The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Pennsylvania State University is hiring a Research Operations Specialist. This role supports vital research operations across human resources, finance, and core facilities, serving as a key point of contact for faculty, principal investigators, and staff. You will manage budgets and grants, ensuring the smooth financial and administrative functioning of a large, interdisciplinary research enterprise.
What You'll Do
- Manage the daily Huck operating budget and perform post-award management of grants at the unit level.
- Serve as the point of contact for Finance OST hub staff, processing labor distribution plans, journal entries, travel and expense reconciliation, master data management, purchasing, and non-PO invoice payments.
- Approve all financial transactions under $15,000 in SIMBA and all goods and services expenses under $15,000 in SAP Concur.
- Approve Travel Reports in SAP Concur and serve as backup to approve transactions over $15,000.
- Monitor account balances and budget committed funds within institute IOs.
- Manage entries in the commitments and needs database to track funding for co-hires, chairs, and seed grants.
- Enter supplemental payments and appointments into Workday and approve HR changes as the unit-level approver.
- Prepare monthly routine and ad hoc reports for the Director and stakeholders using data from SIMBA and Workday.
- Serve as the primary contact for Huck faculty, staff, and PIs on research operations and financial questions.
- Work with the OSVPR billing team to ensure monthly core facility usage charges are posted correctly.
What We're Looking For
- A Bachelor's Degree.
- 3+ years of relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Direct experience working with research grants.
- Ability to multitask and manage a high volume of tasks and requests.
- Ability to understand and interpret university and federal/state funded research policies.
- Experience working with large data sets to create reports in Excel.
Nice to Have
- Experience entering and approving transactions in SAP, specifically for labor distribution, purchasing, and travel/pcard reconciliation.
- Experience working with SAP, SIMBA, SAP Concur, ServiceNow, Workday, and Adobe Acrobat Sign.
Technical Stack
- SAP
- SIMBA
- SAP Concur
- ServiceNow
- Workday
- Adobe Acrobat Sign
- Excel
Team & Environment
This role is part of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, one of five large institutes under the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research (OSVPR). You will support faculty from across multiple Colleges, help manage over 30 cross-College Centers and Institutes, six interdisciplinary graduate programs, 11 core facilities, and research buildings. You will report directly to the Managing Director.
Benefits & Compensation
- Salary range of $61,800.00 - $89,600.00.
- Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage.
- Robust retirement plans.
- Substantial paid time off including holidays, vacation, and sick time.
- Generous 75% tuition discount for employees and eligible spouses and children.
Work Mode
This is a hybrid position.
Penn State is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.
