Job Description

Job Summary
The Contracts Officer will draft and negotiate agreements with extramural partners (industry, state and federal government, foundations and non-profits, etc.) in support of sponsored project activity at the University. This position supports: faculty in their efforts to secure and manage extramural support; the University to meet program objectives and legal, ethical, and financial requirements; and partnerships with sponsors. The position is also responsible for managing the sponsored project activity reporting process.

The value of being an employee at the University of Utah goes far beyond your base salary, so we encourage you to carefully consider and compare our total package offer. This package includes a variety of excellent employee benefits, including health care coverage, retirement plans, and paid leave time as well as other valuable benefits, services, and programs such as tuition reduction. One example is the U’s retirement benefits which amount to a 14.2% contribution in addition to your annual salary. You may view the U’s total compensation estimator to calculate the approximate value of your total compensation at www.hr.utah.edu/comp/totalcomp.php. If you have any questions on how to use the estimator tool, please contact Human Resources at 801-581-7447.
Responsibilities
• Work with faculty, staff, and a variety of external sponsors to create contracts for sponsored project activity at the University. Contract types include collaborations, subcontracts, clinical research, research, service, testing, data and material use and transfer, confidentially, and other agreement types, including amendments.
• Assists faculty and staff in preparation of contract proposals.
• Reviews and interprets sponsoring agency policies, rules, and regulations.
• Performs pre-negotiation fact-finding to support negotiations.
• Review, interpret, draft and negotiate sponsored agreements.
• Track and manage agreement workflow through signing.
• Ensure contracts meet legal, ethical, and financial standards of the University.
• Establish and implement a system to regularly review all agreements and current multi-year gift agreements to ensure programmatic, legal, ethical, and financial compliance, including reporting.
• Facilitate the regular collection of information and metrics related to the contracting and sponsored project management process, including preparing and submitting reports, analyzing and preparing data of work performed, compile reports, and other tracking and reporting tasks as identified.
• Respond to faculty, staff, and sponsor inquires.
• Act as OSP liaison with the University’s Office of General Counsel on legal matters pertaining to sponsored contract agreements.
• Act as an OSP liaison with University leadership and other research administration and compliance offices.
• Use information systems to track and manage sponsored agreements through the project lifecycle. Record preliminary, contract, and award information in the sponsored project infrastructure, including financial and other compliance systems.
• Serve as the primary resource for campus-wide research administration professionals and external interested parties and provide expert advice on University policies and procedures, work process and practice, the sponsored programs lifecycle, IT systems, contacting, compliance issues, reporting, and stewardship.
• Ensure that University practice and policy related to sponsored contracts reflect current state and federal laws and regulations for sponsored program activity and provide training and updates to faculty, leadership, and research administration professionals across campus.
• Other duties as assigned.

Comments
This position provides support in highly specialized areas of Research Administration. The Office of Sponsored Projects is a customer service organization dedicated to supporting a diverse client set including University administration, faculty, support staff and sponsoring entities.

Work Environment and Level of Frequency typically required
Nearly Continuously: Office environment.

Physical Requirements and Level of Frequency that may be required
Nearly Continuously: Sitting, hearing, listening, talking.
Often: Repetitive hand motion (such as typing), walking.
Seldom: Bending, reaching overhead.

Minimum Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Business Administration or related field or equivalency required (one year of education can be substituted for two years of related work experience). Two years experience working with federal or private funding agencies on grants, contracts or other agreements required. The ability to work independently, effectively and efficiently under extreme pressure and demonstrated human relations and effective communication skills also required.

An advanced degree in Public Administration, Law or a related field and five years of increasingly responsible experience within an academic or higher education environment preferred. Computer literacy in data management, document preparation and management, spreadsheet creation and presentation software is also preferred.

Applicants must demonstrate the potential ability to perform the essential functions of the job as outlined in the position description.
Preferences
• A juris doctor degree
• An Advanced knowledge of contracting and related processes.
• Demonstrated understanding of university research environment and policies.
• Experience with university research administration or related experience preferred.
• Demonstrated understanding of intellectual property and licensing issues as they pertain to academic research.
• Communicate knowledge and ideas both verbally and in writing with clarity and effectiveness to internal and external audiences, client groups and all levels of management.
• Make good independent decisions based on critical and analytical thinking, experience and judgement.
• Deliver high quality service and work products that can be relied upon by clients and colleagues to meet business requirements.
• Work well with colleagues and clients. Collaborate and work effectively in a distributed team environment.
• Demonstrated curiosity and comfort with uncertainty and ambiguity.
• Proactively Drive change and continuous improvement through individual contributions.
• Strong service orientation, demonstrated ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, action-oriented, customer-focused service environment.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to prioritize a variety of tasks and demands.
• Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Office Suite and ability to learn applicable university and departmental systems.