University of Minnesota

Grants & Contracts Professional

University of Minnesota$72K — $96K *
Education, Government & Non-Profit
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • BA/BS and at least 4 years of related experience or 8 years of combined education and experience.
  • Strong written and oral communication skills.
  • Extensive experience drafting and managing grant budgets and securing SPA approval.
  • Knowledge of specific internal and external grant mechanisms in higher education, especially NIH.
  • Ability to manage multiple proposals and meet varying deadlines effectively.
  • Familiarity with human subjects research requirements for grant proposals.
  • Experience collaborating with faculty on the full proposal submission lifecycle.
  • Organized, punctual, and professional in interactions across roles.

Responsibilities

  • Manage end-to-end proposal processes for federal and non-federal grants, from inception to submission.
  • Create checklists and timelines, lead proposal meetings, and ensure compliance with sponsor requirements.
  • Develop necessary documents to address sponsor requests, such as Just in Time submissions.
  • Collaborate with PIs to prepare accurate budgets and budget justifications in line with policies.
  • Support post-award activities by monitoring grant budgets and compliance with sponsor terms.
  • Maintain accurate data records in institutional databases and generate necessary reports.
  • Foster strong professional relationships with faculty researchers to understand their administrative preferences.

Benefits

  • Competitive wages and generous paid holidays.
  • Professional development opportunities with tuition benefits for degree programs.
  • Affordable medical, dental, and pharmacy plans.
  • Flexible spending accounts for healthcare and dependent care.
  • Employer contributions to Health Savings Accounts (HSA).
  • Disability and life insurance coverage paid by the employer.
  • Wellness programs for employee health support.
  • Robust retirement plans with employer contribution.
  • Opportunities for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF).
  • Access to free financial counseling and employee assistance programs.
Full Job Description
The G&C Professional is an intermediate-level research administrator who works one-on-one with faculty researchers to manage the full life cycle of grant proposals from initial project inception through final institutional approval and submission. This position provides highly responsive, direct project management support primarily for a standard portfolio of federal and non-federal grant submissions. The G&C Prof 3 ensures that individual faculty proposals are structured accurately, meet all milestones, and adhere strictly to compliance frameworks.

Key Responsibilities & Duties
  • End-to-End Proposal Management (Standard Portfolios) (45%):
    • Work one-on-onewith School of Nursing (SoN) Principal Investigators (PIs) through the entire grant submission process from start to finish as well as grant reporting phases.
    • Build operational checklists, outline submission timelines, lead proposal preparation meetings, and cross-reference application materials against sponsor solicitation matrices to ensuresubmission readiness. Draft all non-science proposal components (e.g., facilities; other support; collaborator, consultant and administrative letters) for faculty review.
    • Ensure all documents are compliant with Sponsor requirements (e.g., verifying page limits, auditing font types, configuring SciENcv profiles, Other Support documents). Upload all proposal documents into sponsor systems.
  • Sponsor Requests (5%):
    • Initiate and work with PIs to develop documents in response to Sponsor requests. Coordinate, route and submit pre-award Just in Time (JIT) and
      other requests through eRA Commons and the Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA).
  • Budget Preparation & Calculation (20%):
    • Partner directly with PIs to prepare and calculate standard proposal budgets and baseline budget justifications and statements of work.
    • Ensure the accurate application of institutional base salaries, fringe benefit rates, and indirect cost rates (F&A) in total alignment with university policy and funder constraints.
    • Initiate internal setup paperwork for SPA, mapping budget line-items to UMN PeopleSoft chart strings, and set up initial internal tracking systems.
    • Draft and manage subaward and no-cost extension budgets, including directly emailing external institutional coordinators, issuing subrecipient commitment packages, auditing external
      institutional rate agreements/fringe allocations, and ensuring external institutional sign-offs weeks in advance of the submission deadline.
  • Post-Award Support (3%):
    • Provides baseline post-award financial support, including monitoring active grant budgets and spending compliance, assisting PIs with standard
      financial reporting requirements, and ensuring alignment with sponsor terms and University policies.
  • Manage Data and Reporting (5%):
    • Prepare and route the proposal information in MN GEMS, enter information into ONRS and other databases and ensure institutional data are accurate, and run reports as needed.
    • Collaborative Relationship Building (10%): Cultivate and maintain strong, productive professional relationships with faculty researchers.
    • Actively learn their ongoing administrative preferences, keep them tightly informed of milestone internal deadlines, and offer seamless, personalized guidance throughout their submission pipeline.
    • Provide high-touch, solution-oriented service to all internal team members and external institutional partners.
  • Research Training (2%):
    • Work with other Office of Nursing Research and Scholarship (ONRS) to design and lead training initiatives for research tools (e.g., SciENcv, My Bibliography) enabling investigators to efficiently manage their research profiles.
  • Template Customization & Feedback (5%):
    • Utilize existing office templates, worksheets, and job aids to streamline the pre-award process for faculty.
    • Provide regular administrative feedback and input to senior staff to help continuously refine and improve these tools for accuracy and thoroughness.
  • Operational Alignment & Development (5%):
    • Participate actively in weekly office team meetings to discuss current issues, dissect major policy updates, share regulatory
      compliance insights, coordinate staff workload balances, and cover for staff who are out
      of the office.
    • Maintain cutting-edge expertise by engaging in university courses, federal
      workshops, and national research administration webinars.


