Senior Research Administration Associate - Pre Award

Senior Research Administration Associate - Pre Award

Work Arrangement:
Hybrid

Location:

Hybrid within Greater Houston, TX
Salary Range: $79,092 - $93,000
FLSA Status:
Exempt

Work Schedule:

Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

The Senior Research Administration Associate will provide grants administration support in the Department of Pediatrics, including the Divisions of Psychology and Developmental Pediatrics. Primary responsibilities will include the financial management activities of grants in pre‑award areas: submission requirements (BCM and funding institutions such as NIH, CDC, etc.), budget creation, cost assessment, account creation, financial set‑up, sub‑award management, resource allocation, internal and external reporting requirements, and managing the full award life cycle, from application to award closeout.

Candidates should be comfortable working and navigating federal (NIH, CDC HRSA, U.S. Department of Defense) application processes and compliance systems.

Supports 20+ divisions of Psychology and Developmental Pediatrics faculty, learners, and research staff. Pre‑award management for the Divisions of Psychology and Developmental Pediatrics. Annual submission count of approximately 40‑50 applications per year totaling approximately $30 million. Applications are multi‑site, averaging 3 partnering institutions/sub‑awards. Partnering institutions may be international, which are very complex due to different IRB and government compliance requirements. Will be working with BCM’s Biomedical Research and Assurance Information Network (BRAIN), IRB, RCOI, PEPT and other BCM compliance systems.

Reports through the Pediatrics Center for Research Advancement and Division leadership for key deliverables. Strong attention to detail, project management skills, and time management. Must be able to work independently and multitask.

Hybrid work schedule after training period will be two days per week onsite. Initial onboarding and training will require four days per week onsite.

Employees with CRA certification are eligible for certification pay.

• Responsible for the pre‑award financial management activities of grants, managing the full award life cycle, from application to award closeout.
• Prepares budget justifications, creates budget spreadsheets, and completes other budget forms for submission and reporting. Provides budget guidance and input to principal investigators.
• Provides guidance to research faculty, employees, and learners for proposal development and submissions by interpreting granting agency guidelines and instructions.
• Negotiates industry‑sponsored contracts, including clinical trial agreements, sponsored research agreements, and material transfer agreements.
• Lead with BCM Grants and Contract and Sponsored Programs Office for pre‑award processes.
• Communicates with BCM Accounting, Sponsored Programs, Grants & Contracts Office, and collaborating institutions to ensure awards and independent consultant agreements are established and executed in a timely manner.
• Maintains data of active, pending, and closed grants: number of submissions, number of awards, faculty effort and other statistics related to grant reporting.
• May assist with maintaining Cost/Effort allocations in the BCM Effort Reporting System/PEPT for research faculty, employees, and learners.
• May submit Payroll Cost Transfer requests for research faculty, employees, and learners.
• Assists with leading the development and continuous improvement of the grants management process for the Division of Infectious Diseases.
• Prepares financial reporting and provides feedback to Infectious Diseases leadership and investigators as directed.
• Ensures compliance with federal, sponsor, and institutional policies and guidelines and serves as a liaison between faculty, employees, learners, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital, and sponsors.
• Responsible for assisting and completing the BCM annual budget for their assigned division’s research activities and programs, including budget entries related to research personnel PI’s and staff, distribution (PEPT), F&A budget calculations, IDC, and other related budget entries and…