Assistant Research Administrator

Los Angeles, CAFull-time$37–$41/hrPosted Jul 21, 2026

Assistant Research Administrator – Contracts & Grants

The Rossier Contracts & Grants Office is seeking an Assistant Research Administrator to join its team within the Rossier School of Education’s Business Office. This role requires an experienced, customer service-driven, self-motivated, full-time employee with great communication skills, organizational skills, and strong budget skills! As a member of the team, the Assistant Research Administrator plays a key role in the continued success of our faculty and the school.

The selected candidate will be responsible for managing anywhere from 25-40 combined grants, service agreements, and non-sponsored accounts from inception to close. This includes budgeting, analyzing, forecasting, reconciling and reporting on budget activity to Rossier faculty and research centers. This position has a hybrid work schedule consisting of 3 onsite days and 2 days of remote flexibility, and is not eligible for full remote work. The selected candidate will report to the department’s Senior Research Administrator.

The Assistant Research Administrator will have responsibilities that include but are not limited to:

Collaborates with Contracts and Grants to ensure new awards are set up properly and with Sponsored Projects Accounts to confirm the new PPGG corresponds to the sponsor’s approved budget. For additional actions needed, this position will process budget adjustments, sets up satellite accounts and issue subawards, after obtaining the necessary approvals and ensuring the changes are within the terms and conditions of the award.
For assigned accounts, creates reconciliation report, monitors income and expenses and develops projections in order to authorize or extend financial commitments. Extracts financial data from Workday in order to evaluate and analyze variances and spending trends. Prepares Workday financial reports and gathers labor distribution reports for monthly meetings with the Principal Investigator to review accountant summaries, projection reports and to offer budget options in compliance with university and/or sponsor regulations.
Reconciles departmental account balances and activity to university financial records and initiates correcting entries. Determines when budget adjustments, cost transfers and journal entries are required and then prepares in accordance with university financial guidelines or agency requirements and restrictions.
Assists in the preparation of proposal budgets, re-budgets and current and pending documents.
Initiates payroll paperwork for the hiring of staff and students, in addition to obtaining approvals needed for personnel paid from various funded accounts. Prepares payroll accounting adjustments and effort certification reports for faculty and staff funded by sponsored awards.
Processes and/or approves paperwork for reimbursements related to Workday procurement card allocations, bank deposits, requisitions for consultants, professional services or subaward agreements and any other required budget/business forms.
Initiates and monitors expenditures for intercampus and external vendors, such as travel, purchasing equipment, supplies and human subject payments. Interfaces with Purchasing, Human Resources, Accounts Payable, Sponsored Projects Accounting and external vendors as needed.
Prepares and coordinates, in partnership with SPA, required financial reports for submission to sponsors. Reviews reports for accuracy prior to distribution, troubleshoots issues, including researching pertinent facts, and interacts with appropriate university staff to achieve resolution before submission.
Reviews accounts and processes year-end closing activity in compliance with University policy. Prepares three-year financial forecasts for the Rossier Business Office.
Serves as internal resource for contracts and grants-related issues and acts as liaison for PI between USC researchers, other partner institutions, Office of Contracts and Grants, Sponsored Projects Accounting, Purchasing and other university offices, as needed. This requires understanding of the terms and conditions of fully executed agreements and university policies and procedures.
Assists in the maintenance of the departmental contracts and grants database.
Performs other duties as assigned or requested.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor's degree; combined experience/education as substitute for minimum education
Minimum Experience: 1 year
Minimum Field of Expertise: Business administration, accounting, or related degree and budget experience, including knowledge of contract and grant accounting. Strong computer skills with use of Excel spreadsheets.

Preferred Qualifications:

3 or more years of relevant work experience
Experience working with contracts and grant awards, specifically in dealing with terms and conditions of awards.
Strong communication skills
Experience with financial/budget forecasting and reporting
Experience working with Workday financials
Advanced Proficiency in Excel and pivot tables.

The hourly range for this position is $37.00-$41.00. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.

Applications should be submitted via usccarreers.usc.edu and should include the following:

Resume
A cover letter (Our system will allow you to add additional documentation by clicking the “upload” button in the same section where you attach your resume.)

Minimum Education:
Bachelor's degree Combined experience/education as substitute for minimum education

Minimum Experience:
1 Year

Minimum Field of Expertise:
A Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent combination of education and experience with broad knowledge of relevant research computer software, e.g.: Microsoft Access, Word, Excel, PowerPoint; Outlook, SPSS, Visio, and SunGard. Experience in creating and analyzing statistical reports. Must be able to utilize computer technology to access data, maintain records and generate reports. Proven oral and written communication skills to interact with other employees.

USC is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law or USC policy. USC observes affirmative action obligations consistent with state and federal law. USC will consider for employment all qualified applicants with criminal records in a manner consistent with applicable laws and regulations, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for employers and the Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, and with due consideration for patient and student safety. Please refer to the Background Screening Policy Appendix D for specific employment screen implications for the position for which you are applying.

We provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. Applicants with questions about access or requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process should contact USC Human Resources by phone at (213) 821-8100, or by email at uschr@usc.edu. Inquiries will be treated as confidential to the extent permitted by law.

If you are a current USC employee, please apply to this USC job posting in Workday by copying and pasting this link into your browser:

https://wd5.myworkday.com/usc/d/inst/1$9925/9925$150424.htmld