Grant Administrator

The Chronicle Of Higher Education, Inc.; Redlands (CA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inc. is seeking an experienced Grants Budget Manager to lead pre‑award budgeting, compliance, and post‑award financial management for sponsored programs.

You will collaborate with PIs, program directors, and finance teams to ensure accurate budgets, regulatory compliance, and timely reporting. Responsibilities include budgeting, internal controls, sub‑recipient oversight, and training on Uniform Guidance and sponsor policies, with a focus on audit readiness and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Public Administration, or related field.

Responsibilities

• Develops competitive, compliant grant budgets for proposals and pre‑award stages.
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Skills

Budgeting & financial analysis

Federal grant regulations (UG 2 CFR Ø0

Excel advanced

Communication with faculty

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Admin, Public Admin, or related field

Tools

Banner

PeopleSoft

Workday

Oracle

Job description

Position Overview

Position Code: 7982
Department: Office of Development and Finance
Employment Type: Exempt (12 months), Full‑time (40 hours)
Salary Range: $80,000 – $85,000

Duties and Responsibilities

• Pre‑Award Budget Development and Proposal Preparation:
  • Collaborates with Principal Investigators, program directors, and departmental staff to develop competitive, compliant, and financially sound grant budgets.
  • Advises faculty and staff on sponsor cost principles, budget limitations, allowance, allocability, and reasonableness under Uniform Guidance and other sponsor rules.
  • Develops complete budget packages, including salary calculations, fringe benefits, indirect cost (F&A) recovery, sub‑award budgets, cost share documentation, and procurement considerations.
  • Drafts and reviews budget justifications to ensure alignment with project scope, sponsor priorities, and institutional policy.
  • Provides guidance on pre‑award administrative requirements (effort commitments, institutional approvals, regulatory compliance, procurement timing, consultant arrangements).
  • Supports the creation and submission of grant proposal materials in collaboration with Sponsored Program Development leadership.
  • Ensures proposed budgets align with sponsor requirements, internal policies, and downstream post‑award management needs.
  • Reviews and interprets sponsor solicitations, award terms, and compliance requirements to ensure accurate proposal preparation.
• Grant Compliance, Training, and Policy Development:
  • Reviews award documents to confirm budget, restrictions, reporting requirements, and compliance terms and coordinates with Finance to establish spending categories, budget lines, and internal controls.
  • Oversees sub‑recipient monitoring, collecting sub‑recipient risk assessments, ensuring sub‑award agreements include required federal clauses, and reviewing sub‑recipient invoices for allowability and performance.
  • Interprets, applies, and provides training on federal regulations (Uniform Guidance), state requirements, and sponsor‑specific policies for faculty, staff, and administrative partners.
  • Develops and delivers training sessions, workshops, and resource materials on grant budgeting, allowability, compliance obligations, and institutional expectations.
  • Maintains and updates internal grant‑related policies, procedures, templates, standard operating guidelines (SOPs), and workflow documentation to strengthen institutional consistency and reduce compliance risk.
  • Partners with Finance, Sponsored Program Development leadership, Human Resources, Procurement, and academic units to ensure coordinated compliance related to procurement, contracting, payroll, effort certification, cost transfers, and record retention.
  • Provides proactive outreach to campus units on upcoming regulatory changes, sponsor updates, compliance risks, and best practices in grants management.
  • Supports internal control enhancements, audit readiness, and implementation of corrective action plans following internal or external audit findings.
  • Maintains complete, organized, audit‑ready grant files and ensures documentation retention meets federal and institutional requirements.
• Post‑Award Accounting, Administration, and Financial Reporting:
  • Provides comprehensive post‑award financial management for sponsored grants and contracts from account setup through closeout, ensuring compliance with sponsor terms, federal regulations, and university policies.
  • Oversees budgeting, expenditure monitoring, grant accounting, invoicing, sponsor drawdowns, and financial reporting to ensure accurate stewardship and timely revenue collection.
  • Collaborates with PIs, departments, Finance, and Sponsored Program Development leadership to manage salary allocations, cost transfers, budget revisions, and project burn rates.
  • Coordinates and monitors effort reporting across the grant lifecycle, ensuring accurate salary allocations, timely certification, and full compliance with federal and institutional requirements.
  • Reviews expenditures for allowability, allocability, reasonableness, and compliance with sponsor and institutional requirements.
  • Prepares and submits interim and final financial reports, tracks reporting deadlines, and supports internal and external audits through thorough documentation and reconciliation.
  • Processes award amendments and modifications, including funding increases, time extensions, and updated terms and conditions, ensuring internal systems reflect changes accurately.
  • Manages closeout activities, including final reconciliation, equipment disposition, record retention, and supports indirect cost rate development and negotiation.
  • Ensures all technical, financial, and administrative closeout requirements are met and communicates deadlines and responsibilities to PIs and departments.

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, Public Administration, or related field.
• Three or more years of experience in higher education finance, grant administration, or sponsored program administration.
• Knowledge of federal grant regulations (Uniform Guidance; 2 CFR 200).
• Experience working with enterprise financial systems such as Banner, PeopleSoft, Workday, Oracle, or similar.
• Advanced Excel skills and strong financial analysis ability.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to explain financial concepts to faculty and non‑financial audiences.

Preferred:

• Prior experience in a university Sponsored Programs or Research Administration office.
• Familiarity with effort reporting systems and indirect cost recovery.
• Knowledge of cost accounting standards related to higher education.
• Experience supporting faculty research, grant management, or program operations.
• CGMS Certified Grants Management Specialist or similar certification.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Commitment to compliance, stewardship, and institutional accountability.
• Ability to build collaborative relationships with faculty, staff, and administrative units.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills.
• High attention to detail with exceptional organizational abilities.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a deadline‑driven environment.
• Professional discretion in handling confidential financial information.

Physical Requirements

Standard office setting. Duties performed primarily at a desk or computer workstation or in meetings. Requires sitting for long periods, walking short distances, using hands and fingers to operate a keyboard or other office machines, reaching with hands and arms, stooping or kneeling to file, climbing stairs, speaking clearly to answer telephones and provide information, seeing to read fine print, hearing and understanding voices, and lifting, carrying, or moving objects weighing up to 25 pounds.

Equal Opportunity Employment

Members of underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. We are an equal opportunity employer.