Grants Administrative Specialist (Two Positions)

Palomar College; Harmon (ND); On-site; USD 61,000 - 74,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Insurance fully paid for employees and

Vacation, sick leave and holidays

Generous benefits package

Job summary

Palomar College seeks two Grants Administrative Specialists in the Counseling and Research & Planning areas. This full-time role (40 hours/week) offers a generous benefits package and may involve remote work according to policy; campus training may occur at multiple Palomar locations with future schedule adjustments possible.

Primary duties include comprehensive grants administration, pre- and post-award support, budgeting, reporting, and coordination with faculty and agencies.

Qualifications

• Four years of administrative support experience.
• Education: completion of the twelfth grade with transcripts.
• Experience with grant-funded programs and budgets preferred.

Responsibilities

• Supports grant budgets by tracking expenditures, encumbrances and forecasts.
• Processes purchase requisitions, invoices and related documentation.
• Prepares grant proposals, renewals and reporting materials for stakeholders.
• Acts as liaison between program staff, faculty and external partners.

Skills

Administrative support

Budget tracking

Interpersonal communication

Education

High school diploma

Tools

Spreadsheet software

Job description

Grants Administrative Specialist (Two Positions)

Position Information

Position Title Grants Administrative Specialist (Two Positions)

Department

Department Counseling Department

Primary Location

• Position One: Counseling Department
• Position Two: Research & Planning Department

Palomar College believes a healthy work-life balance can improve the physical, emotional, and mental health of our employees. In support of this belief, the District offers the opportunity to work remotely for certain positions, depending on the operational needs of the District and the provisions of the Remote Work Policy. Probationary employees are not eligible to work remotely unless approved by the Assistant Superintendent/Vice President, Human Resource Services. No employee is guaranteed the right to work remotely. No employee shall be authorized to work remotely 100% of the time unless approved by the Assistant Superintendent/Vice President, Human Resource Services.

Palomar has multiple campus locations (San Marcos, Escondido, Rancho Bernardo and Fallbrook); training may occur at any of these locations and the work location is subject to change depending on future department needs.

Potential future vacancies may include other District departments, locations, and/or work schedules (i.e. days, evenings or nights).

Full or Part Time

Full Time

Category

Classified

Hours per week

40

Number of Months

12 month

Work Schedule

• Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
• Occasional night and weekend hours may be required due to department needs.

Grade

Grade 24

• $5,455.65 [step 1] – $6,635.94 [step 5]. Step placement may be negotiable within this range dependent upon education and experience.

Salary/Wage Frequency monthly

In addition to a competitive compensation structure, Palomar College also offers an extremely generous benefits package.

• Insurance fully paid for employees and their eligible dependents: four medical plans, dental HMO , and the vision plan (additional plans are available that require employee buy up/monthly contribution)
• Vacation, sick leave and 25 paid holidays
• $80,000 employee term life/accident insurance policy (additional buy up options available)
• Employee long-term care insurance
• Employee Assistance Plan ( EAP ) – Confidential free counseling, financial, legal, personal and professional development resources for all members of your household
• Additional buy up options available for other voluntary insurance benefits
• Enrollment in CalPERS (California Public Employees Retirement System)

The estimated maximum value of this employer-paid benefits package is approximately $31,245.84 annually.

Primary Function

Performs routine to complex grants administrative support and office coordination functions in an assigned grant-funded program; provides expert pre- and post-award grants administration and management support including application, compliance, reporting, conflict resolution, and daily administration and operational tracking of grants; independently oversees special projects or administrative processes; provides lead-level guidance to lower-level support staff and may lead the work of student workers.

Minimum Qualifications

To be eligible for this position, you must meet and provide evidence of the following minimum qualifications:

• Experience: Four years of administrative support experience.
• Note: For work experience, a “year” is defined as equivalent to 40 hours per week for 12 months.

