The University of Alabama (UA) seeks an experienced Assistant Vice President for Research and Technology Agreements to lead its responsibilities for compliance with research agreement creation, negotiation, administration and technology transfer activities. This position, reporting directly to the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, is a full-time 12-month administrative position at UA. This position is vital to UA and will be joining at an important time, since both the Office for Research and Economic Development (ORED) and UA have recently launched Five-Year Strategic Plans that jointly articulate UA’s vision for its research and economic development missions. The mission of the ORED is to facilitate the growth and impact of the UA research enterprise and to ensure compliance with University, System, State and Federal Regulations related to research.

UA, having doubled in size since 2002, has been the nation’s fastest-growing flagship university. UA currently enrolls more than 38,500 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, and now attracts more than half of its students from out-of-state. Additionally, in recent years UA has invested $2.5 billion in campus buildings and infrastructure, including over $400 million in world-class research facilities. As part of the Peter Bryce Campus acquisition, the University also has significant land and facility holdings available for allocation to the research mission. External grants and contracts for research, instruction, service and fellowship reached record levels for UA in fiscal year 2018 and have grown by 85 percent over the last five years. In December 2018, the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education designated UA as a Very High Research Activity doctoral university or “R1.” This is the nation’s highest level of research activity for institutions that grant doctoral degrees and places UA among the most elite, public or private, research universities in the United States. With the new Vice President for Research and Economic Development starting in January 2019, the University has placed a much greater focus on business engagement with the goal to become the ‘go to’ University for public-private partnerships. The Assistant Vice President for Research and Executive Director of Administration and Technology Transfer will proactively facilitate and provide necessary expertise for building positive, successful relationships with local, state, private and public stakeholders effectuated through sound mutually-beneficial agreements.

On June 1, 2019, ORED launched its Five-Year Strategic Plan to help facilitate the growth and impact of the research enterprise.

https://www.ua.edu/news/2019/06/office-for-research-and-economic-development-launches-strategic-plan/

The Strategic Plan focuses on growing and developing faculty as well as significantly increasing the size and impact of research and scholarly activity. The Strategic Plan has six strategic themes, including research environment, research institutes, transformative initiatives, translating intellectual property, economic and business engagement, and assessing progress and impact. The major goal of the Economic and Business Engagement theme is to develop strong partnerships with external stakeholders, especially industry, in order to increase the number of sponsored projects and, at the same time, create career opportunities for UA students through these partnerships.

Major Responsibilities

• Responsible for ORED administration, management and oversight for compliance with federal and state regulations, policies and guidelines
• Direct supervision of personnel engaged in the review, negotiation and administration of agreements
• Oversight of subaward process and issuance in accordance with applicable laws, rules, regulations and sponsor guidelines
• Drafting and implementing procedures and policies for risk management and compliance for ORED
• Oversight of the Office for Technology Transfer (OTT) and its staff, mission and functions
• Serve as a representative and liaison on internal groups and committees; serve as a primary ORED representative for applicable national organizations
• Serve as liaison and coordinator for internal communication, instruction and cooperation with other administrative UA and System offices, including but not limited, to ORED, Office of Sponsored Programs, Office of Contracts and Grant Accounting, Office for Research Compliance, Office of Counsel, Risk Management, OIT, Academic Affairs, College Deans and Associate Deans, as well as outside organizations
• Facilitate and coordinate with UA System Counsel and outside patent counsel regarding the protection of UA proprietary rights in disclosures by faculty; monitor patent application process in consultation with appropriate personnel
• Manage the process for evaluation and licensing of UA innovations and research capabilities to industry or start up companies
• Develop training and outreach programs and materials relevant to faculty educational needs
•Continually assess and improve policies and procedures to ensure best practices are incorporated within ORED
• Serve as a member of ORED’s senior leadership team
• Represent ORED on UA’s Policy Management Committee
• Maintain the Institution’s profile in the federal System for Awards Management (SAM)
• Other duties as requested or assigned

Required Qualifications

• J.D. degree from an accredited law school, licensed to practice law in the state of Alabama with a minimum of fifteen (15) years of relevant experience
• Demonstrated compliance experience with federal and state regulations, policies and guidelines related to research
• Successful experience in the negotiation and execution of agreements
• Experience with supervision of personnel engaged in review, negotiation and administration of agreements
• Demonstrated organization, leadership, interpersonal and communication skills through successful outcomes in academic, industrial or governmental positions
• Demonstrated evidence of analytical and logical reasoning skills to interpret complex issues, make thoughtful decisions and develop solutions
• Evidence of being goal-oriented, ability to multitask, prioritize, and manage time effectively
• History of successful and effective staff management and professional development
• Acute understanding of the priorities, operations, risks and liabilities of research activities, commercialization activities and accounting activities presented in university research
• Must have valid U.S. driver’s license; must be at least 21 years of age at time of hire and have an acceptable Motor Vehicle Report as determined by the insurance carrier

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with federal research requirements as they apply to a university
• Ten (10) years demonstrated experience with research contract and grant negotiations, university intellectual property laws, university research compliance laws and regulations and federal contract and grant accounting regulations
• Involvement in national associations relating to legal issues in higher education, technology transfer and research administration
• Training and experience conducting internal investigations
• Litigation experience in federal regulations relevant to an institution of higher education
• Demonstrated experience working with federal regulations including, but not limited to: Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Defense Acquisition Regulations (DFARS), NASA FAR Supplement, Department of Energy Acquisition Regulations (DEARS), data security and privacy regulations (HIPAA, FISMA, NIST), and Export Control (EAR, ITAR, OFAC)
• Experience drafting and negotiating Material Transfer Agreements (MTA), Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA), Master Research Agreements (MRA), Sponsored Research Agreements (SRA), License Agreements, Data Management and Data Sharing and Transfer Agreements
•Experience working with SBIR/STTR awards and Contracts required for their administration and submission
• Experience in the protection of intellectual property and the process for commercialization
• Demonstrated experience in developing and presenting training materials on a local, state and national level
• Demonstrated knowledge in the development of business organizations and structure (S Corp, C Corp, LLC, etc.)
• Understanding of alternative dispute resolution and mediation

Applications should be submitted prior to October 12, 2019. The earliest planned start date is October 21, 2019 and the latest January 1, 2020.

Application materials should include: 1) a full and updated resume, 2) cover letter summarizing the interest in the position and how the minimum qualifications and any preferred qualifications are met, and 3) a list of four references with full contact information. However, references will only be contacted after written consent of the candidate.