Pre & Post Award Clinical Research Grants Project Manager
About The Position
Vitalief is seeking an experienced Pre & Post-Award Clinical Research Grants Project Manager to support a major statewide clinical research initiative for a leading academic medical center in New Jersey. The Project Manager will serve as the central point of coordination for the overall grant initiative, working closely with the Principal Investigator, client leadership, and cross-functional teams including Research, Finance, Sponsored Programs, Regulatory/IRB, Contracts, Data, Operations, and external collaborators. This is a project leadership and coordination role. The Project Manager will not necessarily perform every grant-related function but will ensure that the appropriate teams complete their responsibilities accurately and on schedule.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree in life sciences, public health, healthcare administration, business, or related field.
- 8+ years of experience in clinical research, grants administration, sponsored research, research administration, or project management.
- Experience managing complex pre- and post-award grants, preferably within an academic medical center, university, healthcare system, or research consortium.
- Strong understanding of the full state and federal grant lifecycle, including proposal development, submission, award setup, financial management, compliance, reporting, subawards, and closeout.
- Experience working closely with Principal Investigators and multidisciplinary research teams.
- Strong knowledge of grant budgeting, forecasting, financial monitoring, and sponsored research compliance.
- Experience coordinating multiple stakeholders, workstreams, deadlines, and deliverables in a matrixed environment.
- Excellent communication, organization, problem-solving, and relationship-management skills.
- Ability to drive accountability and influence outcomes without direct authority over project team members.
- Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
Nice To Haves
- Knowledge of NIH funding mechanisms, including P and U awards and Center grants (P30/P50), preferred.
- Experience with multi-institutional research, subrecipients, or external collaborators preferred.
Responsibilities
- Develop and manage the overall grant project plan, timelines, milestones, deliverables, and dependencies.
- Coordinate pre-award proposal development and submission activities across multiple internal departments and external organizations.
- Track deliverables, deadlines, sponsor requirements, and project dependencies.
- Identify and proactively address project risks, gaps, issues, and potential delays.
- Coordinate meetings, action items, decisions, communications, and follow-up across project teams.
- Serve as the primary liaison between the PI/project team, institutional research administration, Finance, Contracts, Regulatory/IRB, and external collaborators / subrecipients.
- Support post-award implementation, including award setup, budget management, financial monitoring, reporting, subawards, and closeout.
- Monitor budgets and expenditures and assist with forecasting, financial issue resolution, and compliance with sponsor requirements.
- Coordinate IRB and other regulatory activities and ensure required approvals, training, and reporting are completed.
- Maintain comprehensive project documentation and provide regular status updates to leadership.
- Help ensure the overall statewide initiative remains on schedule and aligned with grant objectives and institutional requirements.
Benefits
- 20 PTO days
- 9 paid holidays
- company-paid life insurance
- short- and long-term disability coverage
- a 401(k) retirement plan
- comprehensive healthcare benefits
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