AND

• Education: Equivalent to completion of the twelfth grade. Transcripts must be included to receive credit for education and/or to substitute education in lieu of experience (i.e. Bachelor’s degree = 4 years of experience). Click here for Guidelines for Equivalency for Classified Positions.

Only coursework completed at, and degrees awarded by, accredited institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education will be considered as satisfying the minimum qualifications. Coursework and degrees that are completed outside of the United States are required to have transcripts evaluated (evaluation to U.S. equivalency and a course by course analysis) by an appropriate U.S. credentials evaluation service. For a list of credentials evaluation agencies accepted by Palomar College, visit the National Association of Credentials Evaluation Services ( NACES ) website at https://www.naces.org/index , or the Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc. ( AICE ) website at http://aice-eval.org/ .

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Antiracism (DEIAA) Statement

Palomar College is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility and antiracism ( DEIAA ). We are dedicated to empowering students to succeed and are guided by our core values; some of which are the following:

• Access – We make education possible for everyone.
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – We recognize and respect diversity, seek to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, and strive to address inequities.

All positions require cultural competency which includes the sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ethnic backgrounds of community college students, faculty, and staff.

Preferred Qualifications

• Completion of college-level coursework beyond the minimum qualifications in a related field.
• Experience with grant-funded programs, preferably involving grant contract administration and compliance.
• Demonstrated experience utilizing financial software systems to manage grant-related financial activities, reporting, and compliance requirements.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing and monitoring budgets exceeding $5 million.
• Demonstrated knowledge of state and federal grant compliance, financial management, and reporting requirements, gained through direct experience administering or supporting publicly funded grants.

Licenses and/or Certificates

N/A

Supervision Received and Exercised

An Assigned Administrator or Supervisor.

Duties and Responsibilities

Essential responsibilities and duties may include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Assists in developing and monitoring grant budgets; maintains adequate account balances by tracking expenditures, encumbrances and creating grant budget expenditure forecasts; determines grant expense eligibility, calculates grant budget usage and fund percentages; tracks multiple funding sources; maintains separate budget and expense tracking programs based on funding sources; runs general budget reports through spreadsheets and financial systems and calculates budgets based on fiscal cycles of the District and funding sources; researches and corrects discrepancies; processes budgetary adjustments and transfers when warranted.
2. Inputs data and prepares and processes purchase requisitions, purchase orders and check requests; verifies the accuracy of receipts and invoices including routing for signatures and compiling detailed documentation; processes, scans and routes invoices for payment; prepares and processes expense-related forms including travel requests and reimbursements, petty cash and expense reports; reconciles credit card statements.
3. Provides advanced administrative support for grant funded programs; provides support for and assists in preparing and submitting grant proposals, grant renewals and contracts with participating elementary schools, high schools and agencies; researches, obtains and analyzes key data and statistics from varying sources for grant reports, proposals, in-service programs, unit plans, program reviews and other documents; transfers data from District systems and programs into files for grant reporting; completes required forms and edits and formats proposal and renewal documents; manipulates grant data to fit required formats; researches and data enters required grant data and statistics into funding agency data collection systems.
4. Assists in completing and submitting quarterly and annual state and federal grant reports; collects data required for reporting of federal/state funding amounts for vocational education, special populations and other categorically funded projects and programs; reviews funding agency reporting requirements and works with staff to ensure and verify reliability of District data; assists in synchronizing the timing of grant expenditures with grant reimbursements.
5. Organizes, maintains and updates standard and confidential, specialized and technical files, documents and records including work order tracking, facilities scheduling, student financial records, financial aid, work study, human resources actions, timesheets, insurance, and regulatory and program-related reports; creates and maintains electronic and physical filing systems.
6. Serves as liaison between assigned program or academic area and faculty, students, other academic departments and various community organizations; performs community outreach; provides program and service information and orientation as appropriate.
7. Provides backup for other department or program administrative support staff.
8. Schedules appointments and makes meeting and event arrangements; assists with setup and cleanup for various meetings and events; contacts vendors for food orders, supplies and audio-visual equipment; handles other meeting logistics.
9. Provides technical support to other District employees regarding laws, regulations and contractual requirements as they relate to grants; researches and analyzes changes in legislation and the impacts on the District.
10. Facilitates and represents the District in interactions with grantors including preparation for and participation in site visits, internal and external audits and coordination of participating high schools and agencies.
11. May provide guidance and direction in the work of lower-level staff and student workers, including participating in assigning the work of lower-level employees and ensuring completeness, accuracy and conformance with District standards.
12. Performs related duties and responsibilities as required.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

