Senior Grants Specialist; Remote - Psychiatry

Position Summary

The Department of Psychiatry seeks a Grants Specialist to manage the entire sponsored project life cycle, ensuring research proposals meet sponsor guidelines and are successfully submitted. The Senior GS supports faculty, center directors, and staff through pre- and post-award stages, including proposal preparation, just-in-time requests, and compliance.

• Performs pre-award duties for complex proposals (program projects, ARPA-H, DOD, DOE applications) with minimal guidance; works with faculty on proposal preparation and submission.
• Manages budgeting, analysis, and justifications for proposals; gathers information for protocols and non-technical components.
• Serves as liaison between the Chair, Faculty, and Department Administrators.
• Stays current on federal and university research‑administration developments and regulations.
• Coordinates the submission process, works with PI to prepare budgets, obtains pricing quotes, and ensures regulatory compliance of data collected.
• Prepares and reviews all agency forms for submission.
• Enters grant budgeting documents online when required.
• Obtains PI and institutional signatures for proposal submissions.
• Initiates subaward setup through the SUBS system, uploads pre‑award documents, and hands them off to Post‑award for fund number entry.
• Coordinates with the Post‑award unit and OSRS to ensure timely implementation of contracts and subcontracts through the SUBS system.

• Manages and monitors complex sponsored‑project budgets, ensuring appropriate and timely expenditures and reconciliation of funds.
• Approves purchasing documents and advises purchasing staff on expenditures according to grant policies.
• Manages subawards, including receipt, review, and forwarding to PI for approval.
• Identifies accuracy issues and provides troubleshooting for fund profile setups and financial reports.
• Creates, addresses, and processes correspondence of moderate complexity with granting agencies (e.g., inquiries, carry‑forward requests, change‑in‑effort requests, no‑cost extensions).
• Serves as internal liaison and grant content representative with SPA; prepares project advances, no‑cost extensions, and ensures funds are carried forward appropriately.
• Ensures human and animal study protocols are associated with the applicable proposal or award.
• Obtains documentation on participation of foreign nationals on research projects.
• Coordinates support for grant‑related information requests (audit inquiries, effort distribution, trainee information, protocol approvals).
• Maintains communication with leadership on pre‑ and post‑award activities to provide a high level of customer service to faculty.
• Tracks and maintains an online database of grants submitted, awarded, rejected, etc.
• Prepares monthly financial reports on complex research accounts and discusses them with PIs and senior leadership.
• Assists DA in reconciling funds and monitoring spending, overdrafts, and cost‑sharing commitments; processes budget adjustments as needed.
• Obtains signatures and forwards grant/contract financial status reports to PI and senior leadership.
• Works with PIs to provide fund management and make necessary budgetary changes.
• Oversees transfer of PI grants and contracts from WashU to new institutions or departments.
• May prepare and submit invoices per final contract, track sponsor checks, and ensure proper deposit.

• Reviews complex notice of award (NOA) documents, noting terms and conditions for SPA and PI.
• Monitors and works with PI to submit annual agency reports (e.g., RPPRs).
• Oversees transfer of PI grants and contracts into WashU.

• Coordinates support for complex grant‑related information requests (biosketches, trainee info, protocol approvals).

• Assists with analysis of grant database metrics and funding trends.
• Organizes alert plans for PIs, informing them of upcoming deadlines for continuation, renewal, and progress reports.

• Manages closure of complex sponsored‑project accounts.
• Submits…