Grant & Contract Specialist

Overview

POSITION SUMMARY:

Under the general direction of the Department Administrator, or designee, the Grant and Contract Specialist I is responsible for performing diversified and complex administrative, financial, and pre‑ and post‑award budgetary functions in support of departmental activities, to include both responsibilities for restricted and unrestricted departmental funds.

This is an open‑rank posting (there are 3 levels of Grant & Contract Specialist) – candidates will be hired into the level commensurate with their experience.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Monitor post‑award activities to insure adherence to sponsor guidelines and all reporting requirements are met. Inform Administrator on budget variances.
• Assist with any changes to award budgets and submit necessary paperwork for approval of such actions.
• Set up and maintain computerized accounting system for the accurate management of funds.
• Compile financial data for use in forecasting and analysis.
• Assist in the preparation of reports for presentation to federal and sponsoring agencies.
• Prepare data for financial reports, budgets, budget and research fund reconciliations, forecasting, analysis, and ad‑hoc reports for Administrators and PI's as needed.
• Review terms and conditions of new awards for issues involving allowable costs, re‑budgeting and reporting requirements, confidentiality clauses, faculty time and effort monitoring, cost sharing, equipment justification, and ensure compatibility with sponsoring agencies' regulations and university policies and procedures.
• Monitor contracts, extensions, and amendments with outside vendors, private agencies, and consultants in conjunction with Purchasing and legal offices. Inform Administrator on variances.
• Manage all phases of post‑award grants and contracts administration, to include monitoring budgets, expenses, and recovered overhead. Advise Administrator of reporting requirements.
• Assist faculty in finding possible funding opportunities.
• Assist and participate with Grant Accounting in award termination process to close‑out accounts. Notify Administrator of final status.
• Monitor Departmental voluntary and mandatory cost sharing.
• Provide research and administrative support for special projects; assist in the preparation of data for projects and studies such as updating procedure manuals or analyzing activities compiles statistics.
• Process consultant agreements, travel vouchers, purchase orders, reallocation of expenditures, and other expenses.
• Participate in the preparation and certification of the annual space and effort documentation.
• Participate in the preparation of the Departmental annual operating budget submission.
• Perform other duties as required.

Duties noted above plus:

• Provide assistance in the management of all pre‑award administration, to include, but not limited to, advising Administrator and PI of sponsor guidelines, participation in application assembly, budget preparation, faculty guidance, e‑submission processes, UMMS required paperwork, etc. and other administrative requirements for the submission of all federal and non‑federal grants and contracts.
• Monitor regulatory and compliance requirements for all sponsored research activity, keeping detailed files and a tracking mechanism for annual renewals. Inform Administrator of variances.
• Assist in analytical studies of existing or proposed clinical trials to provide the economic basis for management decisions to improve operational/financial performance and to realize productivity improvements.
• Monitor all clinical trial funding sources by tracking revenue and expenditure activity and monitoring of trial milestones, identify variances and assist in resolving account variances.
• Monitor contracts, extensions, and amendments with outside vendors, private agencies, and consultants in conjunction with Purchasing and legal offices; monitor the contracts for cost effectiveness and quality performance standards.
• Prepare data for financial reports, budgets, budget and research fund reconciliations, forecasting, analysis, and ad‑hoc reports for Administrators and PI's as needed.…