SPAS Junior Project Manager & AI Analyst

Are you passionate about research, innovation, and the transformative potential of artificial intelligence? Join the Sponsored Project Administrative Services (SPAS) team as a Junior Project Manager and AI Analyst and help advance impactful research and externally funded projects through effective project coordination, data-driven decision-making, and responsible application of AI technologies. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to high-impact research, support innovative solutions, and help shape the future of research administration.

If you thrive in a collaborative environment, enjoy solving complex challenges, and are excited about leveraging emerging technologies to improve research outcomes, we encourage you to apply. Bring your research expertise, project management skills, and AI experience to the SPAS team and help drive research excellence and innovation across the University, Alaska and beyond!

As the SPAS Junior Project Manager & AI Analyst, you will support the planning, coordination, and execution of research and externally funded projects with a particular emphasis on artificial intelligence initiatives and research innovation. Working closely with Principal Investigators, faculty, researchers, and project teams, you will help define research questions, identify appropriate AI applications, develop project-specific workflows and prototypes, and evaluate the effectiveness of AI-assisted research tools.

You will conduct literature reviews, gather and synthesize quantitative and qualitative information, assess research findings, develop reports and presentations, and assist in establishing protocols that support the responsible, effective, and compliant use of AI technologies in research environments. Through collaboration with faculty and research professionals, you will contribute to research products, evaluation activities, and project outcomes that advance institutional research goals.

You will coordinate assigned components of complex research and sponsored projects by maintaining schedules, work plans, milestone trackers, reporting calendars, and project documentation systems that support successful project execution. You will assist Principal Investigators, project managers, and research administrators in translating project objectives into organized tasks, deadlines, deliverables, and reporting requirements. In this role, you will facilitate communication among researchers, sponsors, stakeholders, committees, and external partners;

coordinate meetings, workshops, and demonstrations; prepare agendas, meeting summaries, action items, and project records; and support the preparation of sponsor reports and project documentation. You will also develop and maintain practical templates, tracking tools, and procedures that improve project organization, reporting, accountability, and operational efficiency.

You will provide fiscal and administrative support for assigned research projects, including the university's AI-related initiatives. Responsibilities include maintaining budget tracking tools, monitoring expenditures, supporting account reconciliations, assisting with financial reporting, tracking procurements and project costs, and ensuring required fiscal documentation is complete and routed appropriately. You will help prepare budget revisions, funding modifications, expenditure forecasts, and fiscal status summaries while maintaining awareness of sponsor requirements, university procedures, and award terms.

By working collaboratively with research administration, fiscal staff, faculty, and project teams, you will help ensure projects remain organized, compliant, financially responsible, and positioned to achieve successful outcomes.

To thrive in this role, the successful candidate should possess a strong blend of research administration expertise, project management experience, and advanced technological fluency, particularly in the application of artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) within research and administrative settings. They should possess demonstrated experience supporting complex research initiatives and externally funded projects while leveraging AI-enabled technologies to improve data analysis, information synthesis, workflow efficiency, reporting quality, and overall project outcomes.

A thorough understanding of AI capabilities, limitations, responsible use practices, human oversight requirements, output validation, and data governance principles should be…