Northern California HERC

SCHOOL/UNIT DESCRIPTION:

The Geballe Lab for Advanced Materials (GLAM) is an Independent Laboratory that spearheads innovative and high-impact research in biomaterials, sustainable energy, quantum science, and electronic systems. With 30 faculty and ~300 students, postdocs, and scientific staff across three departments - Physics, Applied Physics, and Materials Science & Engineering - GLAM's research portfolio is large, complex, and highly-heterogeneous, necessarily involving strong relationships to many Stanford and SLAC units and federal and non-federal sponsors.

Our VPDoR Diversity Journey:

• We create a hub of innovation through the power of diversity of disciplines and people.
• We provide equitable access and opportunity to all members of the community in order to do their best work, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
• We listen to and value all colleagues who bring diverse perspectives to the advancement and development of a respectful community.
• We promote a culture of belonging, equity, and safety.
• We embed these values in excellence of education, research, and operation.

POSITION SUMMARY:

GLAM seeks an ambitious, communicative, and detail-oriented Senior Grants Manager supporting pre-award and post-award financial and compliance efforts for its comprehensive research portfolio. The Senior Grants Manager will report directly to the Associate Director and will join an interdependent and highly-collaborative team of three other research administrators, who will altogether forge the robust administrative structure that fosters high-risk, high-reward research initiatives. The incumbent will work independently alongside GLAM faculty and other investigators and will collaborate transparently and meaningfully with senior and junior staff from across many university units on matters of financial management, funds monitoring, grant/contract proposal submissions, award reconciliation, reporting, and policy communications.

The successful candidate will possess prior experience in grant development, financial accounting, and/or federal policy analysis and compliance. Though existing expertise in each task is not required at the time of application, a competitive candidate's motivation to learn and grow in each of the aforementioned tasks will set them apart and sustain their success and operational impact on the job. Further, the successful candidate will have a collaborative mindset and demonstrate eagerness to work with academic and administrative personnel from a wide variety of functions in order to contribute to GLAM's mission of research impact and operational excellence.

CORE DUTIES:

Pre-Award (40%)

• Support assigned faculty in preparing all administrative components of grant proposals, always within the parameters of applicable sponsored and non-sponsored research guidelines. Oversee and communicate submission processes; review documents for completeness and compliance, and regularly communicate timelines and needs to faculty and administrative colleagues.
• Develop, prepare, and finalize project budgets, and draft budget justifications and other narrative documents required for the proposal submission. Review budgets for GLAM investigators participating in proposals submitted by other Stanford departments and verify compliance with VPDoR requirements.
• Serve as the primary liaison between researchers, the Office of Sponsored Research, related research groups, and other departments and partner universities; respond to all sponsor inquiries with unwavering diplomacy, accuracy, and tact.
• Understand, apply, and advise on university and government policies. In order to maintain mastery of sponsor policies and expectations, continuously seek opportunities for training and skills development offered by Stanford and external institutions. GLAM will provide budgetary support for program engagement, enrollment, and travel.
• Serve as a full-spectrum resource for investigators and other staff on pre-award compliance, financial methods, and general proposal administrative strategy.
• Perform initial compliance review for proposals, often within short time frames. Ensure proposals are fully compliant with and responsive to extramural sponsor requirements and guidelines; communicate clear, concise feedback regarding necessary revisions. Verify that compliance requirements are met, and that necessary internal forms are provided prior to proposal submission (i.e., Conflict of Interest disclosures, PI Waivers, Indirect Cost Waivers, IRQ forms, Pre-Award Assessment forms, etc.).
• Review responses to pre-award information requests from agencies, including budget revisions, compliance documentation, updated C&P statements, and other revisions and clarifications as required by sponsors.
• During proposal review, at the time of award, and as otherwise determined by business needs, review Current & Pending support (C&P) documents of researchers within assigned portfolio and work with the researchers to reconcile discrepancies.

Post-Award (40%)

• Collaborate with the Office of Sponsored Research to ensure that awards are set-up properly and cost-sharing requirements are fulfilled; initiate cost transfers and support inbound and outbound subaward activities.
• Review and approve expenditures on existing sponsored projects, advise on post-award spending and commitment activities, and provide accurate and routine projections and forecasts on all assigned accounts to ensure faculty are aware of their financial resources and future options.
• Participate in contract closeout processes; submit final reports and certificates. Compile information and documents for audit inquiries.
• Support regular reporting requests, perform quality assurance review of data records, and collaboratively build and evaluate GLAM systems to maintain such records and utilize data in response to a wide variety of reporting needs.
• Note deliverables and interpret award conditions for the PI and administrators.
• Provide GLAM administrators and researchers with needed information and context regarding agency restrictions, allowable costs, and audit-related concerns.
• Log and file submitted progress reports and notify researchers of overdue progress reports.

Special Projects (20%)

• Stay abreast of frequently changing sponsor guidelines and application systems, including Research.gov, PIMS, Workspace, etc., and maintain knowledge of resources available for proposal preparation.
• Participate in and contribute to process improvements aimed at increased organizational efficiency and optimized support for GLAM investigators, potentially including designing new systems and procedures, authoring internal communications, serving on Stanford committees, and brainstorming new strategic programs.
• Serve as an as-needed backup to other research administrators during vacations, leaves, and other periods of time away from the office, in order to ensure continuous and reliable support to GLAM faculty.
• Other strategic initiatives and special projects as assigned by the Associate Director.