The Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI), named for Canadian icon Terry Fox, is built on Terry's dream to end cancer through research. Established in 2007, TFRI is a registered charity and invests its funds in cutting-edge cancer research through highly collaborative, team-oriented granting programs and national research networks. Together with its many research and funding partners, TFRI empowers Canada’s brightest researchers to seek out new transformational and precision medicine discoveries to advance our understanding, diagnosis and treatment of cancer with the goal of significantly improving outcomes for patients.
About this opportunity
The Contract Coordinator, Research will report to the Chief Financial Officer and play a critical role in supporting the preparation, negotiation, coordination and signing of a variety of research grants and other types of operational agreements. As an intermediate Contract Coordinator, Research you will have the opportunity to work on a large number of simultaneous and varied agreements between TFRI and its external research partners and vendors located all across Canada, including creating the agreements, working with cancer research institutions to agree on legal terms, resolving partner concerns, tracking progress, managing electronic signing, analyzing areas of risk and tracking and reconciling financial commitments in accordance with contract terms.
Preference is to candidates located in Vancouver to work hybrid out of our local office. However, all out of province applicants will be considered to work remotely.
Key responsibilities
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Coordinate the drafting, and preparation of research grant and other operational agreements using established templates.
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Compile and interpret work plans, financial budgets and payment schedules to ensure alignment with the agreement’s legal terms, including preparing amendments as needed.
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Review and analyze requested changes to standard terms and conditions for compliance with legal, regulatory and organizational requirements.
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Identify areas of potential risk in agreements and propose practical alternatives to mitigate those risks.
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Track agreement progress through draft, review, approval and execution stages using internal systems, maintaining accurate records of correspondence, changes and executed documents.
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Monitor progress, resolve issues and ensure timely execution of agreements.
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Manage the electronic signing process through Docusign for agreements with external partners, ensuring adherence to organizational policies and timelines.
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Track and reconcile financial commitments associated with each agreement using Excel and other grant management software, ensuring that payments, budgets and client expenditure reporting align with contractual obligations and are accurately recorded and reported.
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Serve as a liaison and point of first contact with Canadian research institutions and companies, including their legal, finance and research administration teams.
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Attend meetings with internal and external stakeholders to discuss existing agreements, or to develop agreement terms and requirements for new projects, programs or initiatives.
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Perform a variety of research or other analyses to support agreement preparation and execution.
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Other duties as assigned.
Qualifications
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Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
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Demonstrated 1 to 3 years experience, education and interest in research agreements, contract law and/or health-care law.
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Proven experience tracking and reconciling financial commitments via complex Excel spreadsheets or other digital tools, ensuring alignment with agreement terms and in compliance with funding requirements.
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Excellent understanding of and confidence with basic Canadian contract terms, concepts and language, including analyzing and assessing the implications and impacts of proposed changes to agreement language.
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Highly proficient with Microsoft Office Excel, and the rest of MS Suite (e.g., Word, SharePoint and Teams) and with the compiling of PDF documents.
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Proactive, confident self-starter with a very strong attention to detail and accuracy.
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Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, managing and tracking multiple concurrent agreements and priorities and delivering on established deadlines.
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Demonstrated ingenuity, judgment, and creativity to perform all job responsibilities with excellent planning and organizational skills.
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Ability to function effectively alone and in a team.
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Fluency in both Canada’s official languages would be an asset.
Benefits of working with us
- A passionate group of high-performing teammates working for a cause across Canada
- Flexible schedule
- Hybrid work
- Paid vacation
- Paid sick days
- Extended Medical and Dental Coverage after three months of employment
- Group Registered Pension Plan after three months of employment
- A work culture that values excellence, creativity, teamwork, learning, fairness and integrity
To apply
Please email your cover letter and resume to hr@tfri.ca with the subject line: Contract Coordinator, Research. Cover letters suspected of being written using AI software may be rejected. This position will remain open until July 31, or until the position is filled.
The candidate must be authorized to work in Canada.
We recognize the importance of diversity and equity in our workforce and encourage all qualified applicants to apply, including Indigenous persons, women, persons with disabilities, minorities and other underrepresented communities.
Salary range: $56,000 - $75,000