Senior Contracting Specialist (Office of Sponsored Research)

Overview

Reporting to the Senior Director Technology Transfer, the Senior Contracting Specialist is responsible for drafting, negotiating and executing research agreements, including but not limited to, subcontract agreements, sponsored research agreements, material and data transfer agreements, and confidentiality agreements.

This position works closely with the Senior Director of Technology Transfer, Executive Director Research Administration, Principal Investigators, Research Administrators and external collaborators.

As a health care organization, we have the responsibility to do everything in our power to care for and protect our patients, our colleagues and our communities. Beth Israel Lahey Health requires that all staff be vaccinated against influenza (flu) as a condition of employment.

Responsibilities

• Serves as a point of contact during negotiation and review of agreements. Oversees agreement process through final signature.
• Negotiates, drafts, executes and maintains research contracts including subcontracts, material transfer, data transfer, collaboration, and confidentiality agreements. Must have the ability to edit language unique to each agreement while remaining consistent with Joslin, sponsor, BILH and Harvard mission and policies.
• Develop and maintain standard agreement templates and updates standard operating procedures as needed.
• Timely enter and maintain agreements in repository and other database systems. Schedules progress reports and deliverables on all awards and contracts in database systems with appropriate notifications.  Assist with the intake process of new agreement requests from the centralized web-based grant portal.
• Determines the appropriate intellectual property provisions to include in agreements, in light of existing institutional commitments and likelihood that an invention will be made in the proposed work.
• Understands and keeps current with regulations, policies and processes, applicable to grants and contracts, as well as state and federal laws. Works with Research Executive Director to ensure that template language for standard Joslin contract is in compliance with all Federal, State, and Institutional requirements. Identifies issues as needed for review by Office of Sponsored Research and Research Compliance Officer.
• Finalizes research agreements including securing approvals, signatures, overseeing handoff of completed agreements to OSR administration and to related stakeholders.
• Responsible for subrecipient risk assessment process for federal awards and FFATA reporting.
• Educates OSR and other Joslin personnel on the contracts process and components.
• Participates proactively in ad-hoc committees/workgroups to optimize agreements workflows, accountability and transparency.
• Performs systems audit as needed or required.
• Will participate in special tasks or duties as requested for the needs of the office, including but not limited to, the intake process from the centralized web-based grant portal, patent and trademark docketing and other items as assigned.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; Doctoral degree preferred
• 3-5 years related work experience, with experience in contract negotiation and federal grants.  Licensing experience in academic and medical research preferred
• Strong organization and time management skills with ability to manage numerous projects simultaneously in a time sensitive environment required.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision, as well as a member of an interdisciplinary team.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills required.
• Advanced skills with Microsoft applications which may include Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Access and other web-based applications. May produce complex documents, perform analysis and maintain databases.
• Ability to work with a varied caseload with minimal supervision, exercising strong judgment and applying the appropriate legal principles and Joslin policies and practices to specific legal issues.
• Outstanding verbal and written skills proven in either a legal, university or academic medical center setting are required

The pay range listed for this position is the annual base salary range the organization reasonably and in good faith expects to pay for this position at this time. Actual compensation is determined based on several factors, that may include seniority, education, training, relevant experience, relevant certifications, geography of work location, job responsibilities, or other applicable factors permissible by law.

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