Grants & Contracts Coordinator II

Title: Grants & Contracts Coordinator II

Executive Area: Academic Affairs

College/School/MBU: Engineering

Department: Civil & Environ Engineering

Work Location: Amherst

Schedule:Full Time

Work Arrangement:Hybrid

In support of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) financial activity, prepare reports for Principal Investigators (PIs), departments, and Department Head, including the centers within the department. Develop and prepare budgets and documents for proposal processing following federal and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidelines. Work with Office of Pre-Award Services (OPAS) and Office of Post-Award Management (OPAM) and funding agencies to assure compliance and timeliness of proposal budget process.

Manage post-award activities on sponsored grants and internal awards.

GRANT AND CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION:
Interpret Request for Proposals (RFP) and solicitations for proposal development. Implement sponsor, university, commonwealth, and federal financial policies for proposal submission and award processes. Develop proposal budgets and justifications according to agency requirements; revise budgets per agency request.
Review and check the final budgets and the Memorandum of Understanding. Organize the division of overhead return for multi-principal investigator grants and check internal processing form for accurate information. Submit proposals through grant accounting systems such as Kuali, National Science Foundation Fastlane, and Grants.gov.
Advise faculty of new guidelines relating to proposal submissions. Prepare and submit proposal budgets electronically. Advise faculty regarding proposal format compliance. Review proposal narratives for clarity and guideline requirements. Verify that all documents are in place for proposal submission to OPAS. Advise faculty of any missing documents that are required before submitting to OPAS.
Assist with grant proposal development for the Department Head when requested. Inform and guide new faculty in the process of proposal development. Set new faculty up for OPAS and Fastlane access.
Coordinate preparation and submission of collaborative proposals with other on- and off-campus personnel, including MIE subcontracts to other institutions. Interpret whether a participant in a project is a subcontractor, consultant, or vendor; provide this interpretation to the PI during the proposal process. Organize and follow cost-sharing policies if applicable.
Manage the award process, including any pre-award/pre-establishment requests, through OPAM and the Controller's Office to account set-up. Facilitate grant renewals, extensions, and amendments. Prepare and submit financial status reports for faculty as required by the grant or contract. Manage subcontract budgets, invoices, and payments; initiate purchase orders for subcontracts.
FUND ADMINISTRATION:
Provide comprehensive oversight of post-award grant management including budget analysis and forecasting, faculty effort tracking, subcontract and purchase order administration, compliance documentation, sponsor expenditure reports, and end-to-end tracking of funded awards from Notice of Award through project closeout.
Manage research accounts in various fund types including grants, contracts, gifts, and RTF. Prepare budget projections based on fiscal, academic, and grant years. Prepare financial status reports for faculty. Interpret spending rules for each fund type and inform faculty of spending guidelines and policies. Review budgets to ensure compliance with funding agency regulations and institutional requirements. Ensure that all grant expenditures are reasonable, allocable, and allowable according to OMB and agency guidelines.
Prepare overall budget forecasting to meet the Principal Investigator’s needs in budget planning and projections for their research, tracking encumbrances, expenditures, and indirect costs. Work with faculty to identify and resolve budget and compliance issues. Verify and reconcile all account activity; resolve conflicts and problems associated with financial transactions. Manage re-budgeting of funded grants with the Controller’s Office /research accountants.
Prepare Contract for Services including sole source justification as applicable. Collaborate with the department Director on joint accounting activities, such as overhead transfers, split-funding, gifts, President's Office grants, etc. Act as liaison with sponsors, program managers, subcontractors, industry and other…