Description

Position Summary:

As a critical member of the Department of Pediatrics Research Office (PRO) and Child Health Research Institute (CHRI) administrative team, this position will perform at a high level, resolving complex issues largely independently to provide pre-award internal and sponsored funding support to faculty and staff in the Department of Pediatrics and if/as needed, to investigators who are CHRI members or are in other VCU departments and work with a pediatric population in the Children's Hospital of Richmond. This position will oversee and coordinate administrative pre-award outreach, timelining and process setting and improvement if needed by working directly with faculty to identify internal and external funding opportunities and to submit competitive sponsored award proposals to primarily federal and foundation sponsors. This position will lead strategic management of daily pre-award operations and will work with other personnel at all levels in the PRO and CHRI to conform pre-award strategy with the larger goals and mission of the Department, the CHRI and CHoR. This position will serve as a liaison between other departments and aligned units across the university and health system as needed, including the School of Medicine, Office of Sponsored Programs, as well as with peers at collaborating institutions, in order to achieve individual and institutional goals.

Core Responsibilities:
• Assists in the creation and documentation of individualized grant plans for Department of Pediatrics researchers. Includes actively and accurately interpreting and applying sponsor and institutional policies upon identifying multiple award mechanisms and recycling the same grant through multiple funding opportunities and cycles.
• Performs proactive outreach to faculty and staff regarding notice of opportunities and adherence to preestablished grant plans for each individual.
• Oversees and coordinates all administrative aspects of a sponsored award submission including projecting and documenting timelines for submissions and funding terms.
• Assists the PRO / CHRI administrative team with department-level financial strategy by anticipating funding fluctuations: Includes anticipation of NCEs, bridge periods, and anticipated levels of new funding based upon scale of targeted mechanisms.
• Anticipates and communicates need for faculty protected research time and the resultant clinical FTE reduction.
• 45% = Pre-award activities include: interpretation of and adherence to sponsor guidelines; collaborative budget creation with research team; assistance with development of all submission components; follow all VCU and sponsor policies and practices to a successful proposal submission.
• 15% = Meet with faculty to understand their research goals; help identify funding opportunities.
• 25% = Serve as an administrative resource to faculty and research staff to educate and mentor in all aspects of pre-award sponsored program administration including preparing and presenting materials to individuals and groups to build knowledge and skills across the department and CHoR.
• 15% = Collect and report on submission and award metrics as well as perform any other sponsored award administrative needs as part of the PRO and CHRI.