Grants and Contracts Specialist I-Renal

Job Description
Collaborate with brilliant minds to help power high-impact kidney research. As the Grants and Contracts Specialist I, you will join a supportive team that keeps critical programs moving and offers room to learn and contribute. Own your growth—this role is designed to evolve with you. Personable and detail-oriented individuals are ideal candidates for this opportunity.

Reporting to the Division Administrator, the Grants and Contracts Specialist supports the Division of Nephrology’s research portfolio through expert pre- and post-award grant management. This role involves gathering and analyzing data, coordinating agreement execution, and providing technical guidance on the preparation and administration of research grants, contracts, awards, and related reports to inform leadership strategy.

The Grants and Contracts Specialist reviews monthly budgets, fund activity, and general ledgers, and works closely with faculty Principal Investigators (PIs) and other stakeholders. In collaboration with Grants Managers, responsibilities include subcontract oversight, budget development, variance reporting, sponsor reporting, compliance, and day-to-day administrative and operational support for assigned awards.

Join a strong, mission-driven team where your work supports kidney research, faculty success, and meaningful improvements across the Division of Nephrology.

Responsibilities
Collaborative Partnership: Liaison between faculty, grants managers of the NephroGrantsFinance team, external funding agencies (federal, state, local and nonprofit organizations), and internal offices including Grants & Contracts (GCO), Sponsored Projects Accounting, Finance, fund administrators and business managers.
Grants and Contracts Management: Support pre-award budget development, post-award monitoring, subcontract oversight, and grant closeout procedures. Manage documents such as Other Support, VA IPA (OF-69) agreements, MOUs, Faculty Research Effort Disclosures, and new vendor billing applications. Assist Grant Managers in timely routing of applications to relevant compliance committees (IACUC, IRB, Biosafety, FCOI).
Administrative & Data Oversight: Maintain and enhance data in the Grants Tracking System. Distribute funding opportunity alerts as needed, shared NephroGrantsFinance calendar updates, and resource packets as needed, and may propose enhancements to existing internal systems.
Financial Analysis & Reporting: Analyze and present financial data to support budget planning and decision-making. Identify funding issues and propose solutions. Generate reports for PIs including forecasts, variance analyses, and spending trends.
Financial Operations: Process purchase orders, contracts, invoices, travel requests, check requests, fund transfers, and deposits. Ensure accurate allocation of expenses and check deposits and/or wires to appropriate funds.
Payroll Coordination: Manage salary source allocation transactions, internal personnel effort trackers, and annual time and effort reports. May assist Administrative Coordinator to maintain payroll records for staff as needed.
Portfolio Oversight: Coordinate and prioritize activities across multiple awards. Advise PIs on financial strategies and manage reporting for renewals, continuations, and closeouts.
Special Projects: Contribute to divisional initiatives including business plan development and other strategic projects as assigned.

Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in business administration or related field, or combination of education and equivalent relevant work experience
2 years minimum experience (3 yrs preferred) in grants and contracts management.

Preferred Experience:

Experience in Finance preferred
Good Communication skills and attention to detail
Knowledge of accounting principles and practices, sufficient to compile reports concerning financial status and operational procedures of organization