Post-Award Grants Specialist

Job Description

The UW Tacoma Office of Research has an outstanding opportunity for a Post-Award Grants Specialist to join their team.

Reporting to the Director of the Office of Research, the Post-Award Grants Specialist will support the extramural funding at the University of Washington Tacoma (UWT). This position will independently aid in the management of a complex portfolio of funding while working with UWT faculty and staff across all UWT schools and units to provide aspects of proposal development, and a focus on post-award management with a variety of organizations, including federal sponsors, foundations, and industry partners.

Partner with Principal Investigators (PIs), unit administrators, and Fiscal Services staff, beginning at award kickoff, to implement and manage sponsored projects using Workday and other university systems, ensuring alignment with project aims and full compliance with university and sponsor requirements. The role primarily supports awards in smaller units (e.g., SNHCL, Milgard, SUS, and SSWCJ), as well as complex or programmatic awards across UWT.

Responsibilities include:

• Budget execution & compliance:
  Translate proposal budgets into compliant spending plans aligned with award aims; ensure all expenditures meet sponsor and institutional requirements; communicate the information to PIs and unit staffs.
• Financial monitoring & forecasting:
  Monitor budgets, balances, and spend rates; ensure expenditures track with forecasts; identify and advise on needed adjustments, including planning for no-cost extensions.
• Expense & effort oversight:
  Conduct at least monthly reviews of expenditures for allowability with PIs; support salary and effort alignment to ensure correct charging to awards.
• Cost share management:
  Track, document, and report cost share commitments.
• Reporting & data analysis:
  Generate and analyze financial data for reporting, planning, and forecasting; support PIs in meeting sponsor reporting requirements.
• Cross-functional communication:
  Serve as a primary liaison with PIs, Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), Grants and Contracts Accounting (GCA), and sponsor representatives to address inquiries and ensure accurate budget management.
• Workday financial management:
  Navigate Workday Financials to analyze financial activities, and provide actionable insights to PIs, unit staff, and other stakeholders.
• Subject matter expertise:
  Collaborate and work closely with PIs, unit staff, and Office of Research members to provide troubleshooting assistance, training, and back‑up when needed on post award-related matters.
• Service contract stewardship:
  Coordinate with units on service contract development to ensure scopes of work and budgets are allowable, compliant, and financially viable.

Contribute to Office of Research communications, reporting, and outreach activities to support effective information exchange and grand management capacity building across the UWT campus.

Responsibilities include:

• Communications & reporting:
  Contribute to development of the annual research report and development of website and other communications content.
• Stakeholder engagement:
  Facilitate clear and consistent information exchange with PIs, unit administrators, and campus partners through award kickoff meetings, written guidance, and targeted communications.
• Policy translation:
  Interpret and translate complex policy, fiscal, and compliance requirements into clear, actionable guidance for diverse audiences.
• Training & capacity building:
  Facilitate grant management training workshops for PIs and unit administrators.
• Outreach & events support:
  Support communication and community engagement activities associated with Office of Research events.

Maintain current knowledge of evolving grant administration policies, regulations, and best practices through required training and professional development.

Contribute to process improvement initiatives within the Office of Research by identifying inefficiencies,…