Pre-Award Coordinator

Pre-Award Coordinator

Office of Research, Innovation & Practice

Office of the President

Duty Schedule:

Monday-Friday, 8:00AM-5:00PM, evenings and weekends as needed

Summary/Objective of Position:

Reporting to the Director of Sponsored Projects, facilitate and oversee pre-award activities from the time an opportunity is identified until proposal is submitted, and working with post-award as necessary. Provide proposal support for investigators across the College's four schools and other units as necessary. Support investigators in developing and submitting proposals with a focus on completing budgets and required federal or other sponsor forms with efficiency, expertise, and provide excellent customer service. Excellent judgment and the ability to both act independently and seek guidance as necessary to ensure compliance with Navajo Nation, U.S. federal, state and local guidelines.

Act as a team player, be flexible, and willing to help with others with office activities and assist staff members on a regular or just-in-time basis. We are a small team, so cross-training and willingness to do what is needed to succeed is essential.

Description of Essential Functions of the Position

Disclaimer: This is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, skills, efforts, requirements or working conditions associated with the job. While this list is intended to be an accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise the ob or to require that other or different tasks be performed as assigned. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Submit proposals on behalf of the institution and serve as an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR).

• Meet one-on-one with Program Investigators (PIs) to identify funding opportunities and help develop proposal plans.

• Assist PI with convening proposal teams, facilitating meetings, planning a proposal schedule, and providing other assistance as needed to ensure a timely submission of proposals.

• Co-create and present training materials for research faculty and staff for pre-award activities.

• Assist PIs on budgets, narratives, and any necessary documents for submission of grant opportunity.

• Stay active with professional networks and cognizant of changes and trends in federal and sponsor regulations that impact the pre-award aspect of the proposal submission process.

• Assist PIs in completing all federal or other forms required by the sponsor, and ensure that PI has up-to-date institutional information.

• Communication with sponsors, entities, sub-recipients for proposal submissions, report submissions, prior approval requests and amendments/revisions through phone, email, and/or AOR portal(s).

• Work with the Office of Institutional Planning and Reporting and other internal departments were needed, to gather data and statistics that will be helpful to PIs in preparing proposals.

• Complete and/or create internal workload forms and maintain institutional workload inventory.

• Assist with pre award questions and issues of a complex nature, and provide high-level support to researchers in pre award activities which are routine or unique to a proposal.

• Assist with post submission action items requests from sponsor, which may be just-in-time, and could be revisions to budget, scope of work, or additional certifications.

• Help maintain office data information systems by contributing tracking of progress, submissions, and awards. (Spreadsheets, calendars, etc.)

• Assist on internal communication of newsletters, opportunity notifications, and deadlines.

• Perform other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education & Experience

Minimum:

Bachelor's degree with 3-5 years of administrative/budgeting experience.

In lieu of a Bachelor's degree, a combination of higher education and administrative experience equaling four (4) years may be considered. Three (3) years of full-time administrative experience with strong customer service aspects.

Preferred:

Master's degree

2+ years in pre-award or proposal development. Demonstrated budgeting negotiation skills. Experience working with a wide variety of people and maintaining positive relations. Facility with the Navajo language.

Knowledge:

• Experience with grants management/research administration tools

• Basic knowledge of the grant proposal life cycle

• Budgeting in excel

Skills:

Facility with building budgets

• Analytical, mathematical, and problem-solving skills

• Able to facilitate negotiations among several stakeholders in budget negotiations

• Able to coordinate responses to a variety of sponsors/stakeholders

• Managing multiple priorities simultaneous

• Review federal guidelines for compliance

Abilities:

• Be team oriented

• Ability to work in multiple disciplines, inter-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary environments

• Maintain excellent relations with proposal developer and post-award coordinator

• Maintain a solution-oriented attitude while providing excellent customer services

• Work well under pressure while maintaining teamwork, accuracy and customer services

Physical Requirements, Work Environment & Travel:

Work in a typical office environment with some travel required.

Lifting items of 25lbs or less.

Expected movement includes bending, sitting, reaching and walking.

Other Requirement(s):

Valid Driver License.