Contracts and Grants Coordinator

University-of-North-Carolina-At-Chapel-Hil; Chapel Hill (NC); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's College of Arts & Sciences seeks a Contracts and Grants Coordinator to manage pre-award and post-award activities, coordinate proposals, estimate project costs, and ensure sponsor compliance across multiple units.

You will serve as a divisional contact for faculty and staff on university and sponsor policies, working with post-award staff to monitor budgets and reporting. A hybrid work arrangement may be available.

Qualifications

• Experience with pre- and post-award financial management across sponsors.
• Payroll forecasting experience.
• Ability to interpret varying sponsor regulations.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and advanced Excel.
• Strong communication, customer service, and organizational skills.
• Ability to work autonomously with accuracy.

Responsibilities

• Plan and coordinate contract and grant proposal submissions.
• Assist with proposal development and budgeting.
• Submit proposal packages in university and sponsor systems.
• Ensure sponsor terms and conditions compliance.
• Monitor post-award activities and resolve issues.
• Serve as SME for pre-/post-award business processes.
• Support high-level administrative duties as required.

Skills

Pre-award and post-award financial mgm

Payroll forecasting

Regulatory interpretation

Microsoft Office

Excel formulas

Communication skills

Customer service

Organizational skills

Autonomy and accuracy

Education

Masters degree

Bachelor's degree

Tools

UNC systems (CAYUSE, RAMSeS, ConnectCarolina, Infoporte)

Job description

Primary Purpose of Organizational Unit

The College of Arts & Sciences is the largest academic unit within the University and consists of about 71 units, including centers, programs, institutional support and 42 academic departments and interdisciplinary curricula, which offer both undergraduate bachelor’s degrees and graduate‑level masters and PhD degrees. The College is divided into four academic divisions: Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. The Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education oversees all academic student support units, including but not limited to Academic Advising, Honors, and the Academic Success Center. The Senior Associate Dean for Research & Innovation drives strategic planning and provides guidance across the academic divisions and research programs, fostering new models of innovation, new initiatives and new collaborations. The Office of the Dean is responsible for all of the academic, academic student support, financial and administrative operations in the College of Arts & Sciences.
The College of Arts & Sciences Business Operations Office is housed in the Office of the Dean and supports the fiscal and human resources operations of the departments, curricula, and programs by consolidating their business operations into one center. The Business Operations Office enables transparency of operations and information, creating a more responsive organization that utilizes online systems and automation to streamline processes. It consistently applies policies, ensuring compliance to UNC , State, and Federal regulations and laws.
The College of Arts and Sciences Research Support Team has both a Research Administration Team and a Research Development Team. The Research Administration Team is a shared services team that coordinates, administers, and consults on both pre- and post-award contract/grant activities within the College units. The team provides centralized proposal development support for all requesting units. The team handles the administration of both grant and contract proposal submissions and specified post-award responsibilities. Ultimately, we assist with and coordinate pre-award planning, proposal development, processing, and reporting.
The team also assists with the coordination and review of post-award materials with direct troubleshooting assistance on any related issues and activities. The team provides guidance to ensure that compliance is exceeded with all terms and conditions for all fund types and for establishing and supervisory oversight of both pre- and post-award sponsored projects administration and non-sponsored fund administration. This area of work includes preparing and packaging proposals, cost-estimating, budgeting, accounting, and reporting systems that include program operations at the University and all participating sites and subcontractors. The Research Administration team also provides support to the ‘field’ staff and the units.

