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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for University Research Manager

💰 $ - $

Higher EducationResearch AdministrationAcademic AffairsGrants Management

🎯 Role Definition

The University Research Manager is a hands-on, operational leader responsible for managing sponsored research lifecycle activities, supporting faculty and research staff, ensuring regulatory and financial compliance, and driving continuous improvement across pre-award, post-award, and research operations. This role combines grants and contracts administration, budget and fiscal oversight, stakeholder engagement, project management, and data-driven reporting to enable research excellence, accelerate funding outcomes, and protect institutional and sponsor interests.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Research Administrator / Grants Coordinator
  • Sponsored Programs Specialist
  • Post-Award Financial Analyst

Advancement To:

  • Director of Research Administration
  • Associate Director / Senior Manager, Sponsored Programs
  • Chief Research Operations Officer

Lateral Moves:

  • Research Compliance Manager (IRB/RCR)
  • Technology Transfer / Innovation Manager
  • Clinical Trials Operations Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead end-to-end pre-award proposal development support by advising faculty on sponsor eligibility, allowable costs, budget development, proposal timeline management, and submission procedures to maximize competitiveness and compliance with sponsor and university policies.
  • Manage post-award administration for a portfolio of sponsored projects by overseeing award setup, budget monitoring, financial forecasting, month-end reconciliation, cost transfers, and ensuring expenditures align with award terms and institutional fiscal policy.
  • Serve as primary liaison between investigators, funding agencies, contracts offices, and central administration to negotiate award terms, clarify sponsor requirements, coordinate institutional signatory approvals, and expedite time-sensitive proposals and amendments.
  • Ensure institutional compliance with federal, state, and sponsor regulations (e.g., Uniform Guidance, NIH, NSF, DoD) and university policies by conducting award reviews, identifying compliance risks, implementing corrective actions, and coordinating audits and site visits.
  • Oversee the preparation, review, and submission of financial and technical reports to sponsors by compiling required data, validating accuracy, and ensuring timely delivery to maintain good standing and reduce risk of audit findings.
  • Develop, implement, and maintain robust internal controls, standard operating procedures, and documentation practices for research administration processes to increase efficiency, transparency, and audit readiness.
  • Supervise, mentor, and develop a small team of research administration professionals by assigning work, conducting performance evaluations, providing training on sponsor rules and systems, and fostering a service-oriented culture with faculty and researchers.
  • Create and manage comprehensive project budgets, perform multi-year financial modeling, and advise PIs on budget realignment strategies, cost-sharing commitments, and allowable direct and indirect cost allocations to meet both research and institutional goals.
  • Coordinate subaward and consultant agreements by preparing budgets and scopes of work, managing procurement and institutional approvals, monitoring subrecipient compliance, and ensuring deliverables and invoices align with prime award terms.
  • Manage contract and award amendments, no-cost extensions, and change requests by evaluating sponsor correspondence, preparing formal requests, securing approvals, and updating institutional records and accounting systems.
  • Provide hands-on training and user support for research administration systems (e.g., eRA Commons, Cayuse/InfoEd, Workday/PeopleSoft, Research.gov) to faculty and staff, ensuring accurate data entry and adherence to submission deadlines and audit trails.
  • Lead responses to internal and external audit inquiries, single audits, and sponsor monitoring visits by preparing supporting documentation, coordinating subject matter experts, and implementing remediation plans as needed.
  • Develop and deliver workshops, written guidance, and online resources for faculty and research staff on topics such as budget development, allowability of costs, project closeout, and research compliance to increase institutional capacity.
  • Coordinate human subjects and animal use compliance touchpoints by ensuring IRB/IACUC approvals are in place and integrated with award conditions, and by advising investigators on informed consent, data security, and regulatory reporting obligations.
  • Implement and oversee research data management and stewardship practices within sponsored projects, including data sharing plans, backups, access controls, and compliance with sponsor policies on data retention and open access.
  • Track and analyze institutional research performance metrics (e.g., proposal volume, success rates, indirect recovery, portfolio burn rate) and prepare executive-level dashboards and narrative summaries to inform strategic planning and resource allocation.
  • Serve as a primary contact for risk management and insurance coordination on sponsored activities by assessing liability, coordinating certificates of insurance, and ensuring contract language aligns with university risk tolerance and sponsor requirements.
  • Support technology transfer, intellectual property disclosures, and commercialization activities by notifying the Office of Technology Transfer of funded inventions, reviewing contract IP clauses, and coordinating inventor agreements when appropriate.
  • Facilitate cross-campus collaborations and multi-institutional agreements by coordinating consortium arrangements, subrecipient negotiations, and communication protocols to ensure aligned deliverables and consistent financial and compliance practices.
  • Manage project closeout processes by reconciling final expenditures, ensuring deliverables and final reports are submitted, closing subawards, resolving lingering financial issues, and archiving award documentation in accordance with retention policies.
  • Drive process improvement and automation initiatives by evaluating current workflows, piloting new tools, configuring systems to automate repetitive tasks (e.g., budget templates, approval routing), and measuring impact on turnaround times and error rates.
  • Maintain up-to-date knowledge of sponsor policies, federal regulations, and best practices in research administration by attending professional development opportunities, participating in national associations (e.g., NCURA, SRAI), and disseminating key updates to campus stakeholders.
  • Coordinate internal approvals for staffing, procurement, equipment purchases, and facilities usage under sponsored awards by ensuring allowability, cost-effectiveness, and timely execution in partnership with departmental fiscal officers.
  • Provide subject matter expertise on indirect cost rate application, cost allocation methodologies, and facilities and administrative (F&A) calculations to ensure correct budgeting and recovery of allowable overhead on sponsored projects.
  • Act as an escalation point for complex award interpretation and dispute resolution by synthesizing sponsor terms, institutional policy, and investigator needs to recommend practical, compliant solutions that protect institutional interests.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Grants and contracts lifecycle management (pre-award and post-award) — demonstrated experience preparing competitive proposals, award negotiation, and financial stewardship.
  • Federal and non-federal sponsor knowledge (NIH, NSF, DoD, DOE, private foundations) and familiarity with Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200).
  • Budget development, forecasting, and financial analysis skills including experience with cost principles, indirect cost (F&A) calculations, and effort reporting reconciliation.
  • Award setup and accounting systems proficiency (e.g., PeopleSoft, Workday, Banner) and eRA systems (eRA Commons, Grants.gov, Cayuse, InfoEd).
  • Subaward and contract administration, including scope-of-work development, subrecipient monitoring, and invoice review.
  • Compliance and regulatory experience (IRB, IACUC, COI, financial conflict of interest) and experience supporting audits and sponsor monitoring visits.
  • Contract review and negotiation skills — ability to interpret award terms, liability clauses, IP and data rights language, and recommend institutional positions.
  • Advanced Microsoft Excel skills (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, financial modeling) and experience with data visualization tools (Tableau, Power BI) for reporting.
  • Research data management understanding — data sharing plans, retention policies, and stewardship best practices.
  • Project management skills (Agile/Scrum familiarity optional) and experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects to on-time delivery.
  • Experience with award closeout, final reporting, and financial reconciliation processes.
  • Familiarity with institutional policies on procurement, payroll charging, and cost transfers related to sponsored research.

