Manager for Funded Projects

Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland (OH); On-site; USD 58,000 - 67,000; Full time

Job summary

Case Western Reserve University is seeking a Manager for Funded Projects to oversee financial and business operations for a faculty portfolio with annual spending $5–$7 million. You will manage grants, budgeting, and reporting, coordinating with department staff and PI teams across multiple institutions.

The role emphasizes independent judgment, cross-unit collaboration, and adherence to federal regulations, ensuring timely audits and closeouts in a complex research environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with 5+ years of related experience, or Associate's degree with 7+ years of related experience.
• Operational finance management and grant management experience preferred.
• Strong communication and organizational skills; able to work independently and with teams.
• Experience with budget development, financial reporting, and compliance is required.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the financial and business operations manager for the assigned portfolio ($5m-$7m direct spending).
• Provide multi-institution proposal development for collaborative research and grants; manage complex terms and reporting.
• Manage salary spend and staffing based on grant budgets and projections; approve hires and adjustments.
• Prepare administrative reports for sponsors; ensure compliance with policies and audit requirements.
• Cross-train with HR and purchasing; support department strategy and program funding.

Skills

Grant management

Budget management

Financial analysis

Communication skills

Project management

Teamwork

Attention to detail

Presentation skills

Independent work

Problem solving

Education

Bachelor's degree

Associate's degree

Tools

PeopleSoft or Oracle

Job description

Case Western Reserve University is committed to providing a transparent estimate of the salary range available for this position at the time of its posting. The salary range is between $58,000 and $66,672, depending on qualifications, experience, department budgets, and industry data. Employees receive more than just a paycheck. University employees enjoy a comprehensive benefits package that includes excellent healthcare, retirement plans, tuition assistance, paid time off, and a winter recess.

POSITION OBJECTIVE

Working with a high degree of independence, provide overall administrative management and coordination of a variety of business-related functions; finance, budget, and grant administration for various faculty within the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences (PQHS). The Manager for Funded Projects will be assigned a research portfolio made up of multiple grants and contracts with annual expenditures between $4.5 million and $5.5 million. These assignments may change as needed based on changes in funding levels, staffing needs and other dynamics.

The manager is expected to function as the financial and business manager across their assigned portfolio and working with directly with faculty and staff as it relates to grant submissions, financial reporting, tracking of expenses, determining optimal staffing levels based on available resources, and ensuring compliance with post award management for multiple NIH institutes, other federal and state agencies, industrial and non-profit funding agencies. The manager will develop and implement plans for optimizing the management of resources, exercising discretion and independent judgment to assigned departments related to managing revenues and expenses, as well as working across units within the Office of Finance and with administrators across the school of medicine and university. The manager for funded projects has authority to accomplish objectives within established guidelines and policies with the expectation of only referring special problems to the Director.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Serve as the financial and business operations manager for their assigned portfolio, which will range between $5m-$7m in annual direct spending. Extract data from multiple university sources and systems and perform continuous financial modeling for implementation. Review spending patterns to project future trends and prepare long-range operational forecasts and cash flow analyses. Develop monthly forecasts for each Principal Investigator outlining all projects in their portfolio and meet with them monthly to review trends. Develop and implement strategies to avoid over- and underspending. Review and monitor spending levels and commitments. Be the main contact and primary administrator to departmental staff, faculty, and students for all things related to funded projects. Delegate tasks to other staff as needed and follow up with colleagues, departmental staff, and faculty to ensure tasks are completed in a timely manner. Create efficiencies to improve accuracy. (30%)
• Provide multi-institution, complex proposal development for collaborative research, industry, and clinical trials grants and contracts. Provide background research to emphasize the connection between the research needs statement and the interests of the funder. Manage contract and grant proposal preparation processes for the more demanding and reporting-intensive sponsors with varying policies, restrictions, and deliverables. Advise faculty on complex contract and grant terms that may impact the administration of a project involving multiple institutions in both the U.S. and international sites. Facilitate the terms and conditions of awards, budget augmentation, and project period with the principals. Ensure compliance with all state and federal agency regulations, industry, non-profit organizations, and university procedures. Develop and implement a system to ensure all project closeouts are done timely. Maintain files of sponsored projects financial reports and close out packages. Provide multi-institution, complex proposal development for collaborative research, industry, and clinical-trials grants and contracts. Provide background research to emphasize the connection between the research needs statement and the interests of the funder. Meet with Principal Investigators (PI) and the director to discuss/initiate corrective actions prior to proposal submissions. Serve as a resource to assigned departments by identifying potential funding sources, interpreting proposal guidelines, providing guidance in navigating the federal web-based submission platform, and managing the internal routing process through Sparta. (25%)
• Manage the salary spend across the portfolio by balancing the resources available to each individual faculty. Determine appropriate and affordable staffing based on grant budgets and projections of clinical trial revenues. Approve all staff hires. Initiate reorganizations and layoffs when funding resources change or are eliminated. Complete monthly effort/salary distributions for exempt employees. Complete salary adjustments as needed while working collaboratively with human resource administrators and the Director. (20%)
• Present the school of medicine position, utilizing independent judgment, as it relates to compliant management, billing, and payments for shared research endeavors with administrative staff at affiliate hospitals to ensure effective financial management of clinical trials. Monitor clinical trials closely to ensure revenue is received, budgets are increased, and payments to affiliate hospitals are completed in a timely manner and in accordance with the various affiliation agreements. Working across Case Western Reserve University and with the appropriate affiliate staff representatives, monitor, review, and approve various crossbills and reports with University Hospitals, the Cleveland Clinic, and MetroHealth Medical Center to ensure accuracy and funding availability. (10%)
• Prepare administrative reports for submission to sponsoring agencies, including interim and final financial reports. Interpret school and university policies and procedures about grant management and expenditures and ensure compliance by all staff. Communicate any changes to policies and procedures to the appropriate staff to ensure implementation. Ensure compliance with federal regulations. Maintain a database of all sub-recipients and note all sub-recipients subject to the Single Audit requirements. Gain an understanding of the compliance programs of sub-recipients and communicate additional expectations to comply with the university's compliance program. Monitor the receipt due date of audit reports, and if reports are not received, request the audit reports from sub-recipients. Review audit reports and follow up with the sub-recipient to determine if corrective actions have been taken on findings related to the university. Monitor on a regular basis sub-recipient activities for compliance with program and university requirements. Monitor sub-recipient expenditures to ensure compliance with applicable regulations. Assist sub-recipients with the resolution of financial noncompliance (10%)

