Project Manager - Sponsored Research (SIRO)

Penn State University • University Park, IL

19h • Remote

About The Position

The Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Office (SIRO) Project Management Office at Penn State is seeking a Project Manager - Sponsored Research to support complex, multi-million dollar federal and non-federal interdisciplinary research initiatives. This position will be filled at the Project Manager - Intermediate Professional level. SIRO is a central research administration unit within the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research (OSVPR). SIRO supports university-wide, multi-college, and multi-institutional research initiatives. The Project Management Office partners with investigators, research administrators, and central offices to deliver structured project management across proposal development, award execution, and closeout. This position reports to the Associate Director of Project Management and works cross-functionally with PSU colleges, institutes, central administrative units, external collaborators, and sponsors.

Role Overview: This role provides full-lifecycle project management for sponsored research awards, including strategic coordination during proposal development and comprehensive post-award oversight. A core responsibility is financial and budget management of complex sponsored projects, with the Project Manager serving as a financial steward to ensure compliance with sponsor requirements, institutional policies, and strategic objectives. The position requires managing multiple projects simultaneously and integrating administrative coordination, compliance oversight, milestone tracking, and budget monitoring within a structured project management framework.

Requirements

• Microsoft Office Suite (advanced proficiency in MS Excel required).
• Experience with collaborative tools such as Airtable, GitHub, Slack, Teams, and Google Drive.
• Experience with project management platforms.
• Strong organizational, analytical, and time management skills.
• Ability to manage multiple complex projects simultaneously.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively within cross-functional teams.
• Bachelor's Degree
• 1+ years of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience accepted

Nice To Haves

• Experience in project management of research administration.
• Experience overseeing sponsored project budgets and financial monitoring of research awards.
• Familiarity with federal sponsor requirements (e.g., NIH, DOD, NSF) and foundation-funded (i.e. Bill and Melinda Gates) projects.
• Familiarity with DOD, foundation grant, and training grant management systems is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Manage the full lifecycle of research administration activities, including proposal development, award setup, post-award management, reporting, and closeout.
• Coordinate administrative and cross-functional project teams during pre-award activities and lead coordination during post-award execution.
• Serve as a primary liaison with Principal Investigators, subrecipients, sponsors, PSU central offices, and departmental staff.
• Coordinate and support multidisciplinary working groups and committees.
• Attend and lead administrative and technical project meetings.
• Track milestones, deliverables, timelines, reporting deadlines, extensions, and prior approval requirements.
• Coordinate preparation of sponsor-required financial and administrative reports.
• Review sponsor and University policies to ensure compliance and shared understanding across project teams.
• Assess project-specific requirements and coordinate with appropriate units to support execution.
• Use project management tools to monitor progress, communicate status, and track performance metrics.
• Recommend and implement process improvements and develop standard operating procedures to enhance project execution.
• Planning and forecasting budgets aligned with project goals and milestones.
• Monitoring financial performance and spending trends to ensure appropriate burn rates.
• Coordinating budget revisions, supplemental funding requests, and prior approval submissions.
• Developing and maintaining financial tracking tools for expenditures, commitments, and projections.
• Overseeing financial management of subrecipients, including review of budgets, expenditures, and modifications.
• Coordinating complex sponsor financial reporting with research administration and finance offices.
• Supporting timely and compliant financial and administrative closeout.
• Participating in internal and external audits related to sponsored projects.

Benefits

• Penn State provides a competitive benefits package for full-time employees designed to support both personal and professional well-being. In addition to comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, employees enjoy robust retirement plans and substantial paid time off which includes holidays, vacation and sick time. One of the standout benefits is the generous 75% tuition discount, available to employees as well as eligible spouses and children.

What This Job Offers

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