Grants and Contracts Manager

University of Washington • Seattle, WA

22h • Hybrid

About The Position

The Department of Chemistry at the University of Washington seeks a Grants and Contracts Manager to administer sponsored projects and other externally funded activities compliantly, effectively, and on time. Reporting to the Director of Finance, the manager provides comprehensive pre-award and post-award support across the grant and contract lifecycle, advises principal investigators and research staff, and supports the department’s general financial operations. The role manages two employees.

The position is in person and full time at 100% FTE, with possible eligibility for a hybrid schedule of up to two days per week subject to operational needs and approval. Work is generally performed in an office or hybrid environment and involves extensive use of computers, email, and financial or research-administration systems. Workload may increase around proposal deadlines, fiscal year-end, reporting periods, audits, award closeout, and other peak cycles. Occasional work outside normal business hours may be required to meet sponsor deadlines or support time-sensitive departmental needs.

The Department of Chemistry is a large academic unit with approximately 45 faculty, 240 graduate students, 40 postdoctoral scholars, and 70 staff. It manages approximately $28 million in annual grant and contract expenditures. The annual pay range is $67,632 to $101,448. This is a regular position. The University describes its workplace as diverse and intellectually engaging, offers opportunities for professional growth, and is committed to an inclusive, respectful, and welcoming community. Applicants considered for the position must disclose substantiated findings or current investigations related to sexual misconduct at current and past employment, as required under Washington state law.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration, Business, Finance, Accounting, Research Administration, or a related field, and three years of experience in grants and contracts administration, sponsored research, research finance, or a closely related administrative or financial field. Equivalent education and/or experience may substitute for minimum qualifications except where legal requirements apply.
• Experience supporting both proposal development and post-award financial administration, or an equivalent combination of responsibilities.
• Strong organizational, analytical, problem-solving, and project-management skills, including the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines accurately with minimal supervision.
• Ability to interpret and apply University, federal, state, and sponsor policies, regulations, and procedures.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain complex requirements clearly to faculty, staff, students, and external partners.
• Ability to handle confidential financial, personnel, proposal, and sponsor information with discretion, judgment, and diplomacy.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in a university, academic research, healthcare, nonprofit, or similarly complex sponsored-program environment.
• Experience supervising fiscal staff or coordinating the work of grants and financial administrators.
• Experience with UW research-administration, financial, procurement, payroll, labor-distribution, or sponsored-program systems.
• Experience preparing or reviewing proposal budgets, budget justifications, subaward materials, sponsor forms, financial reports, or award modifications.
• Working knowledge of federal and non-federal grant and contract requirements, including allowability, allocability, reasonableness, cost sharing, effort, subawards, procurement, documentation, and record retention.
• Experience developing procedures, training materials, tracking tools, reports, or process improvements; proficiency with Microsoft Office, especially Excel; and ability to learn new systems.
• Experience partnering with principal investigators, research administrators, faculty, and central administrative offices across the full award lifecycle.

Responsibilities

• Supervise a Grants Specialist and advise investigators and research staff on sponsor requirements, timelines, routing, and proposal-submission procedures.
• Coordinate proposal budgets, justifications, subaward materials, and required proposal components; review submissions for completeness and compliance; and resolve administrative issues before deadlines.
• Supervise a Budget/Fiscal Analyst and coordinate award setup, financial monitoring, projections, reconciliations, reporting, budget revisions, rebudgeting, no-cost extensions, carryforward, payroll actions, subawards, amendments, and closeout.
• Interpret sponsor terms and University requirements; maintain complete, audit-ready records; monitor reporting, effort, cost sharing, subawards, deliverables, and other obligations; address compliance concerns; and support audits and internal reviews.
• Serve as a primary contact for faculty, staff, research teams, central administrative units, and external partners; provide guidance, communicate deadlines and policy changes, and deliver grants-management training and onboarding.
• Maintain accurate data in financial and sponsored-project systems; generate reports and management summaries; develop procedures, checklists, templates, and workflow improvements; and assist with system testing and implementation.
• Assist the Director of Finance or Administrator with departmental fiscal operations and time-sensitive financial projects.
• Manage two employees.

Benefits

• The posting refers applicants to the University of Washington staff benefits information but does not specify individual benefits in the description.
• Opportunities for professional growth.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager