SPAS Junior Project Manager & AI Analyst

Are you passionate about research, innovation, and the transformative potential of artificial intelligence? Join the Sponsored Project Administrative Services (SPAS) team as a Junior Project Manager and AI Analyst and help advance impactful research and externally funded projects through effective project coordination, data-driven decision-making, and responsible application of AI technologies. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to high-impact research, support innovative solutions, and help shape the future of research administration. If you thrive in a collaborative environment, enjoy solving complex challenges, and are excited about leveraging emerging technologies to improve research outcomes, we encourage you to apply. Bring your research expertise, project management skills, and AI experience to the SPAS team and help drive research excellence and innovation across the University, Alaska and beyond!

As the SPAS Junior Project Manager & AI Analyst, you will support the planning, coordination, and execution of research and externally funded projects with a particular emphasis on artificial intelligence initiatives and research innovation. Working closely with Principal Investigators, faculty, researchers, and project teams, you will help define research questions, identify appropriate AI applications, develop project-specific workflows and prototypes, and evaluate the effectiveness of AI-assisted research tools. You will conduct literature reviews, gather and synthesize quantitative and qualitative information, assess research findings, develop reports and presentations, and assist in establishing protocols that support the responsible, effective, and compliant use of AI technologies in research environments. Through collaboration with faculty and research professionals, you will contribute to research products, evaluation activities, and project outcomes that advance institutional research goals.

You will coordinate assigned components of complex research and sponsored projects by maintaining schedules, work plans, milestone trackers, reporting calendars, and project documentation systems that support successful project execution. You will assist Principal Investigators, project managers, and research administrators in translating project objectives into organized tasks, deadlines, deliverables, and reporting requirements. In this role, you will facilitate communication among researchers, sponsors, stakeholders, committees, and external partners; coordinate meetings, workshops, and demonstrations; prepare agendas, meeting summaries, action items, and project records; and support the preparation of sponsor reports and project documentation. You will also develop and maintain practical templates, tracking tools, and procedures that improve project organization, reporting, accountability, and operational efficiency.

You will provide fiscal and administrative support for assigned research projects, including the university's AI-related initiatives. Responsibilities include maintaining budget tracking tools, monitoring expenditures, supporting account reconciliations, assisting with financial reporting, tracking procurements and project costs, and ensuring required fiscal documentation is complete and routed appropriately. You will help prepare budget revisions, funding modifications, expenditure forecasts, and fiscal status summaries while maintaining awareness of sponsor requirements, university procedures, and award terms. By working collaboratively with research administration, fiscal staff, faculty, and project teams, you will help ensure projects remain organized, compliant, financially responsible, and positioned to achieve successful outcomes.

To thrive in this role, the successful candidate should possess a strong blend of research administration expertise, project management experience, and advanced technological fluency, particularly in the application of artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) within research and administrative settings. They should possess demonstrated experience supporting complex research initiatives and externally funded projects while leveraging AI-enabled technologies to improve data analysis, information synthesis, workflow efficiency, reporting quality, and overall project outcomes. A thorough understanding of AI capabilities, limitations, responsible use practices, human oversight requirements, output validation, and data governance principles should be central to their professional background.

The ideal candidate should possess strong analytical and organizational skills, with experience coordinating multiple concurrent projects, managing schedules and deliverables, supporting budgets, and synthesizing complex quantitative and qualitative information into clear reports, presentations, and recommendations. They should possess the ability to evaluate emerging technologies, develop project-specific AI use cases, assess outputs against established criteria, and integrate AI tools into research and administrative processes while maintaining accuracy, compliance, and appropriate human review.

Success in this position should be supported by exceptional communication and collaboration abilities, enabling the candidate to work effectively with faculty, researchers, staff, government agencies, industry partners, and other stakeholders. The successful candidate should possess a demonstrated ability to develop innovative workflows, project tracking systems, and documentation practices that improve efficiency and accountability. Candidates with practical experience applying AI and LLM technologies to real-world research, project management, knowledge-management, and operational challenges, combined with strong research coordination and sponsored-project experience, should be particularly well positioned to excel in this dynamic and evolving environment.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree and one year of research experience in a field relevant to the research (e.g. project management, public policy, math, business, data analysis, social science), or an equivalent combination of training and experience.

