Senior Grants and Contracts Manager

Role Description

The mission of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is to advance the public's health through learning, discovery and communication. To pursue the mission, the school produces knowledge through research then translates this knowledge into evidence that can be communicated to the public, policymakers, and practitioners to advance the health of populations.

The Office of Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) supports the school's mission by serving as a central resource for the research community through the provision of expertise and leadership in obtaining and managing research funds. It acts as the institutional representative of the President and Fellows of Harvard College for the administration of sponsored projects for the school. SPA is comprised of research administrators that work in partnership with faculty to review and submit proposals for funding and to ensure that proposals and then awards conform and are managed according to sponsor guidelines and University policies.

Job-Specific Responsibilities:

The Senior Grants and Contracts Manager will support innovative research at the world's leading public health research institution, primarily in the Department of Global Health & Population. This department strives to advance global health and population studies and has long-standing and recognized research excellence in fields such as:

• Maternal & Child Health
• Nutrition
• Decision Science
• Behavioral Economics and Implementation Sciences
• Population Bioethics
• Humanitarian Studies and Human Rights
• Health Systems

The Senior Grants and Contracts Manager is an integral part of the research enterprise and works in close partnership with faculty members. They are a primary resource for providing guidance and oversight on issues related to fiscal, administrative and regulatory management of a portfolio of grants, contracts and sponsored programs from award receipt through closeout. These grants are from a wide range of sponsors including the federal government (e.g. NIH), foundations, industry, and international contracts from foreign entities.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a post-award focused role but some pre-award responsibilities will be required.

Post-award responsibilities include:

• Creates budget reconciliation and forecasting reports, and uses these reports to meet regularly with faculty to review their financial situations.
• Reviews and approves all expenditures.
• Ensures compliance with requirements such as effort reporting.
• Submits payroll changes for faculty and staff.
• Completes timely journal entries as necessary, grant close-outs, etc.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Pre-award responsibilities may include:

• Provides policy guidance and assistance with all aspects of proposal development, administrative forms, sponsor-required certifications and representations, and compliance requirements.
• Develops appropriate budget.
• Works directly with the Principal Investigators & collaborators, and will interface with central administrative offices to ensure that the applications meet all university, school and sponsor requirements.
• Performs application submission, ensuring deadlines are met.
• Responds to sponsor requests and questions.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience, with 3+ years of those years in pre- and post-award management experience (both federal and non-federal), required; a combination of education and experience may be considered.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree, and/or Certified Research Administrator (CRA).
• Experience working with investigators on the management of complex research awards and working with a variety of sponsors.
• Intermediate Excel skills.
• Advanced working knowledge of research compliance issues & of key federal grant regulations.
• Excellent organizational and time management skills.
• Excellent written and verbal skills.
• Outstanding attention to detail.
• Understanding of human subject use, animal use and other research compliance areas.
• Problem solving skills and aptitude to be flexible required.

Benefits

• Generous paid time off including parental leave.
• Medical, dental, and vision health insurance coverage starting on day one.
• Retirement plans with university contributions.
• Wellbeing and mental health resources.
• Support for families and caregivers.
• Professional development opportunities including tuition assistance and reimbursement.
• Commuter benefits, discounts and campus perks.