| Job Description: |
IFAS is seeking a Research Administrator I to join the Agricultural and Biological Engineering department (ABE), a unit within IFAS.
Employment with IFAS provides an excellent opportunity to work with other dedicated employees focused on developing knowledge in agricultural, human, and natural resources, and to make that knowledge accessible to sustain and enhance the quality of human life.
Some key responsibilities and characteristics of this position are:
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Pre/Post Award Administration: Reviews award documents for acceptance and processing. Reviews grant and contract award terms and conditions while using and interpreting award documents to determine the budget, restrictions, and other pertinent information, and communicates that information to pertinent key personnel. Completes award setup and budget reconciliation in UFIRST and sets up projection and tracking tools necessary for award management. Provides comprehensive award management and monitoring of post-award activities, including payroll distributions, commitments, cost share, Effort, FARs, budget transfers, budget modifications, incremental and supplemental budget requests, subaward monitoring, no-cost extensions, and cost transfers. Processes payroll distributions and effort for the assigned PIs and all employees paid on sponsored programs funding. Ensures project effort commitments on Faculty Assignment Reports (FARs) are accurate, understanding current federal and university Effort Reporting policies, reviewing and distributing effort for sponsored programs in effort reports in myUFL per faculty input, notifying PI or key personnel specifically named in the notice of award if effort is reduced by 25 percent or more from the level that was approved at the time of award and facilitating requests to sponsor to reduce effort level, ensuring the reports are completed in a timely manner and certified by the appropriate individual, identifying and troubleshooting effort report issues, and ensuring committed cost sharing is captured on the effort report. Reconciles expenditures to ensure costs are allowable, allocable, reasonable, and consistent with funding agency regulations. As required, reviews/monitors grant spending and works with the appropriate parties to manage and/or resolve any issues or concerns. Assists PI in their subrecipient monitoring responsibilities, including reviewing subrecipient invoices to ensure invoices are within the parameters of the subaward budget and questioning expenditures if necessary, ensuring subrecipient invoices are approved by the PI and returned to C&G in a timely manner, and requesting clarification from the subrecipient regarding any unusual or excessive charges invoiced by the subrecipient.
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Budgetary: Routinely, often with short lead time, the employee must evaluate each aspect of the research proposal budget to ensure that it meets State, Agency, University, College, and Departmental policies, sponsor guidelines and regulations, and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS). The employee must also ensure that the commitment is properly approved and must document special requirements. The employee must use various sources of information to ensure that the budget is accurate and contact the Principal Investigator and, as needed, DSP to discuss any problems and make necessary corrections.
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Research Compliance: The employee must be familiar with compliance-related aspects of awarded projects and University rules and policies that govern those issues. University and Federal regulations go hand-in-hand, so knowledge of both is extremely important. Compliance is an aspect of pre- and post-award activities.
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Sponsor Requirements: The employee is responsible for the development and departmental review of research proposals and awards to ensure compliance with the Sponsor’s requirements prior to submission to DSP or to the sponsor themselves. The employee interprets the sponsor's guidelines and reviews contracts and awards to determine what to include in the proposal or what information needs to be reported, and provides guidance to the faculty and assists with the completion of various assurances and forms required by the potential sponsor. The employee frequently provides technical assistance in handling the documents, assists the faculty in preparing portions of the business proposal, and enters the proposal into PeopleSoft to document the proposal submission and routing to DSP. Upon completion of training, the employee must be well versed in university policies, state statues, and federal laws.
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Project Support: Assists Principal Investigators (PI) in interpreting policies, procedures, rules, and regulations. Completes daily post-award activities. This includes ensuring expenditures (salary and non-salary) are made according to the budget awarded by the sponsor and all applicable rules. Works closely with the PI and departmental staff to ensure proper allocation of expenditures to sponsored research projects. The employee will handle all aspects of timely report gathering and documentation, as well as assist the PI with the proper submission of the reports to all required sponsors and sponsor personnel. The employee will work closely with the C&G Research Administrator(s) assigned to their department(s) to ensure accuracy and timeliness of financial reports and invoices.
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Research Payroll/Effort Management and Reconciliation: Reviews the post-hire payroll actions for faculty and non-faculty personnel paid from research funds. Works closely with the PI to determine the correct funding sources for their research personnel and updates/monitors the payroll budget tables to ensure that payroll is being charged to the correct funding sources. Coordinates with Human Resources Team to provide information needed for both paper and electronic Letters of Appointment for Graduate Research Assistants paid from research funds, and enters the tuition waiver into the system. Reconciles. Works with the Assistant Director of Administrative Services on a semester basis to ensure all Faculty and student efforts are reviewed to determine if there are any issues with their submissions. This includes working with the Effort, commitment, and administration department to ensure that the effort is completed in a timely manner. The employee will coordinate the reconciliation of projects on a monthly basis through the use of reports and queries from the University financial system and internal records and will ensure the timely identification and correction of errors.
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Project Closeout: The employee, in collaboration with Contracts and Grants staff, will administer the closeout of awards by identifying what needs to be done and acting in a timely manner. This includes making certain all charges are appropriate, encumbrances are closed, no negative balances exist, and all cost sharing has been met where appropriate. The employee will work closely with the PI and Contracts and Grants to ensure the accuracy of the final expenditure figures.
About Agricultural and Biological Engineering
The mission of the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department is to develop professionals, create and disseminate knowledge, and promote the application of engineering, science, and management principles to meet societal needs with respect to agricultural, biological, and land and water resource systems. With more than 100 years since its founding, ABE is one of the top-ranked departments in the nation (ranked third in graduate and seventh in undergraduate agricultural and biological engineering programs by US News & World Report in 2024).
About the University of Florida
The University of Florida (UF) is a Land-Grant, Sea-Grant, and Space-Grant institution, encompassing virtually all academic and professional disciplines, with an enrollment of more than 56,000 students. UF’s large college sports programs, museums, and performing arts center support various activities and cultural events for residents to enjoy. Learn more about what Gainesville has to offer at Visit Gainesville.
UF provides various leave programs based on an employee’s salary plan, including vacation, sick leave, holidays, personal leave days, and paid family leave. In addition to paid time off, the University of Florida offers a very competitive benefits package.
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The ideal candidate will possess the following education, experience, and skills:
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Knowledge of and accountable for all current rules, regulations, policies, and procedures relating to the funding sponsors, the State of Florida, the University of Florida, and the College of Engineering. Familiar with compliance-related aspects of awarded projects and University rules and policies that govern those issues. University and Federal regulations go hand-in-hand, so knowledge of both is extremely important.
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Knowledge of methods of data collection, computer database management, maintenance, and manipulation.
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Knowledge and understanding of the University payroll, personnel, and accounting structure. This detailed knowledge includes the appointment system, university/state titles and classifications, purchasing, and travel. Proposals should be scrutinized to confirm the eligibility of the principal investigator, current salary level, and specific appointment classification to compute fringe and health insurance.
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Proficiency in all office applications is necessary for the efficient execution of their duties. This includes, at a minimum, PeopleSoft, Adobe applications, email clients, and the Microsoft suite of applications like Excel, Word, and PowerPoint – knowledge of Power pivots.
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