Grants Sponsored Officer

University of Utah; Salt Lake City (UT); Hybrid; USD 48,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Utah is seeking a Grants Sponsored Officer to support faculty in securing external funding for research and public service. The role includes advising on policies, negotiating sponsor terms, and guiding projects from application to closeout.

The position emphasizes training, data management, and collaboration with legal and leadership offices to ensure regulatory compliance and successful award administration.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalency in political science, economics, urban planning, or related field plus 4 years of related work experience, or a master's degree plus 2 years of direct experience.
• Equivalency statement: 1 year of higher education can substitute for 1 year of related work experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert advice to faculty and staff on sponsored project life-cycle and award administration.
• Negotiate terms with sponsors for awards, subawards, and other agreements.
• Advise and resolve issues in pre-award and post-award activities.
• Provide formal and informal training to faculty and staff.
• Manage sponsored projects data and generate reports.

Skills

Microsoft Office

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

Tools

CRA certification

Job description

Grants Sponsored Officer

Job Summary

Sponsored Projects Officers (SPO) on the Federal and FoundationGrants and Contracts Team provide centralized support to Universityof Utah faculty seeking external funding for research, publicservice, and sponsored institutional projects. SPOs are theuniversity's authorized liaisons for administrative and contractualmatters with award sponsors. This position provides support formost phases of the research project life cycle, includingapplication review and submission, award negotiation, and providingexpertise and policy guidance in the administrative management andcloseout of sponsored awards to faculty and staff.

The value of being an employee at the University of Utah goes farbeyond your base salary, so we encourage you to carefully considerand compare our total package offer. This package includes avariety of excellent employee benefits, including health carecoverage, retirement plans, and paid leave time as well as othervaluable benefits, services, and programs such as tuitionreduction. One example is the U's retirement benefits which amountto a 14.2% contribution in addition to your annual salary. You mayview the U's total compensation estimator to calculate theapproximate value of your total compensation atwww.hr.utah.edu/comp/totalcomp.php. If you have any questions onhow to use the estimator tool, please contact Human Resources at801-581-7447.

Learn more about the great benefits of working forUniversity of Utah: benefits.utah.edu

Responsibilities

• Provides expert advice to faculty and staff in regards tosponsor and University policies and requirements for sponsoredproject application development and award administration.
• Negotiates terms and conditions with sponsoring entities forawards, inbound and outbound subawards, and other agreements.
• Advises facutly and staff on and helps resolve issues thatarise in the administration of applications and awards.
• Provides formal and informal training to faculty andstaff.
• Manages sponsored projects data via database.
• Facilitate the regular collection of information and metricsrelated to the contracting and sponsored project managementprocess, including preparing and submitting reports, analyzing andpreparing data of work performed, compile reports, and othertracking and reporting tasks as identified.
• Respond to faculty, staff, and sponsor inquires.
• Act as OSP liaison with the University's Office of GeneralCounsel on legal matters pertaining to sponsored contractagreements.
• Act as an OSP liaison with University leadership and otherresearch administration and compliance offices.
• Use information systems to track and manage sponsoredagreements through the project lifecycle. Record preliminary,contract, and award information in the sponsored projectinfrastructure, including financial and other compliancesystems.
• Serve as the primary resource for campus-wide researchadministration professionals and external interested parties andprovide expert advice on University policies and procedures, workprocess and practice, the sponsored programs lifecycle, IT systems,contacting, compliance issues, reporting, and stewardship.
• Ensure that University practice and policy related to sponsoredcontracts reflect current state and federal laws and regulationsfor sponsored program activity and provide training and updates tofaculty, leadership, and research administration professionalsacross campus.
• Other duties as assigned.

Comments

This position provides support in highly specialized areas ofResearch Administration. The Office of Sponsored Projects is acustomer service organization dedicated to supporting a diverseclient set including University administration, faculty, supportstaff and sponsoring entities.

Work Environment and Level of Frequency typically required.

• Nearly Continuously: Office environment.

Physical Requirements and Level of Frequency that may be required.

• Nearly Continuously: Sitting, hearing, listening, talking.
• Often: Repetitive hand motion (such as typing), walking.
• Seldom: Bending, reaching overhead.

Minimum Qualifications

EQUIVALENCY STATEMENT: 1 year of higher educationcan be substituted for 1 year of directly related work experience(Example: bachelor's degree = 4 years of directly related workexperience).

Department may hire employee at one of the following joblevels:

Grants Sponsored Officer, II: Bachelor's degree(or equivalency) in political science, economics, urban planning,or a related field plus 4 years of directly related workexperience, or a master's (or equivalent) degree plus 2 years ofdirect experience.

Grants Sponsored Officer, III: Bachelor's degree(or equivalency) in political science, economics, urban planning,or a related field plus 6 years of directly related workexperience, or a master's (or equivalent) degree plus 4 years ofdirect experience.

Preferences

• Bachelor's degree
• General knowledge of sponsored projects research administrationin an academic/university setting.
• Two (2) years of experience in central office researchadministration in a university/academic setting.
• Experience understanding, interpreting, and applying federalpolicies and guidelines related to federal grants and contracts;experience interpreting and applying Uniform Guidance and majoragency policy guidelines preferred.
• Ability to understand and analyze complex federal policies andregulations and appropriately apply them to grant and contractapplications, in award negotiations, and in post-awardactions.
• Ability to communicate knowledge and ideas both verbally and inwriting with clarity and effectiveness to internal and externalaudiences.
• Proactively drive change and continuous improvement throughindividual contributions and group project work.
• Robust planning and organizational skills.
• Strong service orientation and exceptional customer serviceskills.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a fast-paced,action-oriented, customer-focused environment.
• Ability to independently manage a dynamic workload of pre-awardand post-award tasks and projects, with ever changing demands andpriorities.
• Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Office Suite, andability to learn applicable university and departmentalsystems.
• Certified Research Administrator (CRA) certification.

Requisition Information

• Requisition Number: PRN46348B
• Full Time or Part Time?: Full Time
• Work Schedule Summary: Hybrid Work Schedule: Minimum of 24hours (3 business days) a week in the office. Regular Office Hours:Monday through Friday: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
• Department: 00644 - Office of Sponsored Projects
• Location: Campus
• Pay Rate Range: $47,600 - $84,883
• Close Date: 12/29/2026