Job Summary

Kaiser Permanente Northwest-s Center for Health Research (CHR) is seeking an experienced Director of Research Administration to provide strategic leadership and operational oversight for the Center-s Finance, Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA), and Facilities teams. The position reports to the Vice President for Health Research. As a key member of the CHR Leadership Team, the Director will help guide a nationally recognized, extramurally funded research center with 2025 annual revenues over $48M. The ideal candidate brings extensive experience in research finance and accounting; pre- and post-award grant and contract administration across federal, industry, and nonprofit sponsors; and the administration of a not-for-profit research organization. This leader will champion continuous process improvement, foster strong internal and external partnerships, and ensure regulatory compliance across all financial and sponsored research administration functions. This flexible role requires regular on-site engagement.

Essential Responsibilities

• Prepares individuals for growth opportunities and advancement; builds internal collaborative networks for self and others. Solicits and acts on performance feedback; drives collaboration to set goals and provide open feedback and coaching to foster performance improvement. Demonstrates continuous learning; oversees the recruitment, selection, and development of talent; ensures performance management guidelines and expectations to achieve business needs. Stays up to date with organizational best practices, processes, benchmarks, and industry trends; shares best practices within and across teams. Motivates and empowers teams; maintains a highly skilled and engaged workforce by aligning resource plans with business objectives. Provides guidance when difficult decisions need to be made; creates opportunities for expanded scope of decision making and impact.
• Oversees the operation of multiple units within a department by identifying member and operational needs; ensures the management of work assignment completion; translates business strategy into actionable business requirements; ensures products and/or services meet member requirements and expectations while aligning with organizational strategies. Gains cross-functional support for business plans and priorities; assumes responsibility for decision making; sets standards, measures progress, and fosters resolution of escalated issues. Communicates goals and objectives; analyzes resources, costs, and forecasts and incorporates them into business plans; prioritizes and distributes resources. Removes obstacles that impact performance; guides performance and develops contingency plans accordingly; ensures teams accomplish business objectives.
• Directs post-award administration by: developing protocols and policies to ensure accuracy of and providing approval of budgets; developing strategic plans to ensure timely and accurate completion of administrative requirements from funders; conducting strategic planning related to the completion of day-to-day post-award activities(e.g., purchasing items; reviewing expenses, effort, and projections; performing reconciliations; invoicing)to ensure the continued success of projects; recommending and revising standards to ensure the completion of post-award requirements (e.g., annual reports, final reports); shaping strategic plans for the long-term success of implementing and maintaining award systems, files, and accounts in alignment with enterprise-wide strategic goals; recommending and implementing process improvements to reviewing and routing agreements for timely negotiation and execution; and driving the development of strategic goals to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of the award closeout process and finalized report submissions to sponsor.
• Directs pre-award administration by: providing expert consultation on proposal application preparation and submission as needed, providing regional approval for proposal submissions, and may provide approval as Institutional Authorized official, as needed; developing and executing strategic goals for the application of research methodologies, processes, and/or protocols, and the utilization of grant management software and other related systems; ensuring stakeholders accurate interpretations and applications of granting agency policies, procedures, and regulations related to pre-award administration and proposal development by serving as a primary liaison between similar departments and functions at the enterprise level; creating new and/or revising existing standards and protocols for the development and justification of project budgets; and developing strategies to enhance and aligning resources to ensure the preparation of submissions (e.g., just-in-time) and participation in the award acceptance process in collaboration with the project team and Investigator.
• Directs research accounting by: integrating resources and developing strategic process improvements to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of accounting documentation (e.g., invoice, financial reports) of contracts and grants; and conducting strategic planning to enhance the process of preparing, submitting, reviewing, and approving accounting entries (e.g., cost transfers, accruals), journal adjustments, and interregional invoicing documentation, and ensuring the timely completion of month-end, year-end, and/or audit-related close, and related analysis.
• Serves as a compliance director by: developing proposal protocols in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations and KP policies and procedures; and developing organizational research processes, procedures, and guidance for compliance with federal and KP regulations.
• Directs research administration operations by: evaluating and approving operational budgets; reviewing and recommending strategic system and/or business process improvements; developing standards and processes to ensure the balanced allocation of portfolios, and providing managers with expert guidance on reallocation, as needed; and driving compliance with existing research-specific policies and procedures, and shaping strategic direction for policy and procedure updates.
• Directs research contracting by: conducting strategic planning related to the negotiation of contracts or agreements, and providing expert guidance on the negotiation of complex contract and agreements (e.g., data sharing and management plans, intellectual property licensing agreements), as needed; and recommending process improvement policies for the project teams review, editing, and provision of consultation to research administrators and Investigators on contract and legal terms, and providing subject matter expert guidance, as needed.
• Orchestrates internal and external stakeholder relationships by: serving as a principal point of institutional contact for internal (e.g., legal, purchasing) and external (e.g., funders, contractors) stakeholders.

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum two (2) years of experience managing operational or project budgets.
• Minimum three (3) years of experience in a leadership role with direct reports.
• Bachelors degree in Humanities, Sciences, Public Health, Engineering, Public Administration, Business, or Accounting with emphasis in Business, Accounting, Management, Finance, Research Administration, or Health Care, or related field AND minimum ten (10) years of experience in health care, research, academia, award management, or a directly related field OR Minimum thirteen (13) years of experience in health care, research, academia, award management or a directly related field.

Additional Requirements

• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): Business Acumen; Negotiation; Expense Management; Financial Acumen; Financial Plan Budgeting; Business Relationship Management; Consulting; Managing Diverse Relationships; Stakeholder Management; Project Management; Project Management Tools; Accountability; Adaptability; Autonomy; Organizational Skills; Research Compliance Management

Preferred Qualifications

• Certified Research Administrator (CRA), Certified Pre-Award Administrator (CPRA), and/or Certified Financial Research Administrator (CFRA) certification from Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC).
• Five (5) years of experience reviewing, negotiating, and/or determining the feasibility of clinical trials contracts and budgets.