Position OverviewVitalief 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.
WHY VITALIEF?- People-First Culture: Join a collaborative environment focused on professional growth, innovation, and teamwork.
- Comprehensive Benefits: Enjoy 20 PTO days, 9 paid holidays, company-paid life insurance, short- and long-term disability coverage, a 401(k) retirement plan, and comprehensive healthcare benefits.
- Work Location: This is a 100% remote position(EST Zone work hours).
- Salary Range: $80,000 - $110,000 annually, depending on experience level.
RESPONSIBILITIES:Pre-Award Grant Administration- 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.
Post-Award Administration- 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.
Project Coordination & Stakeholder Management- 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.
Systems & Process Management- Maintain accurate grant, award, personnel, budget, and milestone information within institutional research administration systems.
- Support system enhancements, user acceptance testing, and process improvement initiatives.
Required Qualifications:- 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.
- Experience with multi-institutional research, subrecipients, or external collaborators is preferred.
- Certified Research Administrator (CRA) certification is a plus.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS: Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working at a computer
. Standing, walking, visual perception, talking and hearing. Lifting up to 20lbs.
