Grant and Contracts Specialist II

Job Summary

The Grant and Contracts Specialist II is familiar with the common federal and state grant guidelines and submission portals. The GCS II will provides Pre-Award administrative guidance and substantive review of proposal documents in the processing of grant and contract proposals. Assists in proposal development. This is the intermediate level position in research administration and under administrative direction of Senior Grant & Contract Specialist(s) and/or Manager.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree and two (2) years of related experience.
• One (1) year of experience as a Grant Contract Specialist 1 or an equivalent mix of education and relevant experience in similar role.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• CRA or CPRA .
  
  

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

• Find funding opportunities for faculty members using sponsor websites and search engines based on research interests provided by faculty. Be able to read and understand funding opportunities to determine feasibility, eligibility and appropriateness.
• Read, understand, and explain the funding announcement requirements to the faculty and students. Provide the faculty or students with a checklist of external and internal requirements for submission.
• Prepare detailed proposal application information, and/or related materials. This includes but is not limited to the proposal budgets, current and pending support for the researcher/faculty, budget justifications and institutional letters of commitment. Review all contents of the proposal to determine feasibility, eligibility and appropriateness. Cross check contents of proposal with internal routing form/approval to make certain all appropriate approvals are received ( IRB , IACUC , Biohazard, export control, conflict of interest, etc.) and/or offices notified. Establish and maintain timeline priorities and deadlines independently and escalate conflicts and urgent requests. Partner with preaward manager to ensure on-time submission and customer satisfaction.
• Manage large, complex proposal submissions. Complex proposal submissions (P applications, center grants, MRI , etc.) include managing commitments from multiple subawards and/or large numbers of faculty. Complex proposals often require a greater amount of GCS involvement due to the amount of institutional administrative information required. Project management skills are key to submitting compliant proposals within the dictated timeline.
• Review and submit proposals in the appropriate external portal complying with the requirements of the funding announcement and knowledge of the portal ( ASSIST , research.gov, grants.gov, proposalcentral, etc). Manage multiple submissions, PIs and deadlines on a daily basis.
• Document activities and tracks progress of proposal preparation and submission through detailed documentation and record keeping. Identify during proposal review any elements requiring additional internal or external approval (export control, foreign involvement, facility renovation, subawards, cost share, IDC waiver, etc.) Ensure appropriate documentation is kept to justify any atypical proposal elements.
• Maintain mentis ( UTA ERA platform) data for each proposal (routing, follow approvals, status, etc.). Create the mentis BlueSheet (as needed) for the faculty member using information obtained from the proposal review and/or check the mentis data for accuracy and congruency with the proposal materials. Confirms that necessary approvals for higher risk factors (cost share, IDC waivers, foreign involvement, COI disclosure, etc.) are in place prior to submission. Follows up with approvers to explain the risk items and obtain approvals or make the changes needed to mitigate the risk.
• Mitigates components and determine operational feasibility by obtaining complete information that will require additional review and approval by Regulatory Services or other UTA compliance offices in the award process that may include foreign involvement, conflict of interest, biohazards, export control, human subjects and animal subjects. Proofread and edit technical proposals for compliance to sponsor guidelines, responsiveness to the RFA , grammar and general writing style. Advise and make suggestions to the faculty on coherence and congruency to the sponsor request.
• Assist new UTA faculty and staff (internal and external to OGCS ) with OGCS departmental policies and procedures. Advise on sponsor policies, practices, and procedures. Requires the incumbent to stay up to date on relevant internal and external communications. Communicates timely with the faculty, students and staff via email, Teams, and phone calls.
• Performs other duties assigned.