Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.
Job Category:
Limited
Employment Type:
Regular
Job Profile:
Research Administration Director (B)
Job Summary:
The College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence (CAI) seeks a collaborative and strategic Research Administration Director to serve as the senior operational leader for the College's research administration enterprise. Reporting directly to the Associate Dean for Research (ADR), this position provides leadership and oversight for all pre-award and post-award research administration activities, ensuring the efficient, compliant, and effective administration of the College's sponsored research portfolio.
As a founding leader within the College's Research Office, the Research Administration Director will design, build, and scale a modern research administration organization that grows in capability alongside the College's expanding research enterprise. This position is responsible for developing the operational infrastructure, professional staff, and service model necessary to support faculty success, enable increasingly ambitious research programs, and provide exceptional stewardship of sponsored research investments.
The successful candidate will lead a high-performing team responsible for the full lifecycle of sponsored projects, including proposal development and submission, budget preparation, award negotiation and acceptance, financial administration, sponsor reporting, compliance coordination, and award closeout. Working closely with faculty, department leadership, and campus administrative partners such as division level research administration offices, Research and Sponsored Programs and the Office of Vice Chancellor for Research, the Research Administration Director will establish operational priorities, implement scalable processes, recruit and mentor staff, and drive continuous improvement across research administration services.
Through data-informed management and a commitment to service excellence, this position will build organizational capacity to support sustained growth in research volume, complexity, and impact while reducing administrative burden on faculty researchers.
Key Job Responsibilities:
- Directs and coordinates staff, systems, and procedures related to the processing of sponsor supported grants, contracts, and agreements on a daily basis
- Oversees pre-award and/or post-award research administration activities
- Develops, conducts, and administers training initiatives for faculty, staff, and other stakeholders in areas related to research administration
- Exercises supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees
- Facilitates internal or external audits of grants and contracts
- Serves as a liaison to internal and external leadership and stakeholders. Advises principal investigators, leadership, and central grants administration, interacts with granting agencies regarding policy interpretation, and provides recommendations for successful outcomes
- Establishes, implements, and maintains policy and procedures for sponsored project administration
- Oversees division compliance related to sponsored grants and contracts
Department:
College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence
Compensation:
The minimum salary for this position is $130,529; Actual pay is determined at time of hire and is based on experience and qualifications.
This position offers a comprehensive benefits package, including generous paid time off, competitively priced health/dental/vision/life insurance, tax advantage savings accounts and participation in the nationally recognized Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) pension fund. For a summary of benefits, please see https://www.wisconsin.edu/ohrwd/benefits/download/fasl.pdf
Required Qualifications:
Three to four years of progressively responsible research administration experience.
Professional experience supervising, mentoring, and developing professional staff.
Experience applying fiscal and administrative rules, regulations and procedures for administering sponsored projects.
Preferred Qualifications:
Five or more years of progressively responsible research administration experience.
Demonstrated track record of working collaboratively with multiple groups/stakeholders.
Demonstrated organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Experience building, growing, or scaling a research administration organization.
Experience supporting large, multidisciplinary research proposals, centers, or strategic initiatives.
Experience leading organizational change or process improvement initiatives.
Experience working with federal sponsors, including NIH, NSF, DOE, DoD.
Experience with Workday ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) & UW RAMP (Research Administration Management Portal.
Education:
Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Research Administration, Finance, or a related field required
Master's Degree Preferred Minimum
How to Apply:
Click the "Apply" button to start the application process.
To be considered for this recruitment, you must upload:
In materials, please address your experience with the job qualifications and duties listed in the posting.
There is only one attachment field; please upload all application materials here. All listed application materials must be submitted for your application to be considered. Please submit only the materials specified; additional materials will not be reviewed.
Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without need of employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment.
Contact Information:
Jonathan Wolf
jonathan.wolf@wisc.edu
Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information.
Institutional Statement on Diversity:
Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgrounds and encourage all qualified individuals to apply. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website.
To request a disability or pregnancy-related accommodation for any step in the hiring process (e.g., application, interview, pre-employment testing, etc.), please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) in the division you are applying to. Please make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you.
Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment.
The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7).
The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report contains current campus safety and disciplinary policies, crime statistics for the previous 3 calendar years, and on-campus student housing fire safety policies and fire statistics for the previous 3 calendar years. UW-Madison will provide a paper copy upon request; please contact the University of Wisconsin Police Department.