Virginia Tech is a public land-grant university, committed to teaching and learning, research, and outreach to the Commonwealth of Virginia, the nation, and the world. Building on its motto of Ut Prosim (that I may serve), Virginia Tech is dedicated to InclusiveVT-serving in the spirit of community, diversity, and excellence. We seek candidates who adopt and practice the Principles of Community, which are fundamental to our on-going efforts to increase access and inclusion, and to create a community that nurtures learning and growth for all of its members. Virginia Tech actively seeks a broad spectrum of candidates to join our community in preparing leaders for the world.

Position Summary:
This position performs specialized and complex administrative activities and coordination of efforts in support of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences ( CALS ) research enterprise and the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station ( VAES ), reporting directly to the Associate Dean for Research and VAES Director. The individual will assist the Director and Associate Director of VAES in managing CALS and VAES research programs and will be responsible for effective state and federal project management support. The person in this position will establish and maintain positive working relationships within CALS Research team, across College and University, state/federal agencies and associations, and with external stakeholders. The individual should anticipate leadership needs and work effectively in support of the team and be able to work under pressure at times to handle a wide variety of activities including confidential and sensitive matters. A high level of attention to details and ability to independently handle a variety of complex projects and campus interactions is essential.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities include but are not limited to:
• Provides oversight to the development, review, submission, and reporting of projects funded by state and federal formula funds encompassing over $45M in funded programs.
• Ensures compliance with all university, state, and federal guidelines to effectively manage the project portfolio.
• Assumes administrative responsibilities in federal project management, research, analysis and reporting including preparing and maintaining concise and detailed checklists to organize and track status of individual state/federal projects and Multistate team projects.
• Works independently with faculty to manage federal projects and coordinate the completion of the review process.
• Serves as primary point of contact and key liaison for faculty regarding projects needing replacement, continuation, initiation, or termination.
• Works proactively to achieve compliance for annual or termination reports; maintains regular advance communication with faculty and unit (department/school/ AREC ) leaders regarding documentation and editing; provides initial review of all submissions.
• Manages the initiation, coordination, and completion of all Multistate projects including completion and submission of all financial and compliance forms in compliance with USDA regulations.
• Generates appropriate project management documents and templates and manages internal electronic proposal submission system for facilitating proposal review process.
• Coordinates VAES interactions with regional and national level agricultural experiment station organizations.
• Develops and drafts research information for the federal plan of work and annual report, in coordination with the VAES Associate Director.
• Actively contributes during planning meetings and supports efforts to ensure fully-coordinated events and activities in support of the VAES and CALS research programs.
• Works with VAES Associate Director and CALS Communication Director to identify research outcomes and impact statements for communication and news release.
• Other responsibilities as assigned by the VAES director and associate director

Required Qualifications:
• BS degree in a science-related field
• Ability to multi-task, adapt to changing priorities, and meet deadlines
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Excellent planning and organizational skills
• Advanced computer skills and demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, including Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint
• Experience in interpreting and applying state and federal project regulations and guidelines
• Experience in proposal management, including editing technical material
• Familiarity with project management tools and processes
• Demonstrated expertise in using computer applications and technical software
• Demonstrated high-level administrative experience supporting and/or working with executive-level individuals within a fast-paced and demanding environment
• Demonstrated ability to perform duties with a high level of professionalism, confidentiality, flexibility, discretion, judgement, diplomacy, and tact
• Ability to maintain strict accuracy and be hyper-sensitive to details, especially when editing documents and/or managing financial data

Preferred Qualifications:
• Preference for one degree in agriculture and/or life science discipline; broad knowledge of agriculture and life sciences
• MS degree
• Familiarity with federal funding agencies
• Experience working in a multi-investigator research environment



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