Soft Skills

  • Strong verbal and written communication skills tailored to faculty, sponsors, auditors, and administrators.
  • Excellent stakeholder management and customer service orientation with the ability to build trust and credibility across departments.
  • Strategic and analytical thinking — able to translate complex sponsor and institutional requirements into practical actions.
  • High attention to detail and organizational skills to manage multiple simultaneous awards and deadlines.
  • Leadership and people management skills, including coaching, performance development, and conflict resolution.
  • Problem-solving mindset and ability to adapt processes to changing regulatory or sponsor conditions.
  • Collaborative approach — comfortable facilitating cross-functional teams and partnerships across campus units.
  • Time management and prioritization skills to balance urgent sponsor-driven requests with longer-term institutional initiatives.
  • Discretion and respect for confidentiality when handling sensitive financial, personnel, and research data.
  • Change management and training capability to implement new tools, policies, and workflows and to onboard stakeholders effectively.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in business administration, public administration, finance, life sciences, engineering, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree (MBA, MPA, MS) or PhD in a relevant discipline; or certification in research administration (e.g., CRA, CCRA, Certified Research Administrator).

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Public Administration
  • Business / Finance / Accounting
  • Life Sciences / Biomedical Sciences
  • Engineering / Technology Management
  • Higher Education Administration

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–7 years in research administration, sponsored programs, or related university/clinical research finance roles.

Preferred:

  • 5+ years managing sponsored project portfolio with demonstrated experience in both pre-award and post-award functions.
  • Experience supervising staff and leading process improvement initiatives.
  • Proven track record with federal awards (NIH/NSF), complex multi-institutional agreements, and responding to audits.
  • Familiarity with institutional research systems and demonstrated ability to train and support faculty on proposal submission and award compliance.
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