About Jaeb Center for Health Research
The Jaeb Center is a nonprofit entity in Tampa, FL whose primary focus is serving as a Coordinating Center for multi-center clinical trials. For more information on the Jaeb Center's current projects please visit our website at www.jaeb.org.
About the Role
Jaeb Center for Health Research is hiring a senior leader to take ownership of our research contracting, study and clinical trial budgeting, and grants administration teams. This is a hands-on role for someone who can personally review and negotiate complex sponsor and vendor contracts, oversee grants administration and compliance across pre- and post-award activities, manage our Single Audit compliance and response, and lead a team through meaningful process and technology change, including the adoption of AI tools.
We're looking for someone who has conducted this work directly, specifically negotiated contract terms, managed pre- and post-award grants administration and compliance, and led teams in these areas.
Please note: this is a research administration leadership role, not an attorney or general counsel position. Strong, hands-on contract negotiation experience is essential, but candidates should also bring direct research administration and clinical trial experience — a law degree or legal experience alone, without that background, will not meet the minimum requirements of this role.
What You'll Do
Contracts Leadership
Serve as our senior-most contracting authority, personally reviewing and negotiating complex or non-standard terms in an environment without in-house legal counsel.
Lead and directly supervise our contracts team, modernizing workflows and introducing AI tools (e.g., automated contract comparison, a clause-library-driven agent to reduce reliance on static templates).
Lead the team through meaningful process and technology change with steady, consistent, emotionally intelligent supervision.
Maintain and continually refine our contract negotiation playbook and escalation standards.
Grants Administration & Federal Compliance
Lead and directly supervise our grants team, overseeing pre- and post-award administration, federal award compliance (including Uniform Guidance), and financial reporting.
Serve as final reviewer on grant submissions and as our subject-matter authority for federal award compliance.
Workforce & Effort Planning
Lead and provide supervisory oversight of our workforce/effort planning function, including forward-looking staffing/capacity planning and current-period effort/FTE reporting, and serve as trained backup for this work.
Help bring greater efficiency to this process, including through the use of AI.
Single Audit
Serve as the primary point of contact for the external audit team on our organization's Single Audit.
Study & Clinical Trial Budget Development
Lead our study and clinical trial budget development function, building full, end-to-end budgets for consulting projects, deliverables, and multi-site clinical trials — including study supplies, shipping, site and internal effort, IRB costs, and contracting costs — by reading and interpreting the protocol directly.
Mentor and supervise team members in developing protocol-interpretation and budgeting skills.
What You'll Bring — Required
Bachelor's degree and 10+ years in research administration, including 5+ years in a leadership/supervisory role.
Direct, hands-on experience negotiating sponsor and/or vendor contracts — ideally in an environment without in-house legal counsel, requiring independent judgment on risk and terms.
Background in a CRO, nonprofit research organization, academic research administration office, or similar environments.
Strong financial/quantitative skills, including federal grants financial compliance and Uniform Guidance (experience does not need to be with NIH or other HHS agencies specifically).
Demonstrated experience leading a team through process change and technology adoption, including comfort using AI tools for practical efficiency gains.
Proven ability to lead and support a team with diverse personalities and interpersonal dynamics, providing steady, fair, and consistent leadership.
What You'll Bring — Preferred
Master's degree (MBA, MPA, MPH, or related field).
Experience with NIH or other HHS-funded awards specifically.
Direct experience building the full, end-to-end budget for a multi-site clinical trial from a protocol — not just individual site budgets and not just administering or reviewing budgets built by others.
Compensation & Benefits
The base salary range for this position is $120,000–$170,000, commensurate with degree and experience. Total compensation, including our excellent benefits package, ranges from approximately $150,000–$212,000.
Work Environment
This is a fully remote (home-based) position. Core hours are generally 8 a.m.–5 p.m. ET or CT. Travel requirements are very limited.
