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POSITION SPECIFICS
The Office of Entrepreneurship, within Penn State’s Office of the Senior Vice President for Research, seeks a highly organized, analytical, and collaborative Research Operations Specialist to provide operational, financial, project management, and administrative support for the Office of Entrepreneurship and the Eric J. Barron Innovation Hub .
This position will be filled at the Research Operations Specialist - Advanced Professional OR Senior Professional level.
Reporting to the Director of Administration, this position serves as a key operational partner supporting the day-to-day and long-range needs of a complex, multidisciplinary organization. The successful candidate will combine strong financial, analytical, organizational, project management, communication, and problem-solving skills to support operations, financial management, projects, events, administrative processes, and the effective operation of the Innovation Hub.
Key Responsibilities
Responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:
Develop, maintain, and analyze financial and operational tracking tools to support forecasting, resource planning, reporting, and leadership decision-making.
Monitor budgets, expenditures, commitments, grants, and funding activity across multiple programs and projects.
Assist with budget development, forecasting, financial reporting, account monitoring, reconciliations, and other fiscal activities.
Utilize advanced Excel skills to analyze data, maintain complex spreadsheets, prepare reports, identify trends or discrepancies, and provide actionable information to leadership.
Support procurement and financial transactions, including purchase orders, invoices, travel, reimbursements, labor distributions, contracts, speaker agreements, vendor registrations, and other expenditures.
Maintain accurate financial and operational documentation and support audit, compliance, grant, and reporting requirements.
Partner with the Director of Administration to coordinate operational priorities and special projects.
Support daily operations of the Eric J. Barron Innovation Hub, including building activities, space coordination, visitors, meetings, programs, operational requests, and special initiatives.
Manage projects, workflows, assignments, dashboards, reports, deadlines, and operational requests within the assigned project management system.
Monitor project milestones and deliverables, communicate deadlines, follow up on assignments, and identify or escalate potential delays or operational concerns.
Coordinate operational and logistical needs for meetings, workshops, conferences, entrepreneurship and research programs, donor and stakeholder events, and related activities.
Manage event logistics, including space, schedules, vendors, procurement, materials, technology, building access, staffing, and onsite operations.
Provide administrative support through meeting coordination, scheduling, correspondence, documentation, records management, and preparation of reports and materials.
Develop, document, and maintain standard operating procedures; identify and implement process improvements.
Maintain databases, calendars, records, tracking systems,…