Knowledge of:

1. Office administration practices and procedures.
2. Methods, practices and techniques in budget development and implementation.
3. Methods, practices and techniques in preparing and submitting local, state and federally-funded grant proposals and renewals.
4. Typical sources of public grant funding applicable to community college projects and programs and associated grant requirements.
5. State and federal laws and regulations applicable to the award and management of grants for a variety of programs and functions.
6. Principles and practices of sound business communication; correct English usage, including spelling, grammar and punctuation.
7. Principles, practices, concepts and techniques used in customer service, public relations and community outreach.
8. Functions, rules, policies and procedures applicable to assigned areas of responsibility.
9. Basic research methods and data analysis techniques.
10. Provisions of the California Public Records Request Act and the Ralph M. Brown Act.
11. General accounting systems and associated systems, practices and procedures for processing accounting information and interpreting input and output data.
12. Modern office practices, procedures and equipment including computers and applicable software programs.
13. Basic practices and procedures of public administration for budgeting, purchasing and recordkeeping.
14. Government and community resources available to students.

Skill in:

1. Assigning and inspecting the work of student workers and lower-level staff.
2. Preparing, administering and monitoring a grant program budget and anticipating future budgetary needs.
3. Tracking statistical information utilizing complex spreadsheets and databases.
4. Understanding, interpreting, explaining and applying federal and state law and regulations applicable to application for and administration of grant awards.
5. Defining issues, analyzing problems, evaluating alternatives and developing sound, independent conclusions and recommendations in accordance with laws, regulations, rules and policies.
6. Communicating clearly and effectively, both orally and in writing.
7. Composing clear, concise and comprehensive analyses, correspondence, reports, studies, agreements, presentations and other written materials.
8. Operating a computer and using enterprise software, spreadsheet and word processing software and other standard office equipment.
9. Organizing and maintaining specialized files.
10. Maintaining confidentiality of student files and records.
11. Maintaining sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ethnic backgrounds of community college students, faculty, and staff.
12. Exercising tact and diplomacy in dealing with sensitive, complex and confidential student issues and situations.
13. Establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with those encountered in the course of work.

Working Conditions

Environmental Conditions: The employee works under typical office conditions, and the noise level is usually quiet to moderate.

Physical Conditions: Essential and marginal functions may require physical fitness requirements necessary to perform the job functions with or without accommodation, such as the ability to sit for long periods and use hands to repetitively finger, handle and feel computers and standard business equipment.

Terms of Employment

• Full-time, 40 hours per week, 12 months per year.
• This position also carries a probationary period of six months from the date of hire.
• Position One: Counseling Department; This position is specially-funded and its continuation is dependent upon the availability and/or continuation of funds
• The person selected for hire will be required to complete the following pre-employment requirements: live scan/fingerprinting, official transcript(s), and TB risk assessment. Other pre-employment requirements may be required depending on the position (i.e. certifications or licenses; see applicable job posting section for details). Successful completion of all pre-employment requirements is mandatory to be eligible for employment. These requirements are in accordance with the following Administrative Procedures and Board Policies: AP 7120 , AP 7125 , AP 7126 , AP 7127 , AP 7330 , BP 7330 , AP 7336 , AP 7337 , and BP 7335 .

Open Date

Open Date 08/31/2026

Close Date

Close Date 09/14/2026

Open Until Filled

No

Posting Number

P1073P