Senior Project Officer - The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York

Position Summary

The Senior Project Officer (SrPO) works closely with other staff members (both pre- and post-award) in the day-to-day operations and reports directly to the Associate Director and Associate Dean of Grants & Contracts. The SrPO is responsible for a broad range of pre- and post-award activities on sponsored projects.

The SrPO is expected to deliver high-quality, customer-focused grants management services, interacting with faculty and administrative staff to facilitate sponsored-project planning, program and administration, and serve as the single point of contact in this regard. After an initial training period, the SrPO is assigned a group of departments, centers and institutes to support the SrPO is expected to adhere to all sponsor and university guidelines and procedures at all times. This position requires problem-solving skills in a deadline-driven environment as well as the consistent exercise of independent judgment and discretion in matters of significance.

Responsibilities

Proposal review, coordination, and submission

• Receive and perform institutional review of grant and contract proposals to ensure they meet sponsor and University requirements prior to being submitted.
• Ensure that a Rascal PT record has been created and registered by the department prior to starting review of proposal.
• Utilizing established proposal review procedures, perform necessary review per the Proposal Review Checklist and in advance of proposal submission.
• Assist PIs and departments with proposals to meet agency requirements and guidelines.
• Ensure conflict-of-interest and other necessary compliance requirements have been met prior to submission in accordance with established policies and procedures.
• Assist researchers, faculty, and department administrators with electronic grant preparation, submission to Grants.gov, and other electronic application venues.
• Ensure that finalized and complete Rascals are in place prior to submission of proposals.
• Assigned the authority and responsibility as official signatory on designated applications

Just-in-Time (JIT) receipt, processing and submission

• Receive JIT requests from sponsor, department or PI via central e-mail or other method and process necessary requests.
• Forward any JIT requests received directly from sponsor, department, or PI to SPA central e-mail box for proper receipt and tracking.
• Upload submitted JIT materials after submission to sponsor into InfoEd as well as updating the status to "JIT submitted."

Award receipt, negotiation and acceptance of grants & contracts and account set-up

• Review and process Notice of Awards (NOAs) and contracts according to established procedures for award receipt and account setup.
• Ensure timely processing of NOAs and contracts received directly from PI, department, or sponsor to central, grants-office e-mail box upon receipt for central logging and processing.
• Ensure established procedures for tracking statuses with InfoEd are maintained.
• Review, analyze, and negotiate award and contract terms and conditions.
• Coordinate with CTV on non-federal grants containing language related to Intellectual Property and copyrights for review and approval, as well as send template e-mail to PI/DA.
• Determine the necessity for and coordinate with Office of General Counsel (OGC) on their review of awards, including contracts and subcontracts.
• Track OGC/CTV requests in central tracking system.
• Advise concerned parties of their responsibilities in meeting special or unusual award requirements.
• Coordinate with appropriate University Officials requests for indirect-cost waivers, cost sharing, and carry-forward actions.
• Ensure compliance with award regulatory terms and University policies, such as Conflicts of Interest, Human Subjects & IACUC approvals, etc.
• Data enter awarded information into SPA grants management system for account creation and account modifications.
• Post data entry, review and reconcile the information and attributes fed from the grants management system to the University's financial system (ARC), to ensure both systems are synchronized.

Post-award responsibilities

• Review and submit required annual and interim progress reports to sponsors based on established procedures.
• Analyze, coordinate, and approve requests for prior approval of post-award changes and actions.
• Review, coordinate, and negotiate award modifications.
• Assist PIs, department staff, and central-administration staff in solving project-related administrative problems and issues.
• Review and endorse correspondence to sponsors.

Other duties

• Function as liaison to federal and non-federal grantor agencies and subcontracting institutions.
• Provide support to department grant managers, administrators, and PIs.
• Review awards and contracts and resolve grant-related questions posed by researchers, faculty and staff.
• Act as a resource for researchers, faculty and department administrators with respect to updates and changes in regulations and policies of grant agencies.
• Maintain all necessary sponsored project related documentation in hardcopy and electronic files per established guidelines.
• Work with assigned Financial Analyst to maintain an efficient team effort.
• Review weekly pre-award and post-award management reports.
• Review quarterly proposal and award reports.
• Perform other duties as assigned including working on special projects.
• Provide necessary support in the on-going audit processes, for both internal and external clients.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in education and experience
• 4 years of related experience

Additional Position-Specific Minimum Qualifications:

• Experience with electronic information systems that support grants and contracts workflow and management;
• Proven knowledge of federal, state, city government and private non-profit policies and regulations related to sponsored projects;
• Proven knowledge of OMB regulations;
• Strong mathematical and organizational competencies are essential;
• The SrPO is expected to perform in an independent manner, as well as take direction from their team lead;
• Demonstrate general knowledge of business practices, and University and sponsored project policies and procedures;
• High level of attention to detail;
• Outstanding organizational skills and the ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects with conflicting deadline pressures and competing priorities;
• Sophisticated customer service abilities;
• Strong computer skills;
• Superior verbal and written communication skills and exceptional interpersonal skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• 5-7 years of related experience
• Prior experience with Federal (NIH, DOD, NSF, CDC, HRSA) grant proposal preparation, sponsored research compliance, and knowledge of post-award administration is preferred.
• Experience with financial reporting of sponsored projects