(Remote) Assistant Director, Office of Sponsored Programs

The West Virginia University (WVU) Research Office, Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), is accepting applications for a (remote) Assistant Director.

About the Opportunity

The West Virginia University (WVU) Research Office, Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), provides central coordination and oversight of WVU sponsored projects. The OSP’s three sub-departments process proposals (Pre-Award), establishes awards (AIM), and negotiates resultant grants, contracts, and other agreements (Award Negotiation). The Award Negotiation sub-department is a small team of legal professionals who negotiate an average of more than 1,500 grants, contracts, and other agreements per year.

The team members of the OSP Award Negotiation sub-department work with leaders in a variety of compliance departments, including, but not limited to, the Export Control Office, the Office of Technology Transfer, the Office of Human Research Protection, the Office of Animal Welfare, and WVU General Counsel. Work effort has considerable impact on client services, program and project image, with potential legal liabilities.

We strongly believe in work-life balance and keeping time for things we love outside our work. WVU offers generous benefits, including:

37.5-hour work week

13 paid holidays (staff holiday calendar)

24 annual leave (vacation) days per year

18 sick days per year (for when you’re ill, for when you need time to care for sick family, for your own, or your family’s, regularly scheduled medical appointments. Who is family for the purpose of this leave? A lot of people in your life including immediate relatives and in-laws as well as others considered to be members of your household living under the same roof)

WVU offers a range of health insurance and other benefits (this position is a benefits-eligible non-classified staff position)

401(a) retirement savings with 6% employee contribution match, eligibility to continue health insurance, and other retiree perks. Looking for more retirement benefits information? Check out retirement health insurance benefits, retirement income, and FAQs.

Wellness programs

The Award Negotiation Assistant Director is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the award negotiation sub-department team of specialist negotiators. The Award Negotiation Assistant Director will:

Manage the day-to-day operations of the award negotiation sub-department team within OSP.

Manage and develop staff by providing day-to-day work planning, organization, direction, monitoring and ensuring accuracy and completeness of work products (i.e. grants, contracts, agreements, and subaward Terms & Conditions drafting, review, negotiation, and signature execution) and opportunities for development, coaching and mentoring, and implementation of a comprehensive staff development process.

Manage personnel matters for the award negotiation sub-department, including but not limited to: work assignments, professional development, leave approvals, development and delivery of performance evaluations, and progressive discipline for award negotiation sub-department employees.

Provide training for OSP award negotiation staff in the creation, editing, development, and review of contract and agreement requirements, terms and conditions, subawards, redlining, merging documents, Microsoft Office, Adobe, Docusign, etc.

Manage and direct training processes for new employees and participate in cross-training employees in the core functions of the other OSP sub-departments.

Use WVU OSP systems and tools (e.g., WVU+kc, Huron WRAP, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Salesforce) to complete team and individual work assignments.

Assist with the routine management and development of ad hoc reports from the OSP award negotiation assignment tracking database on a regular basis.

Coordinate with the Associate Director of Award Negotiation to identify candidates, conduct interviews, document results, and make thoughtful and justifiable hiring decisions in accordance with WVU policies and procedures and leadership best practices, as needed.

Engage in the negotiation of grants, awards, contracts, agreements, subawards and data use/transfer agreements, etc. under the general supervision of the Director of OSP.

Negotiate terms with sponsors based on university policies. Correct or work with appropriate agency contacts to ensure that corrections and/or exceptions are incorporated into the final terms and conditions. Manage the assessment of sponsor type, activity, and statement of work to determine the appropriate flow-down clauses to subrecipients, if any. Ensure proper follow-up to agency requests pertaining to the negotiation of agreements.

Review contractual documents (e.g., agreements, purchase orders, grant awards, licensing agreements, etc.) ensuring that all terms and conditions are acceptable to the University, WVU Research Office, WVU Research Corporation, Board of Trustees, and Principal Investigator. Prepare letters of exception to describe any terms and conditions that are unacceptable.

Prepare and negotiate subcontract agreements that protect the interests of the University by ensuring that subcontract agreements are in compliance with the prime sponsor guidelines, contractual requirements, federal regulations, including Uniform Guidance and FFATA requirements, and University policy considerations in the areas of intellectual property, copyright, insurance, governing laws, indemnification, and payment schedules. Manage the assessment of subrecipient eligibility and risk.

Engage in the drafting, negotiation, and execution of data transfer/data use agreements by conducting data risk assessments, collaborating with IT and other stakeholders and ensuring that all terms and conditions are acceptable to the University.

Provide internal and external customer service to include addressing sponsor and customer verbal and written inquiries.

Utilize the OSP platform, Kuali Coeus (KC), to create and locate reference documents, activity, and route logs.

Manage drafting and maintenance of award negotiation manuals and guidance to ensure consistency and compliance by the WVU community.

Respond to faculty inquiries regarding award negotiation procedures. Manage award negotiation training opportunities for the WVU community. Provide training for WVU faculty and staff how to submit requests for contracts, agreements, and subawards, and documents to include such as budget and scope of work.

Provide guidance to WVU faculty and staff regarding sponsored programs as they may relate to compliance issues including, but not limited to: conflicts of interest, export control, data security and data use, insurance, indemnification, intellectual property, etc.

Coordinate with the OSP post-award (AIM) sub-department to assist with the establishment of sponsored awards within ORACLE.

Participate in Huron WARP testing and on-boarding.

Maintain award negotiation personnel access to sponsor systems.

Manage and monitor electronic research administration (era) system activities.

Perform Electronic Research Administration (eRA) system activities such as user account creation, account modification, updating institutional and sponsor information, and other eRA duties as assigned.

Build and maintain positive business relationships with internal and external customers, including college, department, and center leaders.

Advise faculty on necessary follow-up such as related terms and conditions.

Maintain meticulous records.

Complete other duties as assigned by the Associate Director of Award Negotiation.

Master’s degree or Bachelor’s degree with equivalent relevant experience

Expert knowledge of 2 CFR 200

A minimum of five (5) years of experience:

Research Administration, including application of 2 CFR 20

A minimum of two (2) years of experience with each of the following:

Staff Supervision

Electronic Research Administration

Training and Development of Staff

Preferred Qualifications:

Juris Doctor from a U.S. American Bar Association – accredited law school is preferred

Certified Research Administrator, preferred.

Schedule: Full-time