Unit Research Administrator (Finance)

The Florida Center for Cybersecurity, also known as Cyber Florida, was created by the Florida State Legislature in 2014 within the University of South Florida to help Florida become a national leader in cybersecurity education, academic and practical research, and community outreach and engagement. While part of the University of South Florida, Cyber Florida works on behalf of the State of Florida at large, often carrying out special projects on behalf of the Florida Legislature, to help the citizens, businesses, and organizations of Florida stay safer in cyberspace. Cyber Florida engages a large network of public and private partners to achieve our goals, spanning public organizations such as law enforcement, public school districts, and state, county, and local government, to private companies that provide services and contribute to Florida's growing cyber-related economy.

We work to build a robust pipeline of future professionals by introducing cyber safety and career awareness programs to K-12 schools and helping Florida's public colleges and universities offer degree and certificate programs that produce ready-to-hire graduates. We create new, more accessible career pathways for career changers to enter the field, helping to address our nation's critical cyber workforce shortage. We support and facilitate academic research that contributes to our nation's competitive edge and conduct studies that yield new insights into cybercrime, privacy, user behavior, and organizational needs to help craft local, state, and national policy. Lastly, we engage millions of Floridians through cyber safety awareness campaigns and host events and resources to help protect those populations and organizations that are most vulnerable to cybercrime, such as small businesses, local governments, and senior citizens.

The Florida Center for Cybersecurity seeks a Unit Research Administrator to support its expanding sponsored projects and research initiatives. This role ensures effective grant management through budget development, expenditure monitoring, financial reconciliation, and compliance oversight. Key responsibilities include coordinating with sub-award recipients, preparing grant proposals, and guiding administrative processes such as invoice review and staff hiring. Unlike Sponsored Research roles, this position does not engage in contract negotiations or sponsor communications. As a grant-funded role, the Unit Research Administrator plays a vital part in maintaining efficient research administration and compliance with institutional and sponsor regulations.This position requires a bachelor's degree, one year of professional administrative experience, or a master's degree. Progressively responsible related experience may substitute for the required education year after year.The University of South Florida is a high-impact global research university dedicated to student success. Over the past 10 years, no other public university in the country has risen faster in U.S. News and World Report's national university rankings than USF. Serving more than 50,000 students on campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee, USF is designated as a Preeminent State Research University by the Florida Board of Governors, placing it in the most elite category among the state's 12 public universities. USF is a member of the American Athletic Conference.
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Working at USF
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With more than 16,000 employees at USF, the University of South Florida is one of the largest employers in the Tampa Bay region. At USF you will find opportunities to excel in a rich academic environment that fosters the development and advancement of our employees. We believe in creating a talented, engaged and driven workforce through on-going development and career opportunities. We also offer a first class benefit package that includes medical, dental and life insurance plans, retirement plan options, tuition program and generous leave programs and more.
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To learn more about working at USF please visit: Work Here. Learn Here. Grow Here .Pre-Award Research Administration: Helps and guides to facilitate faculty development, administrative review, and proposal submission process. Collects the required documents as defined by the program solicitation for submission from team members, makes recommendations to budget, and aids in the project development process from an administrative standpoint.

Post-Award Research Administration: Open awards into a project when funding is received from a Sponsoring agency. Adheres to sponsor, institutional, state, and local government policies and procedures. Maintains research compliance for project team members and internal/external collaborators. Works as a liaison with the Office of Research, Research Compliance, International Affairs, Human Resources, and other departments as needed. Facilitates communication between the project team and outside parties for purposes of submitting change requests, modifications, authorizations, or reporting of project status.

Reporting: Reconciles program project(s) every month, prepares documents to correct expenditures in keeping with defined budget categories, and maintains supporting documentation for audit purposes. Assists team members with programmatic reporting to sponsoring agencies. Prepares internal documentation for proposal submissions and opens projects when funding is received. Works with external stakeholders on financials, compliance, pay allocations, and subcontracts.

Project Management: This position applies project management principles to align research objectives with administrative and financial requirements, ensuring efficient execution of grant-funded initiatives. They help to oversee project timelines, monitor compliance with funding regulations, and optimize resource allocation. Key responsibilities include coordinating with Principal Investigators (PIs) and project teams, tracking deliverables, managing risks, and providing guidance on policies and best practices to keep projects on schedule and within scope.

Financial Administration: Aids with travel expenses and transactional expenses related to supply orders, contract implementation, invoice payments, pay allocations, funding distributions, and burn-rate projections, and makes recommendations on budget needs and recommendations to keep the project on schedule.

Performs other duties as assigned.