Research Operations Analyst Job Chicago area,Illinois USA,Business

Accountabilities:

Research Administration and Grant Management:
Coordinate pre-award and post-award activities, including proposal preparation and submission, financial and progress reporting, award administration, and grant closeout in collaboration with principal investigators and relevant institutional teams.
Proposal Development and Submission:
Prepare, review, and edit proposal budgets, budget justifications, biosketches, and supporting documentation. Assist with contract workflows, new research agreements, amendments, and coordination with sponsored research offices and institutional review boards (IRBs).
Financial Reporting and Budget Planning:
Generate financial reports for assigned principal investigators and chart strings, support departmental budget development, and contribute to long-range financial planning, financial analyses, and operational initiatives.
Expenditure Monitoring and Reconciliation:
Maintain accurate personnel expenditure records and effort allocations, coordinate monthly and quarterly effort certification, and process corrective actions when necessary.
Purchasing and Financial Compliance:
Review and reconcile purchase orders and chart string transactions to verify appropriate expenditures, available funding, and compliance with sponsor requirements and institutional policies.
Award Closeout and Financial Administration:
Support project closeout activities, including clearing encumbrances, closing purchase orders and subawards, processing outstanding invoices, and ensuring financial records are complete and accurate.
Human Resources Coordination:
Coordinate personnel actions for faculty and departmental staff under management guidance, including new-hire onboarding, non-employee setup, visa requests, system access, login credentials, and email account provisioning.
Departmental Operations:
Assist with purchasing, facilities coordination, travel arrangements, institutional reporting, and the delivery of administrative and operational services.
Laboratory and Facilities Support:
Coordinate laboratory safety training, lab coat services, building and equipment safety activities, maintenance requests, and other general laboratory support requirements.
Process Coordination and Stakeholder Support:
Maintain organized documentation, communicate effectively with internal stakeholders, and help ensure research, financial, personnel, and administrative processes are completed accurately and on schedule.

Requirements:

Education:

A bachelor's degree in any discipline is required. A high school diploma or equivalent combined with six to eight years of research administration experience may be accepted in place of the minimum educational requirements.
Relevant

Experience:

Two to three years of experience in business administration, administrative analysis, budgeting, grant accounting, facilities coordination, or personnel support.
Research Administration:
Experience supporting research administration activities, including grant proposals, award management, financial reporting, or sponsored research operations, is preferred. At least two years of research administration experience is desirable.
Financial and Budgeting

Skills:

Ability to prepare and review budgets, analyze financial information, reconcile expenditures, monitor funding availability, and maintain accurate financial records.
Research Funding Knowledge:
Familiarity with pre-award and post-award processes, sponsor requirements, grant accounting, effort certification, and research project closeout procedures is an advantage.
Systems and Technical Knowledge:
Working knowledge of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, such as People Soft, and proposal submission platforms, including system-to-system (S2S) tools, is beneficial. Familiarity with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) is also desirable.
Administrative and Organizational

Skills:

Strong organizational abilities, attention to detail, and the capacity to manage multiple responsibilities while meeting deadlines and maintaining accurate documentation.
Analytical and Problem-Solving Abilities:
Sound judgment, analytical thinking, and the ability to identify discrepancies, evaluate financial information, and support effective operational decisions.
Communication and

Collaboration:

Effective written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to work collaboratively with principal investigators, finance professionals, research administrators, human resources teams, and other stakeholders.
Preferred…