Post Award Specialist

Job Title: Post Award Specialist

Job Description

The Post Award Specialist manages funded research projects, including clinical trials, to ensure full compliance with internal policies and external regulations. This role oversees post-award financial activities, supports principal investigators throughout the life of their awards, and partners closely with research finance and accounting teams to maintain accurate budgets, projections, and reporting. The position offers a remote work arrangement with occasional on-site presence as needed at one of the organization’s locations.

Responsibilities

• Manage funded projects, including clinical trials, in full compliance with organizational policies, standard operating procedures, and applicable federal and state guidelines such as Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations and Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR).
• Create project numbers, set up new awards in the system, update effort allocations, and create and manage research subcontract (RSUB) records when applicable.
• Provide comprehensive post-award services, including timely set-up of project accounts and day-to-day financial management of expenses against the approved budget.
• Analyze grant and contract agreements to identify and interpret administrative restrictions, terms, and conditions that impact project spending and reporting.
• Review the allowability of expenses in accordance with sponsor guidelines, organizational policies, and applicable regulations, and ensure accurate and compliant financial transactions.
• Compute and maintain financial projections to support proper spending throughout the project period and to avoid over- or under-expenditure.
• Conduct quarterly financial review meetings with all principal investigators (PIs) to discuss budget status, projections, and any required adjustments.
• Review and monitor subcontracts, including creating and maintaining RSUB purchase orders (POs) and supporting subrecipient invoice review and approval by the PI.
• Review, analyze, and approve expenditures and related documentation to ensure accuracy, compliance, and appropriate allocation to project accounts.
• Process labor and non-labor cost transfers in alignment with sponsor allowability, organizational policies, and specific award requirements.
• Monitor expenditures on an ongoing basis and analyze variances between actual costs and the approved budget, taking corrective action as needed.
• Maintain updated financial projections that reflect activity dates, spending patterns, and budget variances throughout the life of the award.
• Partner with Post-Award Accounting on project number set-up, financial reviews, account reconciliations, projections, award close-outs, and final financial reporting (FFR).
• Ensure timely submission of technical progress reports and other deliverables by principal investigators in accordance with grant and contract guidelines.
• Support the broader research enterprise by contributing financial and administrative expertise across multiple pediatric therapeutic areas and departments.

Essential Skills

• 1–3 years of experience as a Post Award Specialist or in a closely related post-award research administration role.
• Advanced knowledge of grant research and grant administration processes across the award lifecycle.
• Advanced knowledge of grant and other external funding sources, including industry, federal, and non-federal sponsors.
• Demonstrated experience working with industry, federal, and non-federal grants.
• Strong knowledge of post-award finance and reporting requirements, including budget management and financial reconciliation.
• Ability to build and edit complex grant documents, including detailed budgets and reporting requirements.
• Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in Business, Finance, or Accounting.
• Financial/accounting experience required, with the ability to interpret financial data and apply it to grant management.
• Experience with clinical trials and their unique financial and regulatory requirements (highly preferred).

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Experience supporting research administration within a large healthcare or academic research environment.
• Familiarity with compliance requirements related to OMB regulations and Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR).
• Ability to collaborate effectively with principal investigators, research staff, and finance and accounting teams.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex financial and contractual information.
• Detail-oriented approach to managing multiple projects, deadlines, and reporting obligations.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills to clearly explain financial information and requirements to non-financial stakeholders.

Work Environment

This role is primarily remote, with occasional travel as needed to one of the organization’s sites. The Post Award Specialist works closely with the Post-Award Manager, the Associate Director of Research Finance, principal investigators, and research administration teams to support pediatric research across a variety of therapeutic areas.

This is a Permanent position based out of Orlando, FL.

The pay range for this position is $60000.00 - $70000.00/yr.

Dental, Health, Vision, PTO, Retirement Plans

This is a fully remote position.

This position is anticipated to close on Apr 17, 2026.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

At Actalent, diversity and inclusion are a bridge towards the equity and success of our people. DE&I is embedded into our culture through:

• Hiring diverse talent
• Maintaining an inclusive environment through persistent self-reflection
• Building a culture of care, engagement, and recognition with clear outcomes
• Ensuring growth opportunities for our people

Actalent is an equal opportunity employer.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services. For more than 40 years, we’ve helped visionary companies advance their goals. Headquartered in the United States, our teams span 150 offices across North America, EMEA, and APAC—with four delivery centers in India led by 1,000+ extraordinary employees who connect their passion with purpose every day.

Our Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, and Chennai delivery centers are hubs of engineering expertise, with core capabilities in mechanical and electrical engineering, systems and software, and manufacturing engineering. Our teams deliver work across multiple industries including transportation, consumer and industrial products, and life sciences. We serve more than 4,500 clients, including many Fortune 500 brands. Learn more about how we can work together at actalentservices.com.