MCE Grants Administrator II

University of Denver•Quinte West, ON

2d•$67,000 - $77,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Grant Administrator provides pre and post research award support and fiscal management primarily to the MCE faculty PIs and research-related Institutes and Centers. Grant Administrators collaborate directly with PIs on budget development and proposal submission in compliance with the policies of the DU Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) and provide fiscal management and reporting of grant activity on funded projects. The Grant Administrator develops processes and trainings to support research administration, and advises PIs on university policies and processes related to research personnel, records, and financial transactions. The Administrator is experienced in managing federal, state, local, and private grants and awards and maintains a strong working knowledge of both internal policies and procedures as well as policies and procedures for common funding sources and federal grant submissions. This person must be able to work collaboratively with principal investigators and the Director on creation, analysis, and management of project budgets. Grant Administrators must be detail and customer service oriented and able to work across a variety of principal investigators and project types, research requirements for proposals, comply with policy and deadlines, and maintain strong working relationships within their team, in the GSSW and MCE Business Offices, and ORSP.

Requirements

Direct prior experience with federal and state government agencies that administer sponsored research including budget preparation and monitoring, and grant administration
Ability to develop, read, analyze, and interpret general business, financial documents, and budget reports.
Ability to resolve routine problems using existing guidelines and processes
Ability to make independent decisions and or/recommendations when necessary
Ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines
Ability to research, investigate, analyze, reconcile and evaluate data.
Ability to understand and effectively communicate complex financial reports and other information to individuals with varying levels of experience.
Strong MS Office skills, including Excel
Demonstrated commitment, knowledge and ability to effectively engage individuals from broadly inclusive communities
Bachelor’s degree in a related field and 3 years research administration-related experience, including preparing proposal submissions, and providing post-award grants administration. Associates degree and work experience related to the position can be substituted on a year for year basis for the BA.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting
5-8 years grant related experience, including experience with NIH and other federal agencies and knowledge of 2 CFR 200
2 years’ experience working in a higher education research related role
Experience monitoring sub-recipient expenses and activities
Experience managing personnel activities

Responsibilities

Support faculty in the development and submission of grant proposals, including helping develop a timeline, budget preparation, completion of sponsor and institutional forms, and navigation of required submission systems. May include some subrecipient outreach and proposal project management.
Advise faculty and unit leadership on sponsor guidelines, eligibility requirements, budget rules (including selecting appropriate rates), and university policies related to proposal submission, personnel effort, and budget considerations.
Maintain current knowledge of and advises faculty, institute, and center leadership on federal and other external sponsor requirements to ensure proposals are compliant and ready for submission.
Initiate and manage proposal records within the university’s electronic research administration system (InfoEd) and coordinate required institutional reviews and approvals prior to submission.
Provide guidance, tools, and resources to strengthen proposal development and to support pursuit of external funding opportunities.
Collaborate closely with the Associate Dean for Research, Director for Research Administration, the Business Office, and ORSP to ensure IDC, cost-share, course buyout, grant pay, space requirements or other impacts are understood and can be accommodated.
Provide strategic oversight of post-award grant portfolios, ensuring both current-year execution and long-range financial sustainability across multiple projects, funding sources, departments, institutes, and centers.
Lead long-range financial planning for sponsored projects, including multi-year forecasting, scenario modeling, and alignment of grant expenditures with project milestones, staffing plans, and institutional priorities.
Provide strategic financial technical assistance and guidance to the ADR, project PIs, and teams across a complex portfolio. This might include: developing and managing budgets across a portfolio or within a project for tasks and sub-tasks; providing training on financial and grants management topics; identifying resources for hiring across more than one project; and creatively translating complex data into reports and presentations.
Manage post-award grant budgets with PIs across the project lifecycle, including spending projections, expense monitoring, forecasting, identification of potential cost overruns or allowability issues, and supporting budget modifications.
Process and oversee grant-related financial transactions, including entering hire requests, requesting purchase orders and contracts, reviewing P-Card activity, journal entries, and other required financial actions.
Ensure compliance with university policies and sponsor regulations, including effort certification, payroll allocation, documentation standards, subrecipient and consultant agreements, incentives tracking, and record retention requirements.
Coordinate and support subcontract and consultant monitoring in collaboration with central research offices and partners.
Prepare and deliver required financial, progress, and final reports for Investigators, sponsors, regulatory bodies, and internal stakeholders.
Collaborate and maintain a strong working relationship with research administration, business offices, and project staff to facilitate appropriate transactions, communication, and shared understanding of budget status and project needs.
Develop and support improvements to financial monitoring, reporting, and grants administration processes.
Assists the Business Team to process general ledger entries related to human resources, finance, and other transactions as needed or directed.
Conduct training sessions and coordinates onboarding for new staff members with budgetary and HR responsibilities.
Support research related personnel actions, including searches, hiring, payroll concerns and separations, working collaboratively with center and institute leaders and the Director on staffing plans.
Provide and manage backup support for essential business functions in college departments during staff vacancies.
Provide limited project management or complex administrative support for select projects, as needed.
Other duties as assigned by the Dean and AD.