General Summary: 

The Grant and Contract Administrator (GCA) is a four-level series. This series supports faculty and staff from assigned units with both pre- and post-award (non-financial) project management and provides assistance to other Grant and Contract Administrator staff, as needed and as their levels dictate. The GCA role is vital in the success of sponsored research in that they provide daily supervision over all proposals and awards. S/he will work closely with faculty and departmental staff to educate them about how to best achieve successful funding by reviewing and advising on sponsor regulations and institute policies and procedures. The GCA understands the unique processes involved in the overall research effort and has the ability to comprehend the needs of the individual researchers and department business managers. The GCA works with the Principal Investigators (PIs) and department business managers to cultivate research proposals; submits research proposals to sponsors; negotiates acceptable award terms; ensures timely set-up of awards; oversees transactions related to grant/contract management; and maintains grant/contract records in compliance with university and research sponsor policies. The GCA assists with identifying potential funding sources; preparing and submitting project proposals; preparing and submitting budgets and progress reports; processing and monitoring project expenditures; training of departmental grants staff; and maintaining compliance with university policies and procedures, sponsor requirements, terms and conditions, and federal regulations regarding research involving human and animal subjects.

Organizational Levels: The organizational levels in this series include:

• Grant and Contract Administrator I: This is the entry-level professional job in this series;

• Grant and Contract Administrator II: This is the second-level professional job in this series;

• Grant and Contract Administrator III: This is the third-level professional job in this series.

• Grant and Contract Administrator IV: This is the fourth-level and senior professional job in this series.

Examples of Duties: 

• Assist Principal Investigators (PIs) with identifying potential extramural funding sources by responding to requests for applications and obtaining guidelines and forms, aiding the PIs with completing forms and assurance documents, assisting with preparing and negotiating subcontracts; and ensuring proposals meet sponsor format and submission requirements;

• Assist PIs with processing and monitoring project expenditures by obtaining necessary financial reports, preparing and submitting programmatic reports; and assisting with budgetary forecasting; assist with reporting time and effort commitments; • Serve as the primary liaison between PIs and ORSP and other University departments involved with grants administration, such as Procurement, Human Resources and Budget Office to process financial information;

• Assist PIs with personnel management and office space management and in securing suitable space for research and program activities;

• Assist PIs to assure compliance with University policies and procedures, sponsor requirements and the relevant laws and regulations in research with human subjects and the care and protection of animals; assist PIs with the timely completion and processing of appropriate forms for the review of research protocols, as well as compliance progress and final reports;

• Participate in specialized training activities related to sponsored programs and partake in initiatives to improve University business processes related to the conduct of sponsored programs;

• Establish and maintain awards in PeopleSoft and utilize electronic proposal submission procedures as needed; • Maintain procedures for pre-award administration processes and contribute content to communicate to University business managers;

• Assist with efforts to develop training and web content for pre-award services and contributes information to be communicated to University business managers, as needed;

• Assist with establishing and documenting procedures for the pre-award administration, as needed;

• Provide guidance and assistance to other Grant and Contract Administrators and Departmental Research Administrators, as required or requested;

• Work seamlessly with Post-Award team member(s) to provide excellent service to PIs and Department customers;

• Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications: 

GCA IV-Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in business, finance or related fields or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Ten plus years of relevant work experience directly related to sponsored research administration in an academic or equivalent setting
• Demonstrated expert-level proficiency with PeopleSoft Financial and Grants Modules or similar enterprise-wide system (Oracle, SAP, Banner, Workday, etc.)
• Demonstrated expert-level proficiency with sponsor ERA systems (Era Commons, NIH-ASSIST, Grants.gov, Research.gov) Demonstrated expert-level proficiency with common desktop applications (MS-Office, Adobe Acrobat, Xythos, Googledocs, etc.)
• Demonstrated expert-level proficiency with electronic grant administration systems (Kuali Research, InfoEd, etc.)
• Demonstrated expert-level analytical and creative problem solving skills, with the ability to prioritize and work under pressure in a deadline oriented environment.
• Demonstrated expert-level ability to prioritize competing deliverables and work in a deadline-driven, fast-paced environment while completing deliverables on time.
• Demonstrated expert-level ability to present at seminars and workshops to train faculty and staff and disseminate information about sponsor and university policies and procedures for obtaining and managing grant and contract funding.
• Demonstrated expert-level knowledge of program administration guidelines for both federal and non-federal funding agencies.
• Demonstrated expert-level proficiency identifying, interpreting, communicating and applying federal rules, regulations and requirements, including OMB Uniform Guidance (previously A-133, A-21, A-110) PHS Grants Policy Statement, FAR Clauses
• Demonstrated expert-level proficiency in comprehending, interpreting, communicating, and applying grant recipient and granting agency policies, procedures and regulations pertaining to grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, and sub-awards.
• Demonstrated expert-level ability to understand and apply university policies and procedures, as well as the laws, and rules and regulations pertaining to grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, subcontracts;
• Demonstrated expert-level ability to review and approve proposals prior to submissions to ensure compliance with University and Sponsor regulations; review and interpret proposal guidelines and advise faculty; as necessary to ensure compliance with sponsor policies and requirements; prepare and approve budgets in accordance with University and Sponsor policies and rates.

GCA IV-Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree in business, finance or related field.
• Previous supervisory experience is preferred.
• Demonstrated subject matter expertise in various sponsors’ ERA systems and modules functionality and requirements.
• Experience training department and/or central office ERA user.
• Ability to utilized applications to develop new resources and novel tools.
• Demonstrated subject matter expertise with electronic grant administration systems (Kuali Research, InfoEd, etc.)
• Experience training departmental and/or central office administrators.
• Ability to perform systems administrator role within ERA environment.
• High degree of initiative, independent judgment and strategic decision making abilities. Demonstrated subject matter expertise in federal regulation.
• Experience tracking regulatory tends (i.e. COGR and…) and identifying institutional implication.
• Demonstrated subject matter expertise in various sponsors’ policies and T&C’s.
• Experience training departmental and/or central office administrators. Expertise developing communications and notifications to various institutional audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to advise and develop relevant instructional policies and practices to address regulatory and compliance issues and articulate industry wide standards and best practices.
• Experience developing communications and notifications to various institutional audiences.
• Demonstrated expert-level knowledge of funding opportunities available for assigned departments; match funding opportunities with needs and expertise or principal investigators.
• Demonstrated subject matter expertise in proposals development and review of all application and funding instrument types including high-profile, high complexity and large consortium collaborations.
• Experience training departmental and/or central office administrators.
• Ability to coordinate or lead reviews in collaboration with other institutional or system offices (Institutional Compliance, Office of General Council, Technology Commercialization, etc.) and develop contractual language as needed.
• Additional expertise in award implications related to compliance, intellectual property, conflict of interest, subawards, procurement, property management, environmental health and safety and human resources.
• Demonstrated ability to participate in initiatives to improve business processes related to customer service and the conduct of sponsored programs at the university.
• Demonstrated ability to supervise and lead a team.

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:           

GCA I -  31

GCA II - 32

GCA III- 33

GCA IV -34

Salary Ranges

This is an exempt union position. 

All official salary offers must be approved by Human Resources.