Senior Grant and Contract Administrator

Posting Number
req26228

Department
Research Administration

Department Website Link
CALES Research

Location
Tucson Campus

Address
Forbes, Rm 314 - 1140 E. South Campus Drive, Tucson, AZ 85719 USA

Position Highlights
The University is seeking a Senior Grant and Contract Administrator. This position manages the pre-award phase of grants management lifecycle, handling preparation and submission of proposals and collaborates with principal investigators and other research staff to develop budgets, ensure compliance with sponsor and institutional regulations, terms and conditions.
Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

Duties & Responsibilities

Proposal Development

• Works directly with faculty members, research staff, administrators, and others in the preparation of proposals in accordance with the university and sponsor policies, guidelines and criteria.
• Advises the PI on administrative requirements in preparing proposal submissions.
• Develops budget proposals and associated justifications.
• Confers with PI and Pre-award support staff at collaborating institutions to secure necessary sub-awards documents for proposals.
• Manages internal Sponsored Projects proposal routing, review and approval process.
• Assists with submission of proposal packages through external sponsor's grant management portals.
• Ensures central pre-award workflow system is updated to enable team management to reassign and adjust workloads as needed.

Pre-Award Compliance

• Reviews grant proposals involving CALES faculty to ensure all applications meet exact agency and university regulations prior to submission.
• Coordinates and reviews certain proposal elements (biosketches and facilities & resources) for consistency, accuracy, and completeness.
• Reviews proposals for consistency with sponsor guidelines on budget, format, font size and page limits excluding narrative content (obtain and review sponsor guidelines).

Advisory

• Provides policy and procedure interpretation to academic departments on all areas of Pre-Award, including interpretation of regulations and guidelines of funding with complex and broad guidelines for spending.
• Contributes information and ideas as part of a cross functional team.

Improvement

• Plans, arranges and participates in workshops and seminars for Faculty and Staff to promote participation in the proposal process.
• Collaborates with team on annual CALES pre-award strategic plan.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Ability to effectively communicate with multiple stakeholders.
• High attention to detail with the ability to manage multiple complex submissions under strict deadlines.
• Ability to guide and advise faculty on proposal requirements while translating complex sponsor guidelines into actionable steps.
• Strong proficiency in budget creation, forecasting, and understanding cost principles (e.g., Uniform Guidance).
• Knowledge of policies and procedures of various funding agencies.
• Knowledge of major Grant submission systems (Research.gov, ASSIST, Grants.gov).
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office software; expert knowledge of Excel.

This job posting reflects the general nature and level of work expected of the selected candidate(s). It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities. The institution reserves the right to amend or update this description as organizational priorities and institutional needs evolve.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent advanced learning attained through professional level experience required.
• Minimum of 8 years of relevant work experience, or equivalent combination of education and work experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience preparing and submitting high volume, high value grant proposals.
• Professional certification preferred, CRA.
• Experience with UAccess Research and Financials preferred.

FLSA
Exempt

Full Time/Part Time
Full Time

Number of Hours Worked per Week
40

Job FTE
1.0

Work Calendar
Fiscal

Job Category
Research

Benefits Eligible
Yes - Full Benefits

Rate of Pay
$75,540 - $98,201

Compensation Type
salary at 1.0 full-time equivalency (FTE)

Grade
10

Compensation Guidance
The Rate of Pay Field represents the University of Arizona's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting. The University considers several factors when extending an offer, including but not limited to, the role and associated responsibilities, a candidate's work experience, education/training, key skills, and internal equity.

The Grade Range represent a full range of career compensation growth over time. The university offers compensation growth opportunities within its career architecture. To learn more about compensation, please review our Applicant Compensation Guide and our Total Rewards Calculator.

Career Stream and Level
PC4

Job Family
Grant & Contract Admin

Job Function
Research

Type of criminal background check required:
Name-based criminal background check (non-security sensitive)

Number of Vacancies
1

Target Hire Date
8/1/2026

Expected End Date

Contact Information for Candidates
Rachel Crookston, Grants & Contracts Manager II
[email protected]

Open Date
6/9/2026

Open Until Filled
Yes

Documents Needed to Apply
Resume and Cover Letter

Special Instructions to Applicant