General Summary: 

The Departmental Grant Administrator (DGA) is a three-level series that supports the Institute for Community Inclusion and the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development. This series will provide routine oversight and management of the research grant portfolios of multiple Principal Investigators (PI’s) by researching, preparing, and monitoring externally funded grants, contracts and cooperative agreements. The Departmental Grant Administrator will be responsible for account maintenance; processing personnel actions; forecasting, expenditure reporting, as well as account allocations; and maintaining grant records in compliance with university and research sponsor policies. The incumbents will work closely with each PI on all aspects of the administration of his/her research project, including provision of analysis and modifications and assisting with special projects, when needed. The Departmental Grant Administrator will work in collaboration with the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) and other central administrative units at the University; and may supervise other grants administration staff.

Organizational Levels: The organizational level currently open in this series is:

· Departmental Grant Administrator II. The DGA II is the second-level professional job in this series.

Examples of Duties: 

• Provide technical assistance to Principal Investigators (PI’s) by preparing and ensuring completeness of funding proposals; review project budgets, obtain and verify necessary approvals, and when appropriate, recommend changes to applications with input from higher level department/grant administrators.
• Support PI’s in the processing of non-competing continuations, progress reports, supplements and other award/ agreement amendments.
• Create purchase orders, process invoices and travel expense reports, and submit personal action forms.
• Monitor monthly budget reports, salary costs, supply costs, and staff and/or faculty effort on each research project to ensure that expenses do not exceed revenues and awards are expensed with appropriate fiscal management and in a manner consistent with University and research sponsor policies and practices; utilize software applications for projecting future expenses.
• Maintain familiarity of sponsor terms and conditions specific to Administrator’s grant portfolio.
• Provide technical assistance to PI’s with contract administration, budgetary compliance, and reporting of grants;
• Assist the ORSP Billing, Accounts Receivable and Financial Analysis team within the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) with outreach to sponsors regarding invoicing and outstanding payments, as needed.
• Assist higher level Grant Administrators with collecting information and documentation for external or internal auditors in their examination of active and terminated projects. 
• Liaise as necessary with ORSP pre-award, post-award and compliance staff, or other central university departments.
• Assist with other research administration tasks as required or requested.
• In conjunction with PI’s, prepare budgets and budget justifications for sponsored program proposals.
• Develop and maintain accurate records for each research project and prepare project summary reports for the Director of Finance, ORSP and the Director and/or Associate Dean.
• Assist in the orientation and training of new grant administrators.
• Assist with ORSP and departmental training for PI’s and faculty.
• Provide guidance to junior grant administrators during proposal submission process.
• Liaise with external grant managers on subcontracts and grant applications and renewals.
• Exhibit understanding of sub-recipient monitoring requirements.
• Maintain familiarity with applicable federal regulations, policies, guidelines, latest applications and amendments.
• Attend campus meetings (e.g. Finance & Advisory Committee) as appropriate.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications: 

Bachelor’s Degree, preferably in business, finance or a similar area relevant to grant administration, and three-five years of professional experience in sponsored programs in an academic, non-profit or equivalent setting is required. Demonstrated financial management experience required. Experience with proposal submission and RFPs, as well as post-award functions involving several types of award mechanisms, including grants, contracts, sub-contracts and cooperative agreements required. Membership in professional organizations, such as Society of Research Administrators (SRA) and/or National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) preferred. Certified Research Administrator (CRA) is preferred. Familiarity with: human-subject compliance, intellectual property, conflict of interest, procurement, property management, environmental health and safety, and human resources is preferred.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities for the Level II Position:

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite especially Excel and proficiency with PeopleSoft or a similar robust financial accounting system.
• Working knowledge of OMB Uniform Guidance for institutions of higher education or non-profit organizations.
• Working knowledge of and experience meeting audit requests.
• Ability to understand and apply university policies and procedures, as well as the laws, rules and regulations pertaining to grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, sub-recipients.
• Ability to work independently within the department and with other central administrative units of the university.
• Ability to obtain information from the enterprise database system and to understand sponsored program financial reports and related documents.
• Ability to maintain accurate records and to prepare summary reports.
• Ability to act with discretion and judgment and maintenance of confidentiality is vital.
• Ability to be flexible and highly organized.
• Effective analytical and creative problem-solving skills, with the ability to prioritize and work under pressure in a deadline-oriented environment.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Strong commitment to customer service.
• Skill in the use of electronic sponsored program services systems is requisite (e.g. NSF Fastlane, Grants.gov, eCommons).
• Ability to exercise independent judgment especially during proposal submission process and in response to audit requests.
• Ability to develop project workflow and timeline documents.

Application Instructions: 

Please apply online with your resume, cover letter and list of three professional references.

Review of candidates will begin following the application closing date. 

Only Internal candidates in the Professional Staff Bargaining Unit will be considered during the first 10 business days of the posting.  All other candidates will be considered after that period. 

Salary Ranges for the appropriate Pay Grade can be found at the following link: 

Grade: 31            

Salary Ranges

This is an exempt union position.

All official salary offers must be approved by Human Resources.

UMass Boston is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, we will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations for the hiring process. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact HRDirect@umb.edu or 617-287-5150.