Grants Manager, WGU Advancement, Salt Lake City, UT

If you’re passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country—and you’re committed to working hard to play your part in building that future—consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:
 

Grade: Professional 309

Pay Range: $80,300.00 - $120,400.00

Job Description

The Grants Manager supports comprehensive grants administration for WGU, spanning pre-award and post-award activities for grants, scholarships, and other externally funded initiatives. This role works collaboratively across Advancement, colleges, business units, and project teams to identify funding opportunities, develop competitive proposals, manage the award acceptance and negotiation process, and ensure full compliance with sponsor, institutional, federal, and state requirements.

The Grants Manager serves as a key partner to grant leaders and internal stakeholders, supporting the lifecycle of funded projects—from researching opportunities and proposal development through award setup, budget tracking, reporting, and closeout. This position ensures that grant activities are executed professionally, efficiently, and in alignment with sponsor requirements and WGU’s mission and strategic priorities.

Responsibilities

Primary Responsibilities

Pre-Award Responsibilities

• Research and identify grant opportunities aligned with WGU’s mission and strategic goals.
• Collaborate with faculty, staff, and Advancement colleagues to assist with developing and refining grant proposals and budgets.
• Manage the proposal submission process, including coordinating documents, routing for approvals, and communicating with sponsors as needed.
• Interpret grant solicitations, funder requirements, and relevant regulations to support proposal development.
• Assist in the development and refinement of grants management procedures, protocols, and standard practices.
   

Post-Award Responsibilities

• Take a project-management approach to establishing new awards across WGU, including initiating workflows, communication plans, and implementation support.
• Ensure ongoing compliance with sponsor guidelines, institutional policies, research regulations, and award terms conditions.
• Track grant budgets in collaboration with finance partners; monitor expenditures and ensure allowability.
• Support grant leaders in executing project deliverables and troubleshooting implementation issues.
• Maintain accurate tracking of post-award activities and grant progress using CRM tools (e.g., Smartsheet and Salesforce).
• Oversee preparation and timely submission of progress, financial, and final reports.
• Coordinate with internal stakeholders to develop data infrastructure needed to report on outcomes, KPIs, and grant performance.
• Engage with sponsors, as appropriate, regarding reporting, program updates, or project changes.
• Collaborate with Development and Engagement teams to support funder stewardship and relationship goals.
   

General Responsibilities

• Provide training, guidance, and support to faculty and staff on grants processes, policies, and best practices.
• Analyze proposals, contracts, and award documents to identify requirements, risks, and items requiring clarification.
• Maintain organized documentation and records for all assigned grants.
• Ability to travel up to approximately 5%.
• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

This job description includes a general representation of job requirements rather than a comprehensive inventory of all required responsibilities or work activities.  The contents of this document or related job r