Research Administrator Jobs

About The Position

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business administration, or a related field required.
• Seven years of experience in post-award research administration, sponsored programs financial management, grants accounting, or a related finance function, preferably within an academic, medical, or non-profit research setting.
• Working knowledge of federal cost principles and Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200), NIH and other federal sponsor financial requirements, and cost transfer/effort reporting compliance.
• Deep working knowledge of post-award financial administration, including Oracle award, contract, and budget modules, or comparable ERP/financial systems.
• Knowledge of federal cost principles and Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200), including allowability, allocability, and cost transfer justification standards.
• Knowledge of subaward financial administration, including FDP templates, budget periods, carryover, deobligation, and no-cost extensions.
• Knowledge of effort reporting, labor distribution, and salary cap/overage account administration.
• Familiarity with NIH and other federal, state, foundation, and industry sponsor financial reporting and closeout requirements.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office (particularly Excel) for financial analysis, reconciliation, and reporting.
• Cultural competency and the ability to communicate effectively in a culturally sensitive manner with both individuals and groups from diverse backgrounds.
• Strong analytical and reconciliation skills across a portfolio of awards, budgets, and expenditures.
• Discretion and sound judgment in handling sensitive and confidential financial information.
• Excellent attention to detail and financial accuracy, with the ability to produce clear, audit-ready documentation and justifications for cost transfers and reclasses.
• Ability to build effective working relationships with PIs, Research Accounting, Finance, Legal, and OSP colleagues, and to explain complex financial requirements clearly.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and firm deadlines (e.g., payroll cycles, invoicing, closeout) in a fast-paced, growing department.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively as part of a small, lean OSP team, and to help build and document SOPs and controls in a developing operating environment.
• Any combination of education, training, and experience equivalent to the requirements above that has supplied the necessary knowledge, skills, and experience to perform the essential functions of the job.

Responsibilities

• Provide the necessary information to the Research Administration Coordinator for the set up and maintenance of newly awarded projects in Oracle, including award, contract, and D-project account creation, ensuring accurate budget, sponsor, extending award dates and budgets as needed, and account structure per NYBC naming conventions.
• Oversee the Research Administration Coordinator to process budget increases and decreases in Oracle Contracts and Awards modules, including revising budget memos, updating planning resources, and creating baselines.
• Set up new vendors in Oracle and coordinate award naming structure changes as needed.
• Support the Program Manager, Tech Transfer and Post Award to oversee due diligence of sub-awardees is conducted, reviewed by the Executive Director, Research Administration (who will coordinate with legal and Finance), and properly documented in shared folders.
• Maintain accurate, current award and financial data across Oracle and other tracking systems in support of portfolio visibility and leadership reporting.
• Prepare and process subaward agreement and amendment packages (FDP templates and attachments), coordinating with Legal, the subrecipient, and Purchase Order (PO) issuance.
• Track subaward budget periods, funding increments, no-cost extensions, carryover, and deobligations, and ensure agreements and amendments are named, filed, and tracked per OSP protocol.
• Monitor subrecipient invoices and financial reporting against subaward terms, escalating risk or compliance issues as needed.
• Prepare and process OTPS (other-than-personal-service) reclass forms, obtaining account owner approval and following through with accounting to completion, with clear, audit-ready justifications for any cost transfer.
• Coordinate effort and labor distribution/reclass processes each payroll cycle, including overage account updates in the award module, PaaS coordination, and preparation of labor distribution memos.
• Process unobligated balance transfers and other Oracle reclasses, ensuring appropriate support documentation and approvals are on file.
• Monitor purchase orders (PO) for sponsored accounts, and manage commitment changes, cancellations, and related budget actions.
• Support preparation and submission of cost-reimbursable invoices in accordance with sponsor and award requirements.
• Support RPPR (Research Performance Progress Report) initiation and coordination with PIs and Research Accounting.
• Coordinate award and D-account closeout activities, including PI confirmation, wrap-up communications, and milestone/FFS closeout documentation.
• Assist with reconciliation of award budgets and expenditures, and support preparation of financial and progress reports as needed.
• Partner with Research Accounting on official financial reporting, drawdowns, and accounting entries, maintaining clear written boundaries between OSP financial stewardship and Research Accounting's institutional reporting role.
• Support development, documentation, and version control of SOPs for post-award financial processes (award setup, budget changes, reclasses, subaward financial actions, closeout), and demonstrate consistent adherence to them.
• Work closely with PIs, Finance, Legal, and other OSP staff (including the PI-facing Senior Research Administrator(s)) to ensure timely, compliant, and well-documented post-award financial administration.
• Escalate compliance risks, sponsor findings, or control gaps to the Executive Director as needed.