Position Summary

This position may be eligible for a hybrid work arrangement that may include a partially remote work location, consistent with System Office policy. UNC Chapel Hill employees are generally required to reside within a reasonable commuting distance of their assigned duty station.
The Contracts and Grants Coordinator is responsible for generally managing and providing direction, guidance, and leadership related to pre-award and post-award contract and grant activities within the College of Arts & Sciences. The selected candidate will play a critical role in meeting the proposal development and grants management needs of assigned units within the College while also serving as a divisional contact for faculty and staff regarding university and sponsor policies, processes, rules, and regulations.
This position is expected to perform high level tasks related to budgeting, proposal preparation, reporting, and overall grants management on a broad scale for many funding agencies – ranging from large, complex proposals and projects involving multiple faculty and departments at UNC and/or multiple collaborative universities (including subcontractors and/or consultants) to smaller, single-investigator awards or application submissions for student fellowships.
The Contracts and Grants Coordinator will:
- Take lead responsibility for planning and coordinating all contract and grant proposal submissions
- Assist with proposal development, including the estimation of project costs and the preparation of project budgets
- Prepare and submit proposal packages in university and sponsor systems
- Ensure compliance with sponsor terms and conditions
- Monitor, track, and report on post-award activities
- Resolve post-award issues by working closely with departmental and university post-award staff
- Serve as the subject matter expert for pre-award and post-award business processes, and
- Support other high level administrative duties as required.

Minimum Education and Experience Requirements

Mid-career with Masters and 1-2 yrs experience; or Bachelors and 2-4 yrs experience

Required Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience

It is necessary for the candidate to demonstrate the following:
* Knowledge and experience working with pre- and post-award financial management from a variety of sponsors.
* Extensive experience with calculating payroll and forecasting.
* Thorough understanding of how to interpret regulations and guidelines from a wide variety of funding agencies and use the funding mechanism required by those agencies.
* Proficiency with Microsoft Office (e.g., Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access).
* Extensive experience creating spreadsheets and developing formulas in Excel.
* Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
* Strong customer service skills.
* Strong organizational, time management, and prioritization skills.
* Ability to perform work with a high degree of autonomy, accuracy, efficiency, and timeliness.

Preferred Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience

* Three or more years of experience with financial management of sponsored research (pre- and post-award).
* Previous experience with UNC -CH systems (e.g., CAYUSE , RAMSeS, ConnectCarolina, Infoporte).
* Experience with State, F&A, trust, and other fund types.
* Experience with financial and pre-/post-award management workflow tools.
* Experience managing funds and awards for multiple principal investigators across multiple units.
* Experience with shadow accounting.
* Experience with electronic personnel salary source management.
* Certified Research Administrator ( CRA ), Certified Financial Research Administrator ( CFRA ), and/or Certified Pre-Award Research Administrator ( CPRA ) credentials.
* Experience managing or providing work direction to peers and clients/customers.

Office of Human Resources Contact Information

If you experience any problems accessing the system or have questions about the application process, please contact the Office of Human Resources at [phone] or send an email to [e-mail]
Please note: The Office of Human Resources will not be able to provide specific updates regarding position or application status.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

The University is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all to apply without regard to age, color, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Required Documents

• Curriculum Vitae / Resume
• Cover Letter
• Certification/licenses
• List of References

Supplemental Questions

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).

• * Please select the response below that describes your level of education that best or most closely satisfies the education requirements for this position.
  • Bachelor’s degree in required discipline(s) listed or related field
  • Bachelor's degree in any field/discipline
  • Master's degree or Doctorate degree in required discipline(s) listed or related field
  • Master's degree or Doctorate degree in any field/discipline
  • None of the above
• * Do you have experience with pre-award activities including proposal budget development and submission?
  • Yes
  • No
• * Do you have experience working with sponsored research administration, specifically post-award financial management (budgeting, forecasting and analysis)?
  • Yes
  • NO
• * Do you have experience with financial and pre-/post-award management workflow tools?
  • Yes
  • No
• * Do you have experience managing funds and awards for multiple principal investigators across multiple units?
  • Yes
  • No
• * What is your level of expertise with Microsoft Excel?
  • Beginner
  • Intermediate
  • Advanced
• * Do you have prior experience with any UNC systems such as RAMSes, Cayuse, Infoporte, PeopleSoft/ConnectCarolina and/or other UNC Financial Systems such as Web Travel, Customer Billing Management, Bill Presentation? If so, please briefly describe your experience.

  (Open Ended Question)