budgets and compliance-related matters, reviewing solicitations and proposals, and representing the Office of Sponsored Programs at meetings and informational sessions. The position supervises at least one full-time staff member, provides training and direction, manages personnel and performance processes, and works to improve team systems and procedures. Other duties may be assigned. This is a full-time, FLSA-exempt appointment with the Research Foundation of SUNY. Employment is subject to RF policies and procedures, sponsor guidelines, and funding availability. The employer cannot sponsor work visas. Due to U.S. Export Control laws and regulations, the person hired must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or other protected individual as defined by law.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or foreign equivalent. An associate degree plus two years of full-time experience involving research grants, subawards, and/or contracts in a research setting may be considered in lieu of a bachelor's degree.
Three years of full-time experience negotiating a variety of research contracts or awards, such as industry-sponsored research agreements, clinical trial agreements, grant awards, or subcontracts.
One year of full-time experience administering research grants, subawards, and/or research contracts in research administration.
Three years of full-time experience negotiating and administering federal research contracts and other complex federal research agreements, such as OTAs, federal flowthrough subawards or subcontracts, industry-sponsored federal contracts including SBIR/STTRs, and collaboration agreements.
Demonstrated knowledge of federal, state, university, and industry rules and regulations governing research agreements.
Outstanding written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
Ability to work independently and collaboratively, with a problem-solving approach.
Ability to multitask accurately and stay organized in a fast-paced, deadline-driven, high-volume environment, including reprioritizing to accommodate emergency requests.
Strong organizational and time-management skills and exceptional attention to detail.
Experience interacting with individuals at various institutional levels and with the general public when necessary.
Ability to supervise at least one full-time staff member; strong communication and leadership skills.
For eligibility under U.S. Export Control laws and regulations, must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or other protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1324b(a)(3).

Nice To Haves

Juris Doctor or foreign equivalent.
Two additional years of direct experience negotiating a variety of research contracts or awards.
One additional year of direct experience administering research grants, subawards, and/or research contracts in research administration.
Two years of direct experience with federal regulations, laws, and policies applicable to research administration, such as FAR, DFARS, Uniform Guidance, HIPAA privacy, and FDA regulations.
One additional year of full-time experience negotiating and administering federal research agreements, including federal research contracts and complex agreements such as OTAs, federal flowthrough subawards or subcontracts, SBIR/STTR contracts, and collaboration agreements.
Two years of direct experience in research proposal development, submission, and/or review.
One year of direct experience supervising or training individuals.
Demonstrated experience with research administration and database management and workflow tools, such as Minuet, Salesforce, OnBase, or Huron/MyResearch.
Experience with Clinical Conductor, Oracle E-Business Suite, RF Report Center PeopleSoft, and/or Google Apps for Education.

Responsibilities

Draft, review, negotiate, execute, process, and administer federal research contracts and complex federal research agreements, including OTAs, federal flowthrough subawards and subcontracts, SBIR/STTR contracts, clinical trials, collaboration agreements, and amendments.
Draft, review, negotiate, execute, and administer other research agreements, including local, federal, national, international, private, nonprofit, public, and industry-sponsored agreements and clinical trial agreements.
Apply relevant laws, regulations, institutional policies, guidelines, and procedures to contract terms and negotiations to ensure compliance.
Engage with researchers and external sponsors to resolve contractual issues in a compliant manner consistent with institutional policy and practice.
Assess agreement risks and recommend mitigation approaches, including alternative contractual language.
Enter agreements, negotiations, terms, and correspondence into electronic tracking and management systems.
Monitor agreement processing and workflow, generate reports, and maintain tracking, compliance, document harmonization, and timely-execution processes.
Assist with contract proposal development, fiscal planning and management, patent and licensing issues, research budgets, and liaison with compliance entities.
Review solicitations and requests for proposals to determine submission requirements; review faculty proposals for compliance and act as an authorized representative in support of proposal submission.
Develop and maintain master research agreements for Stony Brook University and the SUNY system; track research projects and agreements and maintain sponsored-research databases.
Represent the Office of Sponsored Programs at campus and external meetings, provide research presentations and informational sessions, and serve as backup for contracts administrators as needed.
Recruit, hire, supervise, and manage direct reports, including workload distribution, personnel matters, performance objectives and reviews, time-off approvals, job descriptions, and professional development.
Direct and train team members, coordinate projects, and improve or develop procedures and systems to reduce cycle time and support timely contract execution.
Perform other duties as assigned.