Nonessential Functions

• Serve an active role, including chairing committees, on various leadership teams in developing long-term and short-term departmental strategy goals. Cross-train with HR specialists and purchasing managers to ensure smooth daily management of grants and contracts, and during times of absence. Cross-train with all other grant managers for changes of assignments as needed and absences. (5%)
• Perform other duties as assigned.

CONTACTS

Department: Daily contact with faculty and research personnel in assigned departments and the school of medicine Office of Finance and Planning, Grants and contracts, and all administrative offices, and administrators.

University: Daily contact with purchasing, Accounts Payable, and Human Resource central administrative departments.

External: Weekly contact with University Hospitals, MetroHealth, and Cleveland Clinic physicians, administrators, research personnel, and residents. Regular contact with Federal funding agencies and institutes, industrial, and non-profit funding agencies.

Students: Contact with graduate students and student employees.

Supervisory Responsibilities

No direct responsibility.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education/Experience: Bachelor's degree and 5 or more years of related experience, or Associate's degree and 7 or more years of related experience. Operational finance management and grant management experience preferred.

Required Skills

• Demonstrated experience in managing strategic and organizational planning activities within a complex organization, preferably in an academic or public health setting.
• Experience developing or managing budgets.
• Knowledge of university policies and procedures preferred.
• Professional and effective oral and written communication skills; and good interpersonal skills with the ability to work and communicate with various individuals within and external to the university. Must demonstrate good presentation skills and the ability to articulately and accurately relay information to others in a formal and informal setting.
• Strong organization skills; ability to multi-task, prioritize and meet deadlines. Must demonstrate attention to detail and accuracy, time management skills, and follow-through.
• Effective management skills; ability to lead, train, work with, and elicit cooperation from team members and staff.
• Ability to work effectively independently and collaboratively within a team. Must be highly motivated, responsible, dependable and a self-starter.
• Effective problem-solving skills; must demonstrate excellent analytical skills, sound judgment and good decision-making.
• Must demonstrate innovation and the ability to develop new ideas, procedures and systems in order to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
• Must demonstrate flexibility and ability to work under pressure; must be able and willing to conform to shifting priorities, demands and timeline.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, database applications, and with internet navigation. Experience with PeopleSoft and/or Oracle a plus.
• Must demonstrate willingness to learn new concepts, procedures, processes, and computer programs as needed.
• Demonstrated history of successful support, education, and advocacy for all students, aligned with the values, mission, and messaging of the university, while adhering to the staff policy on conflict of commitment and interest.
• Ability to meet consistent attendance.
• Ability to interact with colleagues, supervisors, and customers face to face.
• Willingness to learn and utilize Artificial Intelligence (AI).

WORKING CONDITIONS

This position is performed in a typical office environment. Duties involve repetitive motions such as typing and using a computer mouse, with prolonged periods of sitting and occasional standing. Chemical exposure is minimal and limited to routine office products such as sanitizer wipes.

This position is eligible for hybrid work arrangement up to two remote days per week at the discretion of the department. New employees may begin a hybrid schedule upon approval from the supervisor, successful completion of an orientation period and signing the remote work checklist certification form.

Case Western Reserve University is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants are protected under federal and state laws and university policy from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national or ethnic origin, protected veteran status, disability, age and genetic information.

Case Western Reserve University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act regarding reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the CWRU Office of Equity at 216-368-3066 to request a reasonable accommodation. Determinations as to granting reasonable accommodations for any applicants will be made on a case-by-case basis.