| Date: |
August 22, 2013 |
| Reports to (Job Title): |
Associate Vice-President, Research
|
| Jobs Reporting (Job Titles): |
NSERC coordinator, GGRC and Co-op student
|
| Location: |
Waterloo Main Campus |
| Grade: |
USG 12
35 hr/wk
|
Primary Purpose
The incumbent is responsible for pre-award coordination, review, submission, eligibility assurance and appeals of research grants, agreements and contracts. This includes awards from NSERC (with the exception of partnership programs), National Centers of Excellence, Business-Led National Centers of Excellence, US Government, not-for-profit organizations and foundations within and outside of Canada. The incumbent also has post-award administrative responsibility for research grants, agreements, contracts and internships at the faculty/postdoctoral/graduate/undergraduate level. The incumbent serves as a professional and competent resource to external funding agencies and to members of the University community undertaking sponsored research or involved in its administration. The incumbent must be a pro-active problem-solver and be able to work effectively within tight time lines and in high stress situations, particularly during the period prior to submission deadlines. The incumbent must have in-depth knowledge of a wide range of funding agency programs and be able to balance and meet concurrent deadlines. Ensuring that UW’s reputation is upheld, that research accountability requirements are met, that research-related policies and guidelines are adhered to, and that potential liability situations, intellectual property protection and conflict of interest situations are properly managed are examples of the incumbent’s range of responsibilities. The incumbent must also be knowledgeable about the administrative structure of those Faculties conducting research for which he/she has administrative responsibility.
Key Accountabilities:
1. Pre-Award Responsibilities include:
- Providing out-reach, both one-on-one and via workshops, on grant writing and sponsor-specific programs
- Coordinating and organizing sponsor visits/workshops.
- Providing guidance to faculty on suitable funding sources through formal information sessions, face-to-face meetings, by telephone or by e-mail.
- Advising and working with researchers in all six fFculties to develop research funding proposals and applications for funding that are of high quality.
- Budget development for grant and contract applications as well as ensuring compliance with policies and application guidelines set by the sponsor, and adherence to submission requirements (e.g. format, electronic submission where appropriate, matching fund requirements and submission deadlines).
- Reviewing proposals for impact clarity, adherence to guidelines, grammar, typographical errors and budget accuracy
- Providing institutional letters of support.
- Determining institutional and investigator eligibility.
- Providing institutional information/registration where required (i.e., NSF, Grants.gov).
- Providing or coordinating institutional approval of applications for up to $15 million (e.g., NCE ).
- Executing electronic submissions (on behalf of the Institution) to sponsors.
- Preparing letters of submission for applications and ensuring adherence to all internal procedures including Chair and Dean Approvals.
- Providing back-up signatures for other Pre-award Senior/Managers across the Office of Research.
- Regular interaction with funding agency personnel.
- Acquiring detailed knowledge of research sponsors’ focus, objectives, expectations, guidelines and policies
- Interacting with faculty members to support preparation of applications for research funding.
- Ensuring compliance with university policies, federal regulations and funding agency policies and guidelines
- Ensuring eligibility requirements for faculty and interns (for internships) are met.
- Working with faculty to appeal unsuccessful application decisions and prepare resubmissions with a view to ensuring a more successful out-come.
2. Post-Award responsibilities include:
- Negotiating terms for research grants and contracts and committing the University to such terms through delegated signing authority.
- Serving as signatory on Office of Research Cover Sheets, funding proposals, research agreements and contracts (including over-reaching MOUs) pertaining to single transactions of up to $200,000 CAN (up to $200,000 per year for Tri-Council funding).
- Managing the terms and conditions of agreements by monitoring research activity against milestones; providing reminders, information and reports as required to faculty, research finance and sponsors; preparing, negotiating and maintaining sub-award agreements and amendments with other universities and research institutions; negotiating and executing non-disclosure agreements, intellectual property agreements, material transfer agreements, master agreements, and other research-related agreements.
- Communicating legal implications, financial responsibilities, indemnity, intellectual property protection, conflict of interest issues, federal legislation (e.g., Personal Health Information Protection Act), employment and salary terms, university liability, publication, licensing and patent rights, indirect cost guidelines, and graduate student participation requirements to applicants. Negotiate with the agency on conflict areas as required.
- Preparing and submitting, on behalf of the University and faculty member, specific requests for amendments to agreements and grants such as date extensions and budgetary reallocations to ensure effective performance and monitoring of research projects.
