Large-Scale Collaboration Grant Project Manager
Santa Clara University
Large-Scale Collaboration Grant Project Manager
Santa Clara University
$37.31 - $44.79 per hour' Compensation will be based on education, experience, skills relevant to the role, and internal equity.
A. POSITION PURPOSE
Under the supervision of the Sr. Assistant Dean / Chief Operating Officer and in close coordination with project co-leads, the Project Manager provides administrative, operational, and tactical leadership for the implementation of the $10 Million Lilly Endowment Large-Scale Collaboration Grant. This 5-year grant project supports the launch and integration of the Pope Francis Institute for Pastoral Flourishing (PFI), the relocation and integration of JST-SCU into Santa Clara University’s main campus, and the expansion of regional and national network partnerships.
The Project Manager serves as the primary operational engine driving daily grant activities. This position is responsible for ensuring all strategic deliverables, sub-project timelines, inter-departmental workflows, budget tracking, and official compliance reporting to the Lilly Endowment are executed seamlessly, accurately, and on schedule.
B. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Grant Project Management & Operational Execution
Serve as the central point of tactical execution, project tracking, and workflow management for all initiatives funded under the $10M Lilly LSC Grant.
Develop and maintain comprehensive master project plans, timelines, work breakdown structures, and milestone tracking frameworks across all grant components.
Monitor day-to-day progress across project working groups, internal SCU departments (JST, GPPM, Religious Studies), and external collaborating partners.
Manage the operational roadmap for Year 1 ("Year of Co-Design"), coordinating inter-departmental task forces, curriculum alignment teams, and committee deliverables.
Identify operational bottlenecks, risks, or schedule deviations, implementing corrective action plans to maintain project momentum.
2. Centralized Compliance, Financial Tracking & Grant Reporting
Manage overall compliance with Lilly Endowment Grant Agreement terms, conditions, and reporting requirements.
Partner closely with SCU Office of Sponsored Projects (SPO), JST Finance, and University Development to monitor the $10M budget, track expenditure allocations, approve line-item disbursements, and manage sub-award contracts.
Coordinate, write, and submit all annual narrative program reports and collaborate with the SPO to submit financial reports to the Lilly Endowment by established deadlines.
Collect, aggregate, and verify project data, revenue match metrics, and qualitative/quantitative outcomes from constituent units (such as CLTM, PFI, and external partner networks) for centralized reporting.
Oversee budget revision requests and line-item reallocations in accordance with Lilly Endowment policy guidelines.
3. Stakeholder Coordination & Governance Support
Facilitate regular communication, meeting schedules, documentation, and reporting streams for the Grant Steering Committee, Advisory Boards, and Working Groups.
Serve as the primary liaison between internal academic units and external partner organizations (e.g., ACHTUS, RECOSS, Iskali, regional dioceses, Discerning Deacons), managing partner contracts, stipends, and joint project deliverables.
Maintain central project repositories, shared documentation, communications archives, and collaborative platforms (e.g., Google Workspace/Drive) to ensure transparent governance.
4. Communications, Dissemination & Logistics
Coordinate the execution of project events, national symposia, planning retreats, workshops, and advisory council meetings in collaboration with project staff.
Implement the grant’s strategic communication and dissemination plan, sharing project insights, best practices, and research outputs with national theological networks and peer institutions.
Maintain systematic evaluation data and performance indicators to measure long-term institutional impact and pastoral reach.
5. Other duties as assigned in support of JST’s mission and operational needs
C. PROVIDES WORK DIRECTION
May at times, directly supervise grant-funded project personnel, logistics coordinators, and graduate student assistants. Provides cross-functional project direction and milestone tracking for grant task force leads across partner departments.
D. GENERAL GUIDELINES
Establishes robust project tracking systems and monitors task completion across multiple independent workstreams.
Identifies operational risks early and formulates actionable recommendations for project leads and committee chairs.
Maintains continuous communication with internal SCU administrators, external partners, and grant officers.
Ensures strict adherence to institutional accounting policies, grant agreement terms, and federal/foundation compliance regulations.
Prepares comprehensive progress dashboards and status briefs for executive leadership.
E. QUALIFICATIONS
1. Knowledge
Thorough understanding of formal project management methodologies, lifecycle frameworks, and grant administration tools.
Familiarity with private foundation grant administration (experience with Lilly Endowment grants or higher education sponsored programs highly preferred).
Understanding of university organizational structures, academic administration, and multi-institutional collaborative networks.
Knowledge of Catholic ecclesiology, ministerial formation, and the pastoral realities in the United States preferred.
Strong understanding of the values, ideals, and mission of Jesuit higher education and the Jesuit School of Theology preferred.
Knowledge of ATS-accredited graduate theological education preferred.
2. Skills
Demonstrated mastery of project management tools (e.g., Asana, Smartsheet, MS Project, Google Workspace) and budget management software.
Strong written communication skills, with proven ability to synthesize complex project data into formal narrative grant reports.
Excellent organizational skills, sharp attention to detail, and ability to manage multi-million-dollar project budgets.
3. Abilities
Exceptional task-management ability: capable of driving execution across complex, concurrent timelines with high autonomy.
Proven ability to build collaborative relationships and gain alignment among diverse stakeholders (faculty, university administrators, external nonprofit leaders, and foundation officers).
Strong problem-solving skills with a proactive, solution-oriented approach to execution.
4. Education
Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA), Public Administration (MPA), Educational Leadership, Higher Education Administration, or a related field preferred. Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is a strong plus.
5. Years of Experience
Two to four years of progressively responsible project management experience managing complex, multi-year, multi-stakeholder grants or strategic institutional initiatives.
F. PHYSICAL DEMANDS
Extensive keyboarding and desk work utilizing computer systems.
Occasional travel to partner organizations, national conferences, or university events.
Ability to facilitate long-format project planning meetings and workshops.
G. WORK ENVIRONMENT
JST-SCU allows employees to submit requests for Flexible and Remote work schedules as described in Policy 307 of the SCU employee handbook. If a remote schedule is approved, the school’s standard is that all permanent employees work in person at least 60% of the time. Currently, this position is based at the JST-SCU campus in Berkeley, California. Beginning in Fall 2027, the position will be based at the school’s location on Santa Clara University’s main campus in Santa Clara, California.
Typical office environment.
Mostly indoor office environment with windows.
Offices with equipment noise and frequent interruptions.
This is an initial 3-year fixed-term position, with potential for extension dependent on project milestones, performance, and funding allocation.
Telecommute
Santa Clara University is registered to do business in the following states: California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and Illinois. Employees approved to telecommute are required to perform their work within one of these states.
EEO Statement
Equal Opportunity/Notice of Nondiscrimination
Santa Clara University is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, national origin, citizenship, ancestry, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression, gender identity, marital status, parental status, veteran or military status, physical or mental disability, medical conditions, pregnancy or related conditions, reproductive health decision making, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. For a complete copy of Santa Clara University’s equal opportunity and nondiscrimination policies, please visit the Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX website at https://www.scu.edu/title-ix/.
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