Senior Grant Specialist - Department of Surgery Gifts and Grants

Scheduled Hours

40

Position Summary

This is a position within the Department of Surgery research administration team. The team is fully remote, but local staff may come into the office (Mid Campus Center) for training and occasionally for meetings. This position is responsible for more complex grants and/or broader scope.
This position is part of the Post-Award Team (6 staff) and will work closely with the Pre-Award Team (4 staff), Financial Accounting Assistant (payroll accounting), and Business Manager. The Post-Award Team is responsible for grants from award through closeout, including financial reporting and monitoring and meeting with faculty. Staff work heavily in Workday and closely with Sponsored Projects Accounting (SPA). Post-Award staff are assigned a portfolio of divisions, sections, and/or individual faculty. The Department of Surgery has 6 divisions and approximately $30M in grant funding annually.

Job Description

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

• Manages grant awards.
• Submits grant proposal for a variety of investigators and sponsors. (Primarily done by Pre-Award team).
• Responsible for full life-cycle of research administration – particularly from award through closeout.
• Serves as lead Grant Assistants or Grant Specialists. May train others in all pre and post award administrative functions.
• Works with Principal Investigator to compile and submit the entire grant according to established agency/university guidelines. Prepares and reviews all agency forms for submission. Enters grant budgeting documents on line, as needed.
• May coordinate the submission and post award grant-funded activities for clinical trial studies.
• Identifies and collects potential grant applications/ instructions for PIs. (Primarily done by Pre-Award team).
• Serves as internal liaison and grant content representative, ensuring that all funds are set up in a timely manner; prepare any necessary project advances, no-cost extensions and ensure that funds are carried forward as appropriate.
• Ensures timely implementation of contracts and subcontracts/subawards by managing processes, examining information and complying with necessary requirements of Office of Sponsored Research Services (OSRS) and Sponsored Projects Accounting (SPA).
• Serves as a subject matter expert on complex troubleshooting error resolutions/solutions for grant awards and financial reports.
• Analyzes and prepares comprehensive and often complex monthly financial reports on all research accounts (expected to be of a large scale/scope). Monitors, analyzes and provides forecasts for grant budgets ensuring appropriate and timely expenditures and reconciliation of funds. Distribute/discuss with PIs and senior leadership.
• Tracks and maintains online database of grants submitted, awarded, rejected, etc.
• Organizes and determines proper action plans including the oversight for advanced alerts to PIs of upcoming deadlines for continuation, competitive renewals, progress reports, etc.
• Responsible for ensuring that human and animal study protocols are associated with the applicable proposal or award.
• Coordinates transfer of PI grant files into Wash U and to new institutions or new departments.
• Responsible for closure of grant accounts. Submits final progress report and final invention statement (if applicable) to the appropriate agency.
• Coordinates the necessary support with internal and external requests for grant-related information (i.e. current biosketches, trainee information, human/animal protocol approvals and other support).
• Creates, addresses and processes correspondence of moderate to high complexity with granting agencies (i.e. inquiries, carry forward requests, change in effort requests, no cost extensions, equipment purchase and budget reallocation requests).
• Obtains signatures and forwards grant financial status reports to PI and senior leadership.
• Updates grants lists monthly or when new fund numbers are received.
• Organizes and maintains electronic and hard copy grant files.
• Analyzes and provides recommendations/guidance for research management for preparation of the annual budget and annual payroll.
• Attends training sessions/seminars related to position.
• Assists senior leadership with special projects as requested.
• Works with PIs to provide fund management and make any necessary budgetary changes.
• Identifies and assigns payroll to appropriate sources and enters directly into HR system, with PI approval.
• Approves purchasing documents and provides guidance to purchasing staff on appropriate expenditures according to specific grant policies.
• May manage Cores and Subcores, program income, bridge/seed and institutional funds.

Preferred Qualifications