Director, Research Contracts and Agreements

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Please note that this is a full-time, onsite position at the University of Ottawa.

Please submit a cover letter along with your resume. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis before the closing date.  

Position Purpose

Reporting to the Associate Vice-President, Research Services, the Director, Research Contracts and Agreements holds both strategic and operational responsibilities for the University’s contractual research portfolio. The Director ensures excellence and accountability in research management and provides strong leadership in the planning, development, implementation, and delivery of efficient and effective administrative processes for research contracts. In this role, the Director offers expert strategic, administrative, and problem‑solving guidance to researchers, faculties, administrators, and sponsors. This leadership supports the University of Ottawa in achieving its strategic priorities of research excellence through the activities of the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation (OVPRI).

Specific Accountabilities

• Directs and oversees university-wide operations related to negotiation and management of research contracts and collaborative research agreements. Ensures high-quality client service and effective relationships with external funders and internal stakeholders, safeguarding the University’s responsible management of research contract funding. 
• Provides strategic leadership for the formulation, negotiation, governance, legal review, and approval of external research contracts and agreements, including complex, high-risk, multi-million-dollar, multi-party agreements and sub-contracts. Ensures institutionally optimal, risk-balanced terms for the research team and protection of university interests in alignment with institutional policies. Responsibilities include setting negotiation strategy across financial, intellectual property, confidentiality, publication, liability, and indemnification provisions; overseeing agreement lifecycle management to ensure compliance with award terms and conditions; and exercising delegated signing authority on behalf of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation in accordance with Bylaw 3.
• Provides senior oversight and interpretation of major research agreements, analyzing terms and conditions of complex, multi-party, or high-value awards and resolving administrative issues in a timely manner. Ensures compliance with federal and provincial regulations, Tri-Agency policies, and ethics and privacy legislation, and assesses risks related to indemnity, insurance, data security, and reputational impact. Engages legal counsel for complex agreements or specialized review, and liaises with the tech transfer office on complex IP matters, including verification of background IP. Supports indirect cost/overhead application and justification and ensures alignment of budgets, payment schedules, and invoicing terms with university policies. Authorizes exceptions to policies or procedures where warranted to meet regulatory or sponsor requirements.
• Supports major multi-party institutional agreements and large-scale initiatives; advances uOttawa’s research profile through the development and stewardship of strategic research partnerships with faculties, OVPRI units, and external sponsors across government, private, and not-for-profit sectors; and represents institutional and researcher interests in high-level negotiations and problem-solving to advance the University’s research strategy.
• Plans, organizes, directs and controls the Service’s contract operations.  Directs a team in a fast-paced environment, overseeing hiring, performance, succession, and staff development. Fosters collaboration, cross-training, and continuous learning to ensure flexibility and empowerment. Establishes and maintains standardized operational procedures, ensuring staff have the resources, training, and guidance to perform effectively.
• Provides strategic and operational leadership in the planning, development, implementation and continuous improvement of university-wide approval, governance, administrative, and accountability frameworks for contract-funded research to ensure that the University anticipates and meets evolving sponsor, partner and regulatory accountability requirements. Develops internal policies and procedures and directs the review and development of contractual opportunities, providing strategic advice to the AVP and VP, Research and Innovation on the contracting portfolio.
• Sets service standards and key performance indicators to monitor efficiency and evaluate client satisfaction.  Oversees the development, analysis, and maintenance of institutional metrics on collaborative research and agreements for OVPRI. Leads the development and implementation of an enterprise Contracts Management System to support the intake, tracking, execution, and oversight of all research contracts, streamlining processes and strengthening institutional control. Ensures integration with the University’s research awards management and information systems to support accurate, timely, and reliable data for externally funded contract research.
• Develops training strategies and oversees educational programs in research contract management for OVPRI staff, researchers, and faculty administrators, strengthening institutional efficiency, accountability, and compliance with external requirements.
• Works with other offices to enable pathways from research to application while protecting researchers and the institution — for example, with the tech transfer office on ownership, licensing, revenue sharing, and background vs. foreground IP. Collaborates with research finance and post-award teams on agreement setup, financial monitoring, indirect costs, and reporting to ensure compliance and sound stewardship of funds. Works across units to promote efficiency and ensure data quality through streamlining and standardization of business processes.

Knowledge, Experience, Competencies, and Skills

• Graduate degree in a relevant field or a combination of equivalent education and experience. An MBA or a PhD would be a strong asset.
• A minimum of 10 years of progressively senior positions within a research-intensive university or similar complex research environment, including significant experience in leading teams and staff supervision
• Extensive knowledge of university pre- and post- award administration processes in complex de-centralized environments, the life-cycle of research grants and awards, compliance requirements,  and financial management practices.
• Extensive knowledge of research contracts and agreements principles including experience with complex negotiations, ability to interpret complex terms and conditions and evaluate institutional risk. 
• Expert knowledge on Canada’s research funding landscape, federal funding agencies (NSERC, CIHR, Genome Canada, SSHRC) and Tri-Agency policies, frameworks and guides.   
• Substantial knowledge and experience in the development of business plans, planning documents and advising senior leadership.
• Substantial experience in liaising and maintaining relationships with external funding sponsors.
• Ability to take a broad, long-range approach to problem-solving and decision-making that involves objective analysis, thinking ahead, and planning. 
• Outstanding interpersonal skills, with the ability to work with researchers, administrators, faculties, staff, students, administrators from other institutions and sponsors.
• Excellent communication skills including writing, reviewing and editing in both official languages.
• Demonstrated leadership skills, tact, diplomacy and judgment. 
• Strong project and time management, attention to details, problem-solving, risk assessing, and conflict resolution skills. 
• Demonstrated experience in using computer systems and software such as, Windows, PowerPoint, word processing, spreadsheets, databases, financial systems, e-mail and internet.

Key Competencies at uOttawa:
Here are the required competencies for all or our employees at uOttawa: 
Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.
Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.
Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.
Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.
The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect, teamwork and inclusion, where collaboration, innovation, and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence. While all qualified persons are invited to apply, we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQIA2S+ persons. The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, barrier-free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes. Applicants with disabilities may contact [email protected] to communicate the accommodation need. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.
Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above; you can click here to find out more.
If this is a front-line position with responsibilities to interact with students, selected candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.

Prior to May 1, 2022, the University required all students, faculty, staff, and visitors (including contractors) to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as defined in Policy 129 – Covid-19 Vaccination. This policy was suspended effective May 1, 2022 but may be reinstated at any point in the future depending on public health guidelines and the recommendations of experts.