Pre-Award Manager

UNC-Chapel Hill; North Carolina; Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive benefits package

Paid leave

Health and retirement plans

Job summary

UNC-Chapel Hill is seeking a Pre-Award Manager to lead the Gillings School of Global Public Health’s centralized Pre-Award Research Administration Unit. The role provides strategic leadership, operational oversight, and subject matter expertise for all pre-award activities across the School.

The position manages a team supporting proposal development and submission for sponsored research projects, including high-risk multi-institutional proposals.

Qualifications

• Managerial experience in complex pre-award sponsored research activities.
• Knowledge of NIH, NSF, DOD, CDC, HRSA grant and contract requirements.
• Experience supervising research administration staff in deadline-driven environment.
• Experience reviewing complex proposal budgets and F&A rate calculations.
• Ability to lead process improvements within a research administration function.

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day pre-award operations and staffing within parameters.
• Escalation point for sponsor compliance questions and regulatory interpretation.
• Review and approve complex proposal budgets and cost sharing.
• Coordinate with faculty, OSP, and central offices to ensure compliance and timely submissions.
• Develop service standards, dashboards, and performance metrics for the unit.

Skills

Pre-award management

Regulatory knowledge

Leadership

Communication

Budgeting

Education

Masters with 5+ years

Bachelors + supervision

Tools

Grants.gov

NIH eRA Commons

NSF Research.gov

Job description

One of the best college towns and best places to live in the United States, Chapel Hill has diverse social, cultural, recreation and professional opportunities that span the campus and community.

University employees can choose from a wide range of professional training opportunities for career growth, skill development and lifelong learning and enjoy exclusive perks for numerous retail, restaurant and performing arts discounts, savings on local child care centers and special rates on select campus events. UNC -Chapel Hill offers full-time employees a comprehensive benefits package, paid leave, and a variety of health, life and retirement plans and additional programs that support a healthy work/life balance.

Primary Purpose of Organizational Unit

• Helping researchers identify funding opportunities and research resources.
• Facilitating team science and research collaborations across campus.
• Supporting proposal development.
• Providing workshops and training opportunities to the Gillings research community.
• Tracking research metrics and public health research impact.
• Assisting researchers as they navigate research compliance.

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 Pre-Award Manager serves as the senior technical expert and operational leader of the Gillings School of Global Public Health’s new centralized Pre-Award Research Administration Unit. The Gillings School is ranked #1 among public schools of public health for NIH funding, generating over $1 billion in sponsored research since 2016 across eight academic departments, multiple nationally recognized research centers, and work conducted in more than 40 countries. This position is responsible for providing strategic leadership, operational oversight, and advanced subject matter expertise for all pre-award research administration activities across the School. The Pre-Award Manager operates with significant independence in managing day-to-day pre-award operations, making operational and staffing decisions within established parameters, and representing the pre-award function to internal and external stakeholders without requiring case-by-case direction from the Associate Dean for Research. This position supervises a team of Pre-Award Research Administrators who support faculty and research teams throughout the proposal development and submission lifecycle for sponsored research projects. This position manages the most complex, high-risk, and multi-institutional proposal submissions; serves as the primary escalation point for sponsor compliance and regulatory interpretation; and ensures consistency, accuracy, and compliance across all pre-award activities. The Pre-Award Manager reviews and approves complex proposal budgets, including cost sharing arrangements, subaward budgets, F&A calculations, and effort commitments. Working closely with faculty investigators, department leadership, the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), and ServiceFirst leadership, the Pre-Award Manager oversees proposal planning, budget development, sponsor compliance review, quality control, and submission processes, ensuring adherence to federal, state, sponsor, university, and school requirements. This position leads continuous process improvement initiatives, establishes service standards, develops and monitors performance metrics, manages team portfolio assignments and coverage, and builds a culture of excellence in research administration that supports the Gillings School’s growing and diverse sponsored research enterprise.

Minimum Education and Experience Requirements

Manager with Masters and 5+ years of relevant experience; or Bachelors with at least 1-2 yrs supervisory experience and 5+ years of relevant experience

Required Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience

• Demonstrated experience managing complex pre-award sponsored research activities, including multi-institutional, center-level, and large federal proposals.
• Comprehensive knowledge of federal, state, foundation, and industry-sponsored research regulations, including NIH , NSF , DOD , CDC , and HRSA grant and contract requirements, cost principles (2 CFR 200), effort reporting, and data sharing requirements.
• Demonstrated experience supervising, mentoring, evaluating, and/or developing professional research administration staff in a complex, deadline-driven environment.
• Demonstrated experience reviewing, developing, and approving complex proposal budgets, including cost sharing arrangements, subaward budgets, F&A rate calculations, and effort commitments involving multiple stakeholders.
• Experience leading or contributing to process improvement, operational change, and the development of standard operating procedures within a research administration function.
• Demonstrated ability to serve as a subject matter expert and primary escalation resource for complex sponsor compliance questions, regulatory interpretation, and high-risk proposal situations.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills with the ability to convey complex regulatory and technical information clearly to diverse audiences including faculty investigators, senior leadership, and central university offices.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple competing priorities, meet firm submission deadlines, and maintain accuracy and quality in a high-volume, fast-paced research administration environment.
• Ability to build and maintain productive working relationships with faculty, department administrators, central research offices, and external sponsors.
• Proficiency with research administration systems and electronic proposal submission platforms including Grants.gov, NIH eRA Commons, NSF Research.gov, and institutional systems.

Preferred Qualifications, Competencies, and Experience

• Certified Research Administrator (CRA), Certified Pre-Award Research Administrator (CPRA), or Certified Financial Research Administrator (CFRA) designation or active progress toward one or more of these certifications.
• Experience working in a shared services, centralized research administration model, including experience managing portfolio assignments and team coverage protocols.
• Experience in higher education research administration, including post-award processes, preferably at a research-intensive university.
• Experience developing and delivering training programs, workshops, and guidance resources for research administration audiences.
• Familiarity with UNC -Chapel Hill research administration systems, OSP processes, and institutional policies governing sponsored research.
• Experience developing service-level metrics, performance dashboards, and operational reports to evaluate team productivity, proposal volume, and submission outcomes.
• Experience supporting large-scale, multi-institutional, or center-grant proposal submissions (e.g., NIH P30, P50, U54 mechanisms).
• Leadership, supervisory, management training or certification.

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
• 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