Qualifications

  • BA/BS plus at least 4 years of experience, or a combination of related education and work experience to equal at least eight years.
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills.
  • Demonstrated extensive experience drafting and managing budgets for external and internal grant proposals and preparing budgets for SPA approval.
  • Specific internal (e.g., UMN Grant-in-Aid) and external (e.g., NIH) grants & contracts knowledge as it relates to higher education.
  • Ability to efficiently multi-task across proposal submissions to a variety of funders and
    deadlines.
  • Experience with human subjects research as it pertains to grant proposal requirements.
  • Experience effectively working with faculty researchers to manage proposal submissions
    from start to finish.
  • Willingness and ability to work in a hybrid capacity (flex remote and in-person) on the UMN Twin Cities campus.
  • Organized, committed to completing tasks fully and on time, and display professional skills in inter-professional interactions.

Preferred Qualifications
  • Experience with nursing foundation and other grant mechanisms.
  • Experience with grant proposals that include clinical trials.


Pay and Benefits

Pay Range: $34.82 - $46.14; depending on education/qualifications/experience

Time Appointment: 100% A ppointment

Position Type: Civil-Service & Non-Faculty Labor Represented Staff

Please visit the Office of Human Resources website for more information regarding benefit eligibility.

The University offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes:
  • Competitive wages, paid holidays, and generous time off
  • Continuous learning opportunities through professional training and degree-seeking programs supported by the Regents Tuition Benefit Program
  • Low-cost medical, dental, and pharmacy plans
  • Healthcare and dependent care flexible spending accounts
  • University HSA contributions
  • Disability and employer-paid life insurance
  • Employee wellbeing program
  • Excellent retirement plans with employer contribution
  • Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) opportunity
  • Financial counseling services
  • Employee Assistance Program with eight sessions of counseling at no cost
  • Employee Transit Pass with free or reduced rates in the Twin Cities metro area

While our salary ranges provide a framework, it is important to note that most of the time, the initial pay may not reach the maximum of the range. This approach ensures that compensation reflects the value and unique contributions of each candidate while maintaining equity within our organization. As part of our commitment to fair and equitable compensation, please be aware that the salary offered to incoming candidates will be based on their individual credentials and experience.

How To Apply

Applications must be submitted online. To be considered for this position, please click the Apply button and follow the instructions. You will be given the opportunity to complete an online application for the position and attach a cover letter and resume.

Additional documents may be attached after application by accessing your "My Job Applications" page and uploading documents in the "My Cover Letters and Attachments" section.

To request an accommodation during the application process, please e-mail [email protected] or call (612) 624-8647.

About University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota is a public research university located in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is the flagship institution of the University of Minnesota System, and is one of the largest universities in the United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs in a wide range of fields, including agriculture, engineering, business, law, medicine, and the arts and sciences. The University of Minnesota is committed to providing high-quality education and research opportunities to its students, and has a strong reputation for academic excellence and innovation.
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