Summary

This is an intermediate staff level position in a sponsored research office and supports one or more functional areas including, but not limited to: funding information; regulatory compliance; proposal review, approval and processing; award negotiation and acceptance (including contracts and subcontracts); and award setup. This is a core function with university wide scope. Positions in this classification are reserved for the Office of Sponsored Projects (PreAward) use only and have delegated signatory authority from the Chancellor for Health Sciences and/or the Vice President for Research for all sponsored projects.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Provides assistance, guidance and counsel during development, pre-submission administrative review, management, authorization and transmittal of grant and contract proposals to federal, state, and private funding agencies and may include pharmaceutical funded clinical trial agreements.
2. Reads and interprets contracts and other award documents to determine budget, invoicing schedule, restrictions and other pertinent information.
3. Interprets regulations and guidelines of program funding for grants, cooperative agreements and contracts.
4. Represents the organization in providing solutions on technical issues associated with specific projects.
5. Reviews and approves detailed documents, proposals, reports, and/or related materials.
6. Provides analysis of data for identification of trends.
7. Supports a customer group and works with other internal university contacts.
8. Actively participates in the negotiations of terms providing recommendations, assistance and solutions during negotiations as necessary.
9. Reviews and approves contract or grant renewals and periodic reports prior to transmittal to sponsoring agencies.
10. Responsible for coordination of sponsored project awards in the UNM Pre-Award systems, as required.
11. May develop schedules, action plans and progress reports to meet project team goals.
12. Performs miscellaneous job-related duties as assigned.

Minimum Job Requirements

• Bachelor's degree; at least 3 years of experience directly related to the duties and responsibilities specified.
• Completed degree(s) from an accredited institution that are above the minimum education requirement may be substituted for experience on a year for year basis.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required

• Knowledge and understanding of Federal, State, and University regulations, guidelines, and policies covering contracting and granting process for public institutions.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite and comfortable working in computer data base systems.
• Knowledge and understanding of proposal and grant writing procedures and requirements.
• Knowledge and understanding of financial analysis, intellectual property rights laws, guidelines, and policies.
• Understanding of post award functions in a research university environment.
• Skill in developing, negotiating and administering grants and contracts, and awards.
• Strong verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills and the ability to present information effectively to groups.
• Analytical, evaluative, critical thinking and negotiating skills.
• Ability to prepare research reports and proposals.
• Ability to utilize cross unit knowledge to make administrative/procedural decisions and judgments within generally defined practices & policies in selecting methods, techniques and evaluation for obtaining results.

Distinguishing Characteristics

Position requires: a) provision of standard guidance, consultation, and quality control to research faculty, staff, and administration regarding all facets of the contracting and granting processes; b) independent review and approval of integrated documents, proposals, reports and related materials; c) independent negotiation and facilitation of typical to complex agreements; d) prime contact for the organization for technical solutions to difficult issues on specific projects; e) project management of assigned special projects.

Working Conditions and Physical Effort

• No or very limited physical effort required.
• No or very limited exposure to physical risk.
• Work is normally performed in a typical interior/office work environment.

The University of New Mexico provides all training required by OSHA to ensure employee safety.

Revised Date: 07/20/2021