"Assistant or Associate Vice President for Research Administration"

Job Details

Florida State University (FSU) is a premier public research institution (R01) located in the heart of Florida’s capital. Florida State University is a top 25 public university (2025 US News and World Report) and ranked number 1 public university for student experience (2025 Princton Review).  FSU enrolls over 45,000 students and is strategically focused on growing its graduate and professional student population. FSU continues to expand its research footprint across disciplines and reported over $460 million in research expenditures in fiscal year 2024.  With strategic hires of preeminent faculty and continual investments from the institution, FSU is on track to grow over 5% for FY2025.

Guided by ASPIRE (A Strategic Plan Inspiring Research Excellence), FSU is making strong investments that build on its strong foundation and focused on growing excellence in research, scholarship and creative endeavors.  FSU is home to one-of-a-kind research centers and a robust sponsored research portfolio. The university supports thousands of active research projects, including clinical trials, federally funded initiatives, and interdisciplinary collaborations. FSU’s commitment to modernization is reflected in its Research Administration Management Portal (RAMP/Huron Research Suite), which streamlines compliance and support for IRB, ACUC, grants, agreements, and export control.

Position Overview

As a member of the executive leadership team within the Division of Research, the AVP for Research Administration provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for all sponsored research activities at FSU. Reporting directly to the Vice President for Research, this role is pivotal in shaping the university’s research infrastructure and ensuring compliance, efficiency, and excellence in research administration.

The AVP for Research Administration oversees research activities for the University, including application submissions, contracting, post award activities, research accounting, and contract compliance activities. In addition, the position liaises with governmental entities and is responsible cost reporting, uniform guidance reporting, audit support, recharge centers, sub-recipient monitoring, space monitoring, and effort reporting.

The AVP for Research Administration presents an exceptional opportunity for an experienced and visionary leader to join a dynamic team and elevate the University's research administration infrastructure. The AVP will focus on fostering operational excellence through process innovation and systems development, while collaborating across the University to collectively achieve our goals.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Planning & Policy Development:Provide expert advice to the Vice President for Research and help develop comprehensive goals, policies, and procedures for the Division of Research, with a particular focus on enhancing the administration of sponsored research. Ensure that all initiatives align with the strategic objectives of the organization and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Sponsored Research Oversight: Lead the Sponsored Research Administration (SRA) team, which oversees pre- and post-award activities, ensuring strict compliance with regulatory requirements and providing robust support to faculty research. Implement initiatives to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of sponsored project administration, while maintaining a high level of customer service to meet the needs of researchers.

System Leadership: Oversee the Research Administration Management Portal (RAMP) modules, ensuring that business practices are aligned with regulatory standards and best practices. Provide leadership in the continuous improvement of systems and processes to support research administration.

Training & Development: Oversees a comprehensive campus-wide educational program, including the development and implementation of training initiatives to enhance the capabilities of research administration staff. Ensure that training programs are customer-focused and designed to meet the evolving needs of the research community.

Clinical Trials Management: Assist in the development and management of legal, financial, and billing operations for clinical trials. Ensure that all processes are customer-centric and designed to support the successful execution of clinical trials.

Executive Representation: Act on behalf of the Vice President for Research and serve as point for affiliated research centers. Represent the organization in a professional manner, ensuring that all interactions with internal and external stakeholders are conducted with the highest level of professionalism.

Qualifications

Experience: Proven leadership in sponsored research administration and clinical trial management, strategic planning, and electronic research administration systems. Extensive knowledge of Research Administration functions including financial management, grants management, and grant submission processes and procedures is required. Certified Research Administrator (CRA) and/or experience serving as Key Personnel on a federally funded sponsored award preferred. A master's degree and six years’ experience or bachelor's degree and eight years of experience. Four years’ experience at the Director level or above. Additional education may be substituted for experience. A terminal degree is preferred.