Grants and Contracts Administrator

Department

EPIC - Adminstration and Operations

About the Department

The University of Chicago Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth (ICSG) is a groundbreaking effort uniting faculty from across the university to advance society’s understanding of our energy and climate future. The Institute combines faculty insights in energy markets and policy, climate systems engineering, and energy technology to produce world-changing ideas while also investing in the next generation of energy and climate thinkers, leaders, and innovators through novel educational programs.

Job Summary

The Grants and Contracts Administrator supports both pre-award and post-award grant and contract administration for the Institute. This role involves working closely with faculty, research staff, and administrative offices to manage the lifecycle of sponsored awards. Responsibilities include proposal preparation, budget development, compliance monitoring, financial reporting, and ensuring alignment with university and sponsor guidelines. The Grants and Contracts Administrator works with moderate supervision and demonstrates a solid understanding of University systems and research funding requirements.

Responsibilities

• Serves as the primary grant administrator for assigned department(s) or unit(s), under the guidance of the Director of Finance and Operations and working closely with the Senior Grants and Contracts Manager.
• Collaborates with Principal Investigators (PIs), project staff, and administrative offices to coordinate all pre-award activities, including interpreting sponsor guidelines, preparing, and reviewing administrative components of grant proposals, developing and finalizing budgets, and ensuring compliance with regulatory and institutional requirements.
• Maintains electronic records and databases for proposal and award tracking.
• Coordinates with University Research Administration (URA) regarding all unit pre-award activities and tasks with URA and in AURA Grants.
• Works with faculty to identify new funding opportunities and assists with the development of competitive proposals.
• Provides support for post-award activities as needed including coordinating and providing details through AURA to the account create team for Oracle account creations, regulatory and compliance monitoring, salary allocations, effort reporting, grant projections, cost allocations, cost center charges, equipment inventory, invoice preparation, grant closing process, and account closing.
• Prepares and submits interim and final closing memos to URA through AURA following sponsor award reporting terms and deliverables for financial reporting.
• Manages the execution of Subawards, Sponsored Consulting Agreements, and Subaward Amendments in coordination with URA.
• Processes financial transactions through the University systems (Oracle, Service Now, Workday Payroll Cost Correction system), ensuring alignment with grant budgets and timelines.
• Conducts regular account reconciliations, budget projections, and expenditure tracking. Provides summaries and projections to faculty, research staff, and finance team. Analyzes monthly Orbit grant financial reports for accuracy, recommends and initiates action to correct discrepancies and follow-up until resolved. 
• Coordinates timely submissions of sponsor renewals, progress reports, just-in-time documentation, no-cost extensions, and re-budgeting requests.
• Works closely with the Senior Grants and Contracts Manager to collect grant data for the annual budget submission and reporting.
• Assists faculty and staff with review and execution of contracts and data use agreements associated with grants; works to understand needs, assess contract suitability to meeting those needs, and negotiate with vendors to ensure contracts comply with University standards and guidelines.
• Regularly interacts with University Research Administration, Faculty, Postdocs, Human Resources, Financial Services, and other departmental stakeholders.
• Analyzes industry trends and monitors changes in sponsor regulations to ensure departmental compliance with the University.
• Partners with the Senior Grants and Contracts Manager in collecting and analyzing data for budgeting and reporting purposes.
• Seeks new avenues for funding and grant opportunities and ensures that notices of relevant opportunities are brought to faculty attention. Works with sponsors to draft proposal budgets in accordance with University needs, with a moderate level of guidance and direction.
• Handles straightforward post-award activities including account creations, regulatory and compliance monitoring, salary allocations, effort reporting, grant projections, cost allocations, cost center charges, equipment inventory, invoice preparation, grant closing process, and account closing.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 2-5 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or related field.

Experience:

• Progressively responsible grant/contract and financial administration in an academic setting.
• Background with budgets, ledgers, invoices, and fiscal reporting.
• Background in one or more aspects of sponsored program administration in a research environment.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Skilled with accounting systems.
• Knowledge of general accounting standards and auditing.
• Knowledge of research methods and funding sources.
• Understand and follow policies and sponsor guidelines.
• Computer skills including word processing, database management, and spreadsheet skills.
• Working knowledge in financial administration, accounting or grant and contract.
• Knowledge of procurement and finance systems.

Preferred Competencies

• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Attention to detail and strong organizational skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, and interact professionally with faculty and individuals across the University.
• Flexible and adaptable work style.
• Strong financial and analytic skills.
• Demonstrated initiative in improving processes and enhancing systems.
• Exercise sound judgment, discretion, and tact.
• Excellent independent time management skills and handle multiple and concurrent tasks within deadlines.
• Multitask and manage multiple projects in client-service environment.

Working Conditions

• Office environment, writing and typing, work at a computer for multiple hours.
• Fast-paced environment.
• This is a hybrid position, with an expected 2-3 days on campus per week.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• Cover Letter (required)
• Three Professional References Contact Information (required)

Job Family

Financial Management

Role Impact

Individual Contributor

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

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FLSA Status

Exempt

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Pay Range

$75,000.00 - $83,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history.A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment.Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

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