Grants Manager, Biomedical Engineering

The position is a Grants Manager position within Biomedical Engineering. The position is primarily pre and post-award grants management as well as other tasks assigned. This position requires the exercise of independent judgment, initiative, and the ability to make decisions relative to the department’s operations as well as other tasks assigned. The position will function with a high degree of understanding of University life, policies, and procedures.

The Department of Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt is unique among biomedical engineering programs in its immediate proximity to the world-class Vanderbilt Medical Center, located on our compact campus. Our School of Medicine is among the top ten in funding from the National Institutes of Health and includes a National Cancer Institute-recognized Comprehensive Cancer Center, a major children’s hospital and a Level I trauma center. This proximity and the strong relationships among faculty across multiple schools stimulate high impact research and provide unique educational and research opportunities for students.

Duties and Responsibilities

Pre-Award Management

• Assist faculty in preparing and assembling grants proposals/contracts in compliance with sponsor, University, and federal guidelines and deadlines.
• Assist Principal Investigator (PI) in determining requirements, deadlines, and time management for responses to funding opportunities or general application submissions in a proactive manner. Coordinate multiple applications under absolute deadlines.
• Work in a collaborative manner with the Principal Investigator, other department and institutions, and Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA), throughout the application process to achieve a professional document for submission.
• Assemble original application prior to submission.
• Interact with other departments and agencies to facilitate the development, submission, and administration of grant proposals.
• Provide outside departments with biosketches, other support, and ancillary data as requested.
• Responsible for tracking and receiving back confirmation of submitted application for Grants & Contracts.
• Monitor terms and agreements of grant awards for compliance.
• Forwards potential funding opportunities to PIs/staff whether specific to a PIs research or general for all PIs.

Post Award Management

• Assist PI with all periodic reporting requirements as detailed in awards.
• Works in conjunction with the VUSE Senior Lead Grants Manager on new, competing or revised grant applications in preparing initial and extended budgets, including Indirect cost calculation.
• Independently manage budget responsibilities for grants.
• Prepares Carry Forward requests, RPPR reports, No Cost Extension requests, etc., as needed.
• Reviews budget details with PI, including personnel, effort allocated and overall expenses, ensuring consistency and compliance.
• Prepares meaningful unobligated balance and effort matrix reports to PI’s on at least an every other month cadence.
• Prepares budget projections for PIs and the Senior Administrative Manager to review spending.
• Works with Senior Administrative Manager on carry forward requests for unobligated balances in conjunction with the Office of Contract and Grant Accounting (OCGA).
• Ensures that the assigned contract/grants are not in deficit.
• Ensures that PPM unprocessed (aka suspense) is kept at $0 or a minimal level.
• Ensures that retroactive changes do not exceed 90 days from the original charge.
• Prepares and submit budgets revisions to the VUSE Senior Lead Grants Manager and the Office of Contract and Grant Accounting (OCGA).
• Prepares progress reports to the PI detailing personnel, effort allocation and overall expenses ensuring consistent communication as to the status of all projects on at least an every other month cadence.
• Will be asked to distribute effort to appropriate projects in the ORACLE system prospectively and retrospectively.
• Will be asked to enter retrospective costing changes into the ORACLE system.
• Works closely with the assigned Financial Unit Manager (FUM) for the work unit.
• Meets with the FUM regularly to ensure there is proper financial stewardship of the assigned PI portfolio ensuring that all transactions are recorded accurately and in compliance with applicable university and departmental policies.
• Provides contract/grant specific guidance to the FUM.
• Maintains an extensive understanding of the institution’s chart of accounts and departmental use of optional segments and PPM POET structure.

Subaward Management

• Prepares subcontract set up requests to the Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) office and maintains agreements and amendments as required.
• Tracks all incoming invoices from sub-award institution to ensure accurate spending and payment.
• Works with OCGA to obtain approval for all invoices from the PI for timely payments.
• Processes all Sponsored Billing Agreements, Effort Service Agreements and Non-Sponsored Billing Agreements under the direction of the Senior Administrative Manager.
• Develop a subcontract aging report to help identify long periods of time between invoices.

Communication and collaboration

• Keeps abreast of new/updated agency policies, procedures, deadlines and timeframes of new initiatives by working closely with Deans Office, SPA, and OCGA.
• Attends all training offered by SPA and OCGA as well as reading online/published materials (i.e.: SPA/OCGA Users group meeting, NCURA newsletter, NIH and NSF hosted training webinars and online updates).
• Attends monthly VUSE Grant Managers meetings and professional development opportunities.
• Actively participates in at least one VUSE Grant Managers working group.
• Attends all School level meetings.
• Keeps Senior Administrative Manager and PIs informed of any material changes.
• Build and maintain strong working relationships in the department, school, collaborators and central offices.
• Adapt easily to changes in technology and process.
• Display an awareness of and urgency around meeting deadlines.
• Have a “get the job done” attitude; accept responsibility; address problems rather than allowing unresolved issues to linger; model willingness to contribute above and beyond the call of duty.
• Display self-awareness and feel comfortable asking for help/guidance when needed.
• Self-driven, work independently with minimal oversight/instruction.
• Other duties as assigned.

Annual Space Survey

• Reviews assigned spaces and functionalizes the rooms appropriately.
• This can include interviews with the PI or other research team members in the space.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree is necessary; A degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business is preferred.
• Three years of experience is preferred
• Completed SkyVU FUM training is preferred
• Completed SkyVU Procurement training is preferred
• Strong administrative support skills are preferred
• Familiarization with grant and contract processes is preferred
• Familiarization with a chart of accounts for expense items, allowable and unallowable costs is necessary
• Proficiency in Microsoft, especially Excel, is necessary
• Three years of experience working in a higher education/academic setting is preferred
• Strong organization and communication skills are necessary
• Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously is necessary
• Comfort with new technological systems and the ability to adapt easily to changes in technology and processes is necessary
• Financial background, including the review of budgets, is preferred

Commitment to Equity, Diversity, and InclusionAt Vanderbilt University, we are intentional about and assume accountability for fostering advancement and respect for equity, diversity, and inclusion for all students, faculty, and staff. Our commitment to diversity makes us who we are. We have created a community that celebrates differences and lets individuality thrive. As part of this commitment, we actively value diversity in our workplace and learning environments as we seek to take advantage of the rich backgrounds and abilities of everyone. The diverse voices of Vanderbilt represent an invaluable resource for the University in its efforts to fulfill its mission and strive to be an example of excellence in higher education. Vanderbilt University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. Women, minorities, people with disabilities and protected veterans are encouraged to apply. Please note, all candidates selected for an offer of employment are subject to pre-employment background checks, which may include but are not limited to, based on the role for which they have been selected: criminal history, education verification, social media review, motor vehicle records, credit history, and professional license verification.