Post Award Administrator

University of Chicago • Chicago, IL

8d • $75,000 - $100,000

About The Position

The Post-Award Administrator provides professional support for post-award activities relating to grants, contracts, and funding within a department or unit. The position provides financial management in an intensive customer service environment for the Department of Pathology, performing work with moderate guidance and applying knowledge of University and business drivers.

The Biological Sciences Division Research Administration Office (RAO), established in January 2024, centralizes research administrators to provide collaborative, high-quality pre- and post-award support to faculty in participating departments. Its separate pre- and post-award teams work together to support faculty portfolios throughout the life cycle of proposals and awards.

The role supports sponsored awards, gifts, and internal funding. Duties include managing accounts and expenses, coordinating with central offices and other administrators, advising on funding-related matters, and handling routine post-award financial and compliance activities. The position is a 40-hour-per-week individual contributor role. Work may involve non-traditional hours.

Requirements

• College or university degree in a related field.
• Two to five years of work experience in a related job discipline, with knowledge and skills developed through that experience.

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in accounting, business administration, or science.
• Administrative, accounting, or grant and contract administration experience.
• Experience with budgets, ledgers, invoices, and fiscal reporting.
• Experience with one or more aspects of sponsored program administration in a research environment.
• Experience with accounting systems.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office, financial computing, and database software applications.
• Mathematical aptitude.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills.
• Strong interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.
• Ability to work closely with senior University officials.
• Ability to independently complete projects on time and accurately with minimal supervision.

Responsibilities

• Serves as a primary account administrator for faculty portfolios that may include sponsored awards, gifts, and internal funding.
• Allocates, authorizes, monitors, and controls expenses.
• Maintains, oversees, reconciles, and corrects errors in accounts.
• Works with other administrators on procurement, including purchasing, internal requisitioning, and personal and travel reimbursements.
• Works with central offices to manage financial and non-financial aspects of post-award grants management.
• Advises and assists in relations and communications with funding agencies, subcontractors, and others.
• Proposes solutions to identified problems and implements fixes in accordance with policy and procedure.
• Compares actual spending with original budgets and identifies variances, with particular attention to faculty salary.
• Develops working knowledge of University policies and procedures and those of various funding agencies.
• Works closely with the department to manage faculty accounts and ensure proper spending.
• Handles post-award activities, including account creation, regulatory and compliance monitoring, salary allocations, effort reporting, grant projections, cost allocations, cost center charges, equipment inventory, invoice preparation, grant closing, and account closing.
• Prepares grant and effort-allocation summaries for Principal Investigators, meets with them, and responds to their questions.
• Coordinates with other departments, units, and divisions regarding multi-investigator grants.
• Serves as the department contact for annual audits and agency site visits.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Benefits

• The position is benefits-eligible. The University offers benefits programs and resources, including health, retirement, and paid time off.

What This Job Offers

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