- Preparing and coding control documents for applications and awards. This includes: inputting into the new OR data management system (InfoEd); ongoing monitoring and review of active files to ensure accuracy and completeness of data; and preparation of reports for internal requirements.
- Initiating research projects by requesting and releasing internal research account numbers that enable financial control of the project. In the absence of a signed agreement, the incumbent approves the faculty member’s request for an account upon receipt of appropriate guarantees.
- Undertaking performance-monitoring and problem-resolution during the lifespan of all grants, contracts and agreements within the portfolio in order to meet internal and external audit requirements and commitments to sponsors.
- Liaising with sponsors, faculty members undertaking research, any other participating institutions and the Office of Research finance group to ensure that the terms, conditions and requirements of each award are met promptly and effectively to the satisfaction of all parties.
- Retaining relevant documentation and providing dispute-resolution assistance in the event of difficulties pertaining to reporting of payments or other commitments in agreements.
- Communicating regularly with sponsoring agency officials regarding program guidelines to ensure that the Office of Research has the most recent information and that the interpretation of guidelines transmitted to UW researchers is complete, current and accurate.
- Advising Department Chairs, Faculty Deans, Associate Deans (Graduate Studies and Research) and researchers on new guidelines and other information critical to the funding programs.
- Working with sponsors to improve or give feedback on existing and new grant programs.
- Initiating and communicating procedures for administration of special block grants (e.g., Northern Scientific Training Program).
- Developing and managing an effective web-based communication network for UW researchers including a database, listserv and newsletters for the collection and dissemination of information regarding ongoing and new research programs; responding to researchers’ inquiries about research opportunities and special awards.
- Communicating competition results to UW community.
- Attending meetings on and off the UW campus with agency representatives, government officials and/or researchers, and making written and oral presentations as required. Examples of presentations include those pertaining to changes in sponsor guidelines, preparation of progress reports, and responses of agencies to UW applications.
- Organizing and participating in research-related meetings, workshops and site visits (e.g., Faculty Workshop, Tri-council site visits, NCE visits).
- Working with Department Chairs, Deans and Associate Deans (Graduate Studies and Research) in all six faculties as well as with sponsoring agencies to ensure and coordinate UW participation in provincial and federal review committees.
- Developing procedures to ensure monitoring and accountability of sponsored research activity in areas of responsibility.
- Handling general GGRC research- related inquiries.
3. Other duties:
- Mentoring other GGRC managers in such areas as hiring procedures and progress evaluations.
- Serving as a consultant to others in the OR whose programs deal with various aspects of NSERC funding (e.g., Partnership programs in CRAIG, International initiatives, CRC and CERC chairs).
- Organizing, administering and participating in ad hoc committees as needed for research activities.
- Interacting with other areas of the University (e.g., Graduate Studies Office, ODAA) when their expertise in sponsor or agreement negotiations is required.
- Preparing non-routine reports required by the Vice-President, University Research, the Associate Vice-President, University Research and other administrators using various data sources. The incumbent is expected to design and generate specific reports from generalized requirements provided by the requester.
- Undertaking special projects (e.g., preparation of financial reports, analysis of program data, sponsor surveys) as assigned by the Vice-President, University Research or the Associate Vice-President, University Research.
- Consultation with sponsors on ‘best practices’ for their programs. Represent GGRC area in meetings and called to represent Office of Research in some meetings.
Position Requirements
Education:
Master’s degree in related discipline or equivalent education and experience
Experience:
- Exceptional ability in communication (oral and written); strong organizational and presentation skills.
- Strong people -management skills.
- Demonstrated ability to edit grant applications, contract proposals and agreements.
- Strong analytical skills, accurate data interpretation and the ability to integrate report data from various sources.
- Familiarity with the research environment.
- A background in appropriate research- related field.
- Experience with budgets.
- A broad knowledge of University policies and procedures relating to research, grants management, the academic and research environment, and sponsor guidelines.
Technical:
| MS Word |
Excel |
PowerPoint |
Other |
| Expert |
Expert |
Expert |
InfoEd Database, Adobe Pro, Electronic submissions Canadian/US government |
Nature and Scope
Interpersonal Skills:
The Manager, GGRC, needs to build and maintain professional working relationships within the Office of Research and the broader University community, and with stakeholders and sponsors. The incumbent must possess excellent communication, management, organizational and negotiating skills in order to effectively liaise with many different groups including students, post-doctoral fellows, faculty, administrators, peers, Associate Deans, Research, Chairs/Directors, Deans, Vice-Presidents and Associate Vice-Presidents within the University of Waterloo and at other Universities within Canada and the U.S. Also, the incumbent must deal with sponsors in many sectors outside of the University Community (Federal & provincial governments, Not-for-profit organizations, Industry in Canada and US, as examples). The incumbent must work collaboratively with these groups, sharing information and negotiating with them. The incumbent must be responsive to change, be able to recommend forward actions and be creative in striving to achieve strategic goals.
