Research Grants and Contracts Specialist

Vitalief•New Brunswick, NJ

2d•$80,000 - $110,000•Remote

About The Position

Vitalief is seeking an experienced Pre and Post-Award Research Grants & Contracts Specialist to support a major statewide clinical research initiative for a leading academic medical center in New Jersey. The Specialist will manage and coordinate a portfolio of research, engineering, and education-related grants across the full pre- and post-award lifecycle. This role will work closely with Principal Investigators, institutional leadership, and cross-functional teams including Research Administration, Finance, Sponsored Programs, Contracts, Regulatory/IRB, Data, Operations, and external collaborators.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in life sciences, public health, healthcare administration, business, or a related field.
5+ years of experience in grants administration, sponsored research, research administration, clinical research, 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 research grant lifecycle, including proposal development, submission, award setup, budgeting, compliance, reporting, subawards, and closeout.
Experience working with federal, state, nonprofit, and/or for-profit funding agencies, including NIH, DARPA, and other federal research sponsors.
Experience with grant submission and research administration platforms such as Grants.gov, NIH eRA Commons/ASSIST, Research.gov, DARPA submission systems, NSPIRES (NASA), NJ SAGE, and/or ProposalCentral.
Experience working closely with Principal Investigators and multidisciplinary research teams.
Strong knowledge of grant budgeting, financial monitoring, forecasting, 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 influence and drive accountability across teams without direct authority.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.

Nice To Haves

Experience with multi-institutional research, subrecipients, or external collaborators is preferred.
Certified Research Administrator (CRA) certification is a plus.

Responsibilities

Review and coordinate grant and contract proposals for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with sponsor and institutional requirements.
Assist Principal Investigators and research teams with proposal development, budgets, justifications, required forms, and supporting documentation.
Coordinate multi-investigator and multi-institutional proposals and ensure submissions meet internal and sponsor deadlines.
Submit proposals through institutional systems and sponsor portals and maintain accurate submission records.
Serve as a liaison between sponsors and Principal Investigators regarding questions and requirements before award issuance.
Coordinate award setup, budget management, financial monitoring, reporting, subawards, and closeout activities.
Monitor budgets and expenditures, assist with forecasting, and identify and resolve financial or compliance issues.
Prepare and submit Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs) and other required progress reports.
Coordinate sponsor prior-approval requests, including no-cost extensions, budget changes, changes in scope or PI, and carryforward requests.
Ensure compliance with sponsor terms, institutional policies, and applicable federal and state requirements.
Serve as a central point of contact for assigned grant portfolios and coordinate activities across faculty, research administration, Finance, Contracts, Regulatory/IRB, Data, Operations, and external collaborators.
Track project deliverables, milestones, deadlines, dependencies, and sponsor requirements.
Identify and proactively address risks, gaps, issues, and potential delays.
Coordinate meetings, action items, communications, and follow-up across multiple workstreams.
Provide regular project and portfolio status updates to leadership.
Maintain comprehensive and organized project documentation to support continuity and knowledge transfer.
Maintain accurate grant, award, personnel, budget, and milestone information within institutional research administration systems.
Support system enhancements, user acceptance testing, and process improvement initiatives.