R

RFCUNY

Pre- and post-award research funding administration

Human Resources and Grants Administration Assistant

Full-Time
$50k - $65k
Junior
Bachelor's, Associate's
New York, NY, USA
In Person
People & HRHR Operations & Coordination

About the job

Requirements
  • A high school diploma or equivalent is required.
  • Ability to work effectively with faculty, staff, employees, and external partners at all levels.
  • Ability to manage multiple assignments, exercise sound judgment, solve routine problems, meet deadlines, and work both independently and collaboratively.
  • Strong attention to detail and commitment to accuracy, confidentiality, and responsive service.
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint, and with Adobe Acrobat.
Responsibilities
  • Assist the HR team, particularly during periods of high volume, with new hires, rehires, employment modifications, appointment extensions, and terminations for grant-sponsored employees.
  • Support onboarding activities, including the collection and review of required personnel documents and, as assigned, I-9 and E-Verify processing and other federal, state, city, CUNY, and RFCUNY forms.
  • Enter and update personnel information in Research Foundation systems, including Workday, and maintain accurate internal tracking records.
  • Review submitted forms for completeness and apparent accuracy; follow up with PIs and employees regarding missing or incorrect information.
  • Respond to routine HR inquiries by telephone, email, video conference, written communication, or in person, and refer policy questions or unresolved matters to the appropriate HR staff member or supervisor.
  • Coordinate with RFCUNY Human Resources and Payroll staff, as needed, to support timely processing and resolution of routine discrepancies.
  • Maintain confidential personnel records and handle employee information in accordance with applicable privacy and security requirements.
  • Assist with internal CUNY data reviews and related coordination between RFCUNY and CUNY teams.
  • Provide routine administrative assistance to pre-award and post-award staff during peak workload periods and as office priorities require.
  • Receive, log, organize, and route proposal, award, and transaction documents to the appropriate GSP staff member.
  • Assist with collecting standard, non-technical proposal and award materials; maintaining checklists, shared files, trackers, and databases; and following up on outstanding documents and approvals.
  • Support routine post-award administrative activities, such as document intake, transaction tracking, record maintenance, and follow-up on the status of personnel, purchasing, payment, or other requests.
  • Monitor shared mailboxes and respond to or route general inquiries in a timely and professional manner.
  • Prepare basic correspondence, spreadsheets, reports, meeting materials, and other office documents; perform data entry, proofreading, scanning, filing, and records-management tasks.
  • Schedule meetings, assist with training or outreach logistics, and provide general administrative coverage for the office.
  • Refer complex, policy-sensitive, compliance-related, or technical grants matters to the appropriate pre-award or post-award administrator or supervisor.
  • Investigate and help resolve routine discrepancies as assigned, and perform other related duties necessary to support GSP operations.
Desired Qualifications
  • One to two years of experience in human resources, office administration, grants administration, customer service, or a related area is preferred.
  • Knowledge of HR hiring requirements, Department of Labor and USCIS regulations, sponsored-program administration, or Research Foundation processes is a plus but not required.
  • Excellent customer service, communication, business writing, proofreading, and organizational skills.
  • A bachelor's degree is preferred; an associate degree, equivalent college credits, or a comparable combination of education and relevant experience may be considered.

About the company

RFCUNY is a not-for-profit educational corporation chartered by the State of New York that helps the City University of New York system obtain external funding and administer funded programs. It provides pre-award services to identify sponsors and assist with proposal development, and post-award administration to ensure compliance and proper use of resources. It differentiates itself by serving as the official foundation for both pre- and post-award activities across the entire CUNY system, leveraging decades of experience with public and private sponsors. Its goal is to help CUNY researchers and staff secure external support and manage funded programs to advance education and research.

Company Size

1,001-5,000

Company Stage

Grant

Total Funding

$6M

Headquarters

New York City, New York

Founded

1963

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Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • May 2026 OneRF dashboards added real-time grants, HR, payroll, and procurement reporting.
  • September 2026 award reports replaced legacy college reports, improving sponsor and budget visibility.
  • RFCUNY kept adding grant opportunities in 2026 from Sloan, Spencer, Russell Sage, and Horizon Europe.

What critics are saying

  • September 2026 website and server outage exposed operational fragility across core systems.
  • OneRF migration forced legacy report replacements, creating training and adoption risk into 2027.
  • Funding dependence on federal and foundation awards ties revenue to sponsor budgets and award cycles.

What makes RFCUNY unique

  • RFCUNY powers CUNY research administration, grants, procurement, and payroll at system scale.
  • OneRF launched May 2026, unifying HR, procurement, and grant reporting in Workday.
  • RFCUNY’s grant support pipeline includes curated searches and strategic faculty funding tools.

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Benefits

  • Hybrid Work Options

Growth & Insights and Company News

6 month growth

0%

1 year growth

0%

2 year growth

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