Senior Project Officer

Columbia University; New York, Northern (NY, KY); Hybrid; USD 91,000 - 96,000; Full time

Job summary

Columbia University is seeking a Senior Grants Officer (SrPO) to deliver high-quality grants management services. You will interface with faculty and staff, coordinating proposal reviews, JIT processing, award negotiation, and post-award accounting.

The role requires independent judgment and strict adherence to sponsor and university rules. After training, you will oversee a portfolio of departments, ensuring timely submissions, compliance, and effective communication with sponsors.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in education and experience.
• At least 4 years of related experience.
• Preferred 5–7 years of related experience.
• Experience with federal grant proposals and sponsored research administration is preferred.
• Strong analytical and organizational skills are essential.

Responsibilities

• Review and submit grant, contract, and proposal materials in accordance with sponsor and University requirements.
• Coordinate with PIs, departments, and central offices to ensure timely submissions.
• Review notices of award and contracts; assist in budget setup and compliance tracking.
• Provide support for post-award management including reporting and renewals.
• Maintain documentation and communicate with sponsors and internal stakeholders.

Skills

Mathematical skills

Organizational skills

Verbal communication

Written communication

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

InfoEd

ARC

Grant management systems

Job description

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building:
• Salary Range: $91,100 to $96,390

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

Position Summary

The SrPO is expected to deliver high-quality, customer-focused grants management services, interacting with faculty and administrative staff to facilitate sponsored-project planning, program and administration, and serve as the single point of contact in this regard. After an initial training period, the SrPO is assigned a group of departments, centers and institutes to support The SrPO is expected to adhere to all sponsor and university guidelines and procedures at all times. This position requires problem-solving skills in a deadline-driven environment as well as the consistent exercise of independent judgment and discretion in matters of significance. Enter details here

Responsibilities

Proposal review, coordination, and submission

• Receive and perform institutional review of grant and contract proposals to ensure they meet sponsor and University requirements prior to being submitted;
• Ensure that a Rascal PT record has been created and registered by the department prior to starting review of proposal;
• Utilizing established proposal review procedures, perform necessary review per the Proposal Review Checklist and in advance of proposal submission;
• Assist PIs and departments with proposals to meet agency requirements and guidelines;
• Ensure conflict-of-interest and other necessary compliance requirements have been met prior to submission in accordance with established policies and procedures;
• Assist researchers, faculty, and department administrators with electronic grant preparation, submission to Grants.gov, and other electronic application venues;
• Ensure that finalized and complete Rascals are in place prior to submission of proposals;
• Assigned the authority and responsibility as official signatory on designated applications

Just-in-Time (JIT) receipt, processing and submission

• Receive JIT requests from sponsor, department or PI via central e-mail or other method and process necessary requests;
• Forward any JIT requests received directly from sponsor, department, or PI to SPA central e-mail box for proper receipt and tracking;
• Upload submitted JIT materials after submission to sponsor into InfoEd as well as updating the status to “JIT submitted.”

Award receipt, negotiation and acceptance of grants & contracts and account set-up

• Review and process Notice of Awards (NOAs) and contracts according to established procedures for award receipt and account setup;
• Ensure timely processing of NOAs and contracts received directly from PI, department, or sponsor to central, grants-office e-mail box upon receipt for central logging and processing;
• Ensure established procedures for tracking statuses with InfoEd are maintained;
• Review, analyze, and negotiate award and contract terms and conditions;
• Coordinate with CTV on non-federal grants containing language related to Intellectual Property and copyrights for review and approval, as well as send template e-mail to PI/DA;
• Determine the necessity for and coordinate with Office of General Counsel (OGC) on their review of awards, including contracts and subcontracts;
• Track OGC/CTV requests in central tracking system;
• Advise concerned parties of their responsibilities in meeting special or unusual award requirements;
• Coordinate with appropriate University Officials requests for indirect-cost waivers, cost sharing, and carry-forward actions.
• Ensure compliance with award regulatory terms and University policies, such as Conflicts of Interest, Human Subjects & IACUC approvals, etc.;
• Data enter awarded information into SPA grants management system for account creation and account modifications;
• Post data entry, review and reconcile the information and attributes fed from the grants management system to the University’s financial system (ARC), to ensure both systems are synchronized.

Post-award responsibilities

• Review and submit required annual and interim progress reports to sponsors based on established procedures;
• Analyze, coordinate, and approve requests for prior approval of post-award changes and actions;
• Review, coordinate, and negotiate award modifications;
• Assist PIs, department staff, and central-administration staff in solving project-related administrative problems and issues;
• Review and endorse correspondence to sponsors.

Other duties

• Function as liaison to federal and non-federal grantor agencies and subcontracting institutions;
• Provide support to department grant managers, administrators, and PIs;
• Review awards and contracts and resolve grant-related questions posed by researchers, faculty and staff;
• Act as a resource for researchers, faculty and department administrators with respect to updates and changes in regulations and policies of grant agencies;
• Maintain all necessary sponsored project related documentation in hardcopy and electronic files per established guidelines;
• Work with assigned Financial Analyst to maintain an efficient team effort;
• Review weekly pre-award and post-award management reports;
• Review quarterly proposal and award reports;
• Perform other duties as assigned including working on special projects;
• Provide necessary support in the on-going audit processes, for both internal and external clients.

The ideal candidate will pocess the following:

• Experience with electronic information systems that support grants and contracts workflow and management;
• Proven knowledge of federal, state, city government and private non-profit policies and regulations related to sponsored projects;
• Proven knowledge of OMB regulations;
• Strong mathematical and organizational competencies are essential;
• The SrPO is expected to perform in an independent manner, as well as take direction from their team lead;
• Demonstrate general knowledge of business practices, and University and sponsored project policies and procedures;
• High level of attention to detail;
• Outstanding organizational skills and the ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects with conflicting deadline pressures and competing priorities;
• Sophisticated customer service abilities;
• Strong computer skills;
• Superior verbal and written communication skills and exceptional interpersonal skills.

Minimum Qualifications

• Requires a Bachelor's degree or equivalent in education and experience; and 4 years related experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• 5-7 years of related experience.
• Prior experience with Federal (NIH, DOD, NSF, CDC, HRSA) grant proposal preparation, sponsored research compliance, and knowledge of post-award administration is preferred.
• Experience with financial reporting of sponsored projects.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.