Position Details:

This position is located in Anchorage, Alaska, and flexible on-site/hybrid work arrangements may be considered in accordance with UA regulations. This is a term-funded, full-time, exempt staff position complete with both a competitive salary and full employee benefits package. UA provides a generous compensation package that includes retirement options, annual leave, 12 paid holidays per year, tuition waivers for employees and family members, and affordable medical, dental and vision care coverage. New hires will be placed on the UA Staff Salary Schedule, Grade 79, based on education and experience.

Application review will begin on November 02, 2026. Applications received by this date will receive priority consideration; however, the recruitment will remain open until filled.

The University of Alaska (UA) requires employees to work on-site based on operational and business needs. Hybrid and remote work arrangements may be considered only for positions specifically designated and advertised as eligible for hybrid or remote work. Any approved arrangement will be based on the position’s duties, operational needs, and the employee’s ability to effectively perform the work remotely.

📃To view the full list of job responsibilities, please click HERE.

☎️If you have any questions regarding this position, please contact Kelsie Kingston at kakingston@alaska.edu.

*To be eligible for this position, applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States without restriction.  Applicants who now or may in the future require visa sponsorship to work in the United States are not eligible.

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This is a term-funded position reviewed annually for contract renewal at the University's discretion.

The University of Alaska (UA) is responsible for providing reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities throughout the applicant screening process. If you need assistance in completing this application or during any phase of the interview process, please contact the ADA team at ua-ada@alaska.edu.

The University of Alaska (www.alaska.edu) is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access Employer and Educational Institution.  The University is committed to a policy of non-discrimination (www.alaska.edu/nondiscrimination) against individuals on the basis of any legally protected status.

The successful applicant is required to complete a background check. Any offer of employment is contingent on the background check.

Your application for employment with the University of Alaska is subject to public disclosure under the Alaska Public Records Act.

All employees at the University of Alaska are expected to uphold the highest standards of ethics and professionalism when conducting or engaged in university business.

*Each university within the University of Alaska system publishes an Annual Security and Fire Safety Report which contains information regarding campus safety and security including topics such as: campus law enforcement authority; crime reporting policies; campus alerts (Timely Warnings and Emergency Notifications); fire safety policies and procedures; programs to prevent dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking; the procedures the University will follow when one of these crimes is reported; and other matters of importance related to security on campus. The report also contains information about crime statistics for the three most recent calendar years concerning reported crimes that occurred on campus; in On-Campus Student Housing Facilities; in Noncampus buildings or property owned or controlled by the University or a recognized student organization; and on public property within, or immediately adjacent to and accessible from, the campus.  The report also contains fire statistics for any fires occurring in an On-Campus Student Housing Facility during the three most recent calendar years.  

Access to the reports is available at:

UAA: (Addresses Anchorage campus, Aviation Technology Complex, JBER - Elmendorf Extension, JBER - Richardson Extension, Kenai Peninsula College - Kachemak Bay campus, Kenai Peninsula College - Kenai River campus, Kodiak College, Kodiak High School Extension, Matanuska-Susitna College, Prince William Sound College, and Prince William Sound College - Cordova Extension) Online: https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/students/safety. Request a paper copy in person: UAA Police Department Office at Room 114 of Eugene Short Hall on the Anchorage campus / UAA Dean of Students Office at Room 122 of Rasmuson Hall on the Anchorage campus. Request a paper copy by mail: 907-786-1120 or police@uaa.alaska.edu / 907-786-1214 or uaa_deanofstudents@alaska.edu. 

UAF: (Addresses Fairbanks Campus, Bristol Bay Campus, Chukchi Campus, Community and Technical College, Kasitsna Bay Campus, Seward Marine Center, Tok Campus, Kuskokwim Campus, and Northwest Campus) Online: https://www.uaf.edu/orca/files/ASFSR.pdf. Request a paper copy in person: UAF Office of Rights, Compliance and Accountability on the 3rd Floor of Constitution Hall. Request a paper copy by mail: 907-474-7300 or uaf-orca@alaska.edu.

UAS: (Addresses the Juneau Auke Bay Campus, Juneau Technical Education Center, Sitka Campus, & Ketchikan Campus) Online:  https://uas.alaska.edu/compliance/clery-act/annual-security-reports.html. Request a paper copy in person: Hendrickson Building, Suite 202 on the Juneau campus. Request a paper copy by mail: 907-796-6371 or emailing  uas.orca@alaska.edu.