Grants & Contracts Manager

About The Job The Grants & Contracts Manager reports to the Interim Associate Deans for Research and serves as the supervisor, operational leader and strategic director for the Office of Nursing Research and Scholarship (ONRS). This position is responsible for staff supervision, high-level faculty engagement, operational optimization, leading a small grant proposal portfolio, and leadership of pre-award strategy. The G&C Manager establishes internal infrastructure, ensures overarching compliance, and acts as the primary liaison between researchers and institutional leadership. Key Responsibilities & Duties Pre-Award Staff and Operations Oversight (25%): Directly supervise grants and contract staff and indirectly manage other ONRS staff. Manage ONRS staff responsibilities, resource loading, and timelines for upcoming grant submissions. Evaluate and optimize internal pre-award processes to improve operational efficiency, reduce administrative friction, and implement cross-training protocols among staff. Develops and tracks research impact metrics for the School of Nursing (SoN) that are used for benchmarking and external reporting; provides further analysis to identify areas/segments for strategic investment. Strategic Faculty Advising & Consultation (10%): Continuously scan the ‘research horizon' and funding agency websites to identify strategic research-related needs and/or changes for SoN faculty, students and staff. Work one-on-one with faculty researchers to advise on project alignment with specific sponsor portfolios, optimal submission timing, multi-investigator project team makeup, and provide expert troubleshooting for unique or complex proposal situations. Relationship Management (10%): Build and maintain strong, productive professional relationships with faculty researchers across the SoN. Cultivate a deep understanding of researchers' academic interests, expertise, and long-term research objectives to proactively flag future funding opportunities. Maintain Small Proposal Portfolio (10%): Alleviate proposal bottlenecks during peak submission deadlines by leading 2-4 pre-award proposal applications from start to finish. Post-Award UMN & Sponsor Agency Liaison (10%): Host “Kick-off” meetings for newly awarded projects. Walk Faculty/Staff through the Notice of Grant Award (NOGA) to ensure their understanding of the terms, highlighting possible award restrictions etc. Coordinate with post-award staff regarding policies and procedures for funded projects. Serve as the lead in correspond with other UMN units and funding agencies/sponsors to obtain necessary approvals (e.g., Principal Investigator (PI) changes, effort changes, leave of absence, transfers or other items needing sponsor approval, etc.). Platform Competency & Systems Leadership (10%): Continually examine, monitor, and master a wide variety of evolving grant submission platforms. Adapt internal processes to strict funder requirements to ensure successful, compliant applications. Serve as a liaison between the SoN and SPA. Budgets & Reporting (5%): Drafts and prepares proposed budgets and budget expenditure reports for the Associate Dean for Research’s use for ONRS programming. Tracks and reports grant award metrics for the School of Nursing, alongside any other School-level ad hoc grant report requests. Development & Continuous Improvement (15%): As part of supervising ONRS pre-award staff, lead weekly team meetings regarding current issues, policy updates, workload balancing, and internal workflow processes. Promote proposal readiness across the SoN, with a dedicated focus on mentoring early-career faculty. Provide leadership in the creation of proposal templates, job aids, and specialized guidance to streamline processes for both new and experienced PIs. Identify staff training needs, provide or oversee training, and provide coverage for staff when they are out of the office. Professional Representation (5%): Represent the ONRS by attending highly relevant cou…

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