Level of Responsibility:
- The incumbent has direct reports of a research coordinator and a co-op student. The incumbent provides mentoring to other members of the GGRC team (currently 6 FTE + co-op student).
- The incumbent also works closely with Associate Deans Research, coaching faculty and department administrators in the preparation of successful grant applications. (Currently, UW’s success rate is 77.7% versus the national average of 62.2% for NSERC discovery grants.)
- The incumbent negotiates research agreements, which requires knowledge of legal and financial implications, indemnity, intellectual property protection, conflict of interest issues and federal legislation (e.g., Personal Health Information Protection Act).
- The incumbent interacts extensively with: the Vice-President, University Research; the Associate Vice-President, University Research; Coordinating Committees; Faculty Deans; Associate Deans, Research; the Graduate Studies Office; the Development Office; other Office of Research staff including the Director and Managers, Research Finance and the Director, Ethics; faculty; departmental administrators; and Research Sponsors.
Problem solving:
- Funding agencies, particularly government agencies, regularly implement new programs requiring interdisciplinary and inter-sector partnerships that include researchers from other universities, community agencies, industrial partners and government departments within and outside of Canada. This has engendered an increasingly complex working environment for research administrators during both the application and award-negotiation stages, as well as more complex requirements for accountability and reporting. The incumbent will serve as a professional and competent resource to external funding agencies and to members of the University community undertaking sponsored research or involved in its administration. The incumbent must be a pro-active problem-solver and be able to work effectively within tight time lines and in high stress situations, particularly during the period prior to submission deadlines. The incumbent must have in-depth knowledge of a wide range of funding agency programs and be able to balance and meet concurrent deadlines..
- The incumbent must be knowledgeable and adaptable in working with Faculty administrations to solve problems relating to research administration.
- Provision of problem - prevention plans for Departments with regard to new faculty being hired, terminations, strategic moves for applications, retirement and tenure issues.
- Creative problem-solving initiative required to increase funding in a closed system.
Financial Accountability:
- In 2009-2010, the GGRC group handled $60.2M research dollars with 2633 activities, and of these $27.2M (45%) and 1451 activities (55%) fell to the management of the incumbent.
- The incumbent is a signatory on Office of Research Cover Sheets, funding proposals, research agreements and contracts, including overreaching MOUs, pertaining to single transactions of up to $200,000 CAN (up to $200,000 per year for any Tri-Council funding).
- The incumbent is responsible for applications for up to $15 million (e.g. National Centres of Excellence) as well as managing the terms and conditions of related agreements.
Decision-Making Authority:
The incumbent must negotiate the terms of sponsor agreements, contracts, and amendments and act as signatory for the execution of agreements and amendments valued at up to $200,000 per agreement/amendment, except for Tri-Council where authority is $200,000 per year up to $1 Million). The incumbent manages the terms and conditions of agreements; prepares, negotiates and manages sub-award agreements and amendments with other universities and research institutions; prepares, negotiates and executes service contracts; and negotiates and executes non-disclosure agreements, material transfer agreements, master agreements, and other research-related agreements . These agreements can reach multi-millions of dollars in value and be multi-institutional. Agreement negotiations are time-consuming and require negotiating skills to limit risk to Waterloo and provide clear and workable terms and conditions.
Physical and Sensory Demands:
This position engenders moderate fatigue, strain or injury as a substantial amount of time is spent sitting at a keyboard doing repetitive keyboard/mouse movement. Sensory demands are high as concentration and attentiveness to detail are imperative. The environment has many distractions including phone, e-mail and constant interruptions. Peak times (Sept-Nov and March-April) due to hours involved escalate both sensory and physical demands to extremes.
Working Environment:
This position entails minimal risk resulting from contact with hazardous chemicals or environmental elements. Psychological risk factors are possible from stress and/or interactions with clients who can be upset, angry, abusive, aggressive, unstable or unpredictable. The position involves dealing irregularly with high volumes of applications/grants/agreements and multiple tight deadlines, in particular in the Fall (Sept-Nov) and Spring (March-April).
