Research Budget Analyst

Job Title: Research Budget Analyst

The Research Budget Analyst collaborates closely with principal investigators, researchers, departmental staff, and ancillary teams to analyze and draft complex clinical trial budgets. This role negotiates terms and conditions for pharmaceutical-sponsored, cooperative group, and institutional clinical trials, ensuring that budgets align with regulatory requirements and institutional standards. The analyst reviews and interprets clinical trial protocols to determine appropriate cost allocation and resource needs, while providing outstanding customer service and maintaining respectful, professional relationships with all stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Analyze and draft complex clinical trial budgets in collaboration with principal investigators, researchers, departmental staff, and ancillary teams.
• Review and interpret clinical trial protocols to determine appropriate cost allocation, resource requirements, and alignment with institutional standards.
• Develop sponsor budgets for pharmaceutical-sponsored, cooperative group, and institutional clinical trials.
• Negotiate mutually beneficial budget terms and conditions with industry sponsors and other external partners.
• Ensure adherence to all applicable regulations, institutional policies, and compliance standards in budget development and management.
• Perform coverage analysis and research rate setting to support accurate and compliant budget creation.
• Interpret protocol details for use in budget development and negotiation with industry sponsors.
• Support grants and clinical trial financial management through effective budget oversight and tracking.
• Collaborate with billing, compliance, and research administration teams to ensure accurate and compliant financial processes.
• Provide outstanding customer service and maintain professional, respectful relationships with investigators, sponsors, and internal stakeholders.

Essential Skills

• Experience with clinical trials and clinical trial budgeting.
• Proven ability to perform budget negotiations and manage sponsor budgets.
• Strong budget management skills, including analysis and oversight of clinical research finances.
• Experience with grants and research-related financial processes.
• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance, or a research-related field.
• Approximately 3 years of experience in clinical research (industry/pharmaceutical and/or federal grants), billing compliance, research contract management, research administration, or budget development.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

• Advanced proficiency in Excel, including VLOOKUPs, pivot tables, index functions, and other advanced features.
• Experience in clinical research budget development and negotiation.
• Experience with coverage analysis and research rate setting for clinical trials.
• Ability to interpret clinical trial protocols for budget development and negotiation with industry sponsors.
• Experience in medical coding or billing.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to detail.
• Effective communication skills for collaborating with investigators, sponsors, and internal teams.
• Ability to work independently in a remote environment while managing multiple priorities.

Work Environment

This position is fully remote, offering flexibility to work from home while collaborating virtually with research and administrative teams. Candidates must reside in one of the following states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, or Virginia. The role involves extensive use of spreadsheet software and other standard office productivity tools in a professional, research-focused environment that values collaboration, accuracy, and responsive communication.

This is a Contract to Hire position based out of Durham, North Carolina.

The pay range for this position is $32.00 - $42.00/hr.

Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits available for this temporary role may include the following: • Medical, dental & vision • Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital • 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available • Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents) • Short and long-term disability • Health Spending Account (HSA) • Transportation benefits • Employee Assistance Program • Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)

This is a fully remote position.

This position is anticipated to close on Jul 31, 2026.

About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability, please email actalentaccommodation@actalentservices.com for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance: Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector: It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process, including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.

Salary : $32 - $42