Senior Project Manager, Research Administration Systems

Department

Provost URA: Reporting and Analytics

About the Department
University Research Administration (URA) has the responsibility to review and provide institutional endorsement for all proposals to federal and other external sponsors (excluding gifts), assuring compliance with University policies and sponsor terms and conditions. URA is the institutional authority for the negotiation and acceptance of financial support or other contractually binding obligations in the form of a contract, grant, or agreement, including material transfer agreements and clinical trials.

Job Summary
Reporting to the Director, eRA and Analytics this position will lead the assessment and modernization of the University’s AURA research suite, the University’s branded implementation of the Huron Research Suite. The Senior Project Manager will join a dynamic Research Administration Systems team that supports and manages University-wide research related systems and reporting. In addition to other related projects, this role will drive a comprehensive fit-gap analysis to evaluate the transition from our current on-premises environment to Huron’s SaaS platform (v12), followed by the phased upgrade of all research administration modules across the University and ultimate support and growth of such modules

The Senior Project Manager will serve as the primary liaison between the University and Huron, collaborate directly with colleagues in Information Services, champion system optimization across central and departmental offices, and ensure that the University derives maximum value from its Huron subscription by taking advantage of new features. This is a high-impact, cross-functional role requiring deep knowledge of research administration business and systems, strong project management discipline, and the ability to build consensus across diverse stakeholder groups.

This role leads diverse IT projects typically involving multiple groups in the IT Function. Uses deep knowledge of IT processes, leadership skills, and breadth of experience to manage budgets, resources, and schedules. Coordinates work of IT staff and resolves complex issues to ensure project goals and requirements are met.

Responsibilities

• Leads a structured fit-gap analysis of the current AURA on-premises environment against Huron’s delivered SaaS platform functionality.

• Engages directly with Huron to evaluate compatibility of existing smart-forms, workflows, and business logic with the new SaaS platform.

• Partners with system and office functional leads to inventory existing customizations and reconcile them against out-of-the-box SaaS settings that preserve the University’s upgrade path.

• Develops detailed migration recommendations, including disposition of current customizations, retain, retire, or replace with native functionality.

• Documents all findings and presents phased transition plans to senior leadership.

• Leads and coordinates the end-to-end upgrade of all AURA modules, including Grants, Agreements, COI, IRB, IBC, ECC, Prime stores, and related integrations with Workday, Oracle and the Business Objects and Orbit reporting tools.

• Develops and maintains a comprehensive project plan, including timelines, milestones, resource allocation, and dependencies across modules.

• Oversees all phases of each module upgrade, requirements gathering, configuration, testing, training, go-live, and post-implementation support.

• Ensures quarterly SaaS upgrades proceed seamlessly following migration, with minimal disruption to research operations.

• Identifies and mitigates risks and develop contingency plans to maintain project momentum.

• Serves as a primary point of contact with Huron, managing the ongoing vendor relationship and escalating issues as appropriate.

• Monitors and reports on Huron deliverables, SLAs, and product roadmap commitments.

• Troubleshoots system issues in coordination with Huron support, ensuring timely resolution.

• Continuously evaluates the University’s Huron subscription to ensure maximum return on investment, identifying underutilized features or modules.

• Collaborates with Procurement on contract management and vendor performance reviews.

• Fosters strong partnerships with key stakeholders, including URA, Office of Research, IT, and departmental research administrators.

• Develops and executes a change management strategy to ensure smooth adoption of upgraded systems across central and departmental offices.

• Facilitates training sessions, workshops, and documentation to ensure all users, central and departmental, are fully proficient in AURA functionality.

• Produces executive-level communications, dashboards, and steering committee materials tailored to senior leadership.

• Addresses stakeholder concerns, manages expectations, and communicates progress proactively throughout the project lifecycle.

• Implements and monitors quality assurance processes throughout all upgrade phases, including test script development and execution.

• Conducts post-implementation reviews to capture lessons learned and identifies opportunities for ongoing system improvement.

• Analyzes existing business processes and recommends enhancements aligned with industry best practices and Huron platform capabilities.

• Maintains clear, up-to-date documentation of system configurations, workflows, and training materials.

• Drives process improvement within all research administration systems.

• Evaluates and implements best practices, new technologies, and methodologies.

• Leads URA AI Working Group, promoting AI adoption across research administration systems and workflows.

• Identifies and champions AI opportunities for automating routine tasks, improving data quality, and optimizing workflow efficiency.

• Fosters a culture of innovation by piloting, evaluating, and scaling AI-powered tools and practices within research administration.

• Partners with cross-functional teams to ensure responsible and ethical AI adoption, paying close attention to data privacy, compliance, and equity.

• Serves as project lead to coordinate complex information technology changes and ensures the success of enterprise-level application rollouts. Works with University units and the client community to develop detailed business requirements.

• Leads team to develop and ensure quality control of the project methodology and contributes to the further enhancement and application of the methodology.

• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:
Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 7+ years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:
Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification - Project Management Institute

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Preferred Qualifications

Education

• Advanced degree strongly preferred.

Experience

• Prior experience in sponsored research administration or research compliance within a higher education or academic medical center environment.

• Demonstrated experience leading enterprise system upgrades or SaaS migrations, ideally involving the Huron Research Suite or similar research administration platforms, such as Cayuse, InfoEd, Kuali.

• Conducting fit-gap analyses and translating business requirements into system configuration decisions.

• Mmanaging vendor relationships for enterprise software contracts.

Certifications

• PMP certification or equivalent project management credential.

Technical Skills or Knowledge

• Deep familiarity with the Huron Research Suite (AURA) or comparable research administration systems, including all research types, Grants, Agreements, COI, IRB, IBC, and ECC.

• Strong understanding of research administration workflows, compliance requirements, and sponsored project lifecycle management.

• Proficiency in requirements gathering, business pr