Senior Pre-Award Specialist

Tamus; San Antonio (TX); On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Texas A&M University – San Antonio is seeking a Senior Pre-Award Specialist to provide comprehensive pre-award and proposal development support to PIs and staff pursuing external funding. The position reports to the Vice President for Research and collaborates with ORSP.

You will manage proposals through their lifecycles, ensure compliance, coordinate with internal offices, and help produce high-quality, timely submissions that align with sponsor requirements and university policies.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary pre-award contact for assigned PIs, departments, colleges, or research units.
• Guide investigators through the full proposal process from funding opportunity to sponsor submission.
• Review announcements, RFPs, sponsor policies, and submission instructions; clearly communicate requirements.
• Assist faculty in identifying external funding opportunities and conduct targeted funding searches as appropriate.
• Develop and manage proposal timelines, checklists, and submission plans with internal approvals and deadlines.
• Collaborate with investigators to ensure proposals meet funding opportunity and sponsor criteria.
• Interpret sponsor terminology, evaluation criteria, and proposal expectations for investigators.
• Provide one-on-one consultation on proposal development, budgeting, sponsor requirements, and pre-award procedures.
• Substantive review of narratives and technical documents for organization and clarity while preserving content responsibility.
• Identify gaps or inconsistencies across components and provide guidance to investigators.
• Develop and review budgets and budget justifications with investigators.
• Ensure consistency among budget, narrative, scope, period, and sponsor requirements.
• Review proposals for compliance with sponsor guidelines, policies, and regulations.
• Maintain knowledge of 2 CFR Part 200 and other regulations applicable to sponsored projects.
• Identify activities requiring coordination with Research Compliance (human subjects, biosafety, etc.).
• Coordinate with Post-Award, Research Compliance, Finance, HR, Procurement, and others as needed.
• Prepare and facilitate proposal submissions through systems (Grants.gov, Research.gov, ASSIST, eRA Commons, JustGrants).
• Coordinate internal routing, certifications, and supporting documentation for submission.
• Maintain complete proposal records in Maestro for institutional tracking and reporting.

Job description

Job Title

Senior Pre-Award Specialist

Agency

Texas A&M University - San Antonio

Department

Division of Research & Innovation

Proposed Minimum Salary

Commensurate

Job Location

San Antonio, Texas

Job Type

Staff

Job Description

The Division of Research and Innovation at Texas A&M University-San Antonio (A&M-SA) invites applications for a Senior Pre-Award Specialist beginning Fall 2026.

Senior Pre-Award Specialist, under the direction of the Vice President for Research, provides comprehensive pre-award and proposal development support to PIs and staff pursuing external funding. The position serves as a primary point of contact for Principal Investigators (PIs) throughout the proposal lifecycle, from identification and evaluation of funding opportunities through proposal development, institutional review, and sponsor submission.

Working collaboratively with PIs and Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) staff, the Specialist provides hands on guidance in interpreting sponsor requirements, developing proposal timelines and budgets, coordinating required components and approvals, and reviewing proposal materials for completeness, consistency, responsiveness to sponsor requirements and review criteria, and compliance with applicable regulations and University policies. The position serves as a knowledgeable resource to PIs, helping reduce administrative burden while supporting the development and submission of high-quality, competitive, and compliant proposals.

The Specialist is expected to independently manage multiple proposal activities and deadlines, provide timely and responsive PIs support, and contribute to the continuous improvement of pre-award processes, resources, and services.

Responsibilities:

• Serve as the primary pre-award contact for assigned PIs, departments, colleges, or research units.
• Guide investigators through the full proposal process from identification of a funding opportunity through institutional approval and sponsor submission.
• Review funding opportunity announcements, requests for proposals, sponsor policies, and submission instructions and communicate requirements clearly to investigators.
• Assist faculty in identifying and evaluating external funding opportunities aligned with research, scholarly, or programmatic interests and conduct targeted funding searches as appropriate.
• Develop and manage proposal timelines, checklists, and submission plans to coordinate required components, internal approvals, and sponsor deadlines.
• Work collaboratively with investigators to ensure proposals are responsive to the funding opportunity and sponsor review criteria.
• Assist investigators in interpreting sponsor terminology, evaluation criteria, and proposal expectations.
• Provide one-on-one consultation and guidance to faculty and staff regarding proposal development, budgeting, sponsor requirements, and University pre-award procedures.
• Perform substantive review of proposal narratives and technical documents for organization, completeness, consistency, clarity, formatting, and alignment with sponsor requirements, while preserving the investigator's responsibility for the technical and scholarly content.
• Identify gaps, inconsistencies, or areas requiring clarification across proposal components and provide feedback and guidance to investigators.
• Develop and review sponsored project budgets and budget justifications in collaboration with investigators, including personnel, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, participant support, materials and supplies, consultants, subawards, indirect costs, and other project expenses.
• Ensure consistency among the proposed budget, project narrative, scope of work, project period, personnel effort, and sponsor requirements.
• Review proposals for compliance with sponsor guidelines, University and System policies and procedures, and applicable federal, state, and other regulatory requirements.
• Maintain working knowledge of 2 CFR Part 200 (Uniform Guidance), sponsor requirements, and other regulations and policies applicable to sponsored projects.
• Identify proposal activities requiring coordination with Research Compliance, including human subjects research, animal research, biosafety, export controls, conflicts of interest, research security, and other applicable areas.
• Coordinate with Post-Award, Research Compliance, Finance, Human Resources, Procurement, and other University offices as needed during proposal development.
• Prepare, review, and facilitate proposal submissions through applicable institutional and sponsor systems, including Grants.gov, Research.gov, ASSIST, eRA Commons, JustGrants, and other sponsor portals.
• Coordinate required internal routing, certifications, approvals, and supporting documentation for proposal submission.
• Maintain complete and accurate proposal records and data in University research administration systems, Maestro, for institutional tracking and reporting.
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