Grant Manager

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Job Summary

Under minimal supervision from the Sponsored Research Lead and the Director of the Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO), the Grant Manager is responsible for the full lifecycle of research administration for OVRO and DSA-2000 faculty and their research teams. This includes pre-award coordination of all sponsored research proposals and post-award administration through project closeout. The Grant Manager also reports to the Division Chair and Division Operations Officer, ensuring seamless integration with divisional priorities and operations. This position serves as a key liaison between faculty, research groups, and administrative units, delivering a full spectrum of support.

The successful candidate will provide strategic, responsive support to Principal Investigators (PIs) involved in the DSA-2000 research program. The Grant Manager will oversee the administration of this complex, large-scale award, ensuring compliance with institutional and sponsor requirements while supporting research excellence. This role requires close collaboration with faculty, staff, and leadership to implement and uphold administrative policies and procedures that optimize support for PIs and reduce Caltech's compliance risks in managing sponsored research.

This role is eligible for primarily remote work, pending a remote work agreement. Ability to report to campus regularly is required.

Essential Job Duties

Sponsored Research Administration:

• Ensure timely and service-oriented pre-and post-award administration of grants, contracts, subcontracts, consortium agreements and service agreements under the OVRO DSA2000 project.
• In collaboration with the Sponsored Research Administration team, support the submission, review, negotiation and acceptance within short time frames with sponsor agencies and collaborating organizations to maximize research opportunities.
• In collaboration with Sponsored Research and Post-Award Administration teams, assure that DSA-2000 sponsored projects follow compliance policies for sponsored projects administration, including maintaining proper documentation to substantiate direct charges to sponsored projects.
• Maintain a positive, proactive relationship with various campus areas (Office of Sponsored Research, Project Accounting, Development, Procurement Services, Payroll Services, etc.) to ensure full grant compliance and process efficiency.
• Provide guidance in grants administration and provide training, if necessary.
• Coordinate with General Accounting, Provost's Office, Purchasing, Development, and other Caltech teams to maximize the ability of PIs to perform research efficiently.
• Demonstrate behaviors that support performance improvement activities.
• Maintain current working knowledge of federal regulations and sponsor policies to support the conduct of research.

Pre-Award Management:

• Counsel PIs and OVRO DSA-2000 team members on funding opportunities and strategies for the preparation of successful proposals.
• Assist PI in applying for new or continued sponsored research support.
• Prepare proposal budgets to capture valuable resources and assure compliance with agency and Caltech policies.
• Coordinate the preparation, routing and review of non-scientific portions of proposals including biosketches, budget and justification development, and identifying administrative documentation requiring review.
• Oversee routing and submission of entire application packets in accordance with PMA, Caltech and sponsor requirements and deadlines.
• Assist PIs in the DSA-2000 project award implementation. Provide all necessary award specific guidance to faculty and their respective groups on internal policies and procedures, as well as funding agency compliance matters. Specific duties that are related to award implementation include award setup, subrecipient paperwork and monitoring, and equipment fabrication setup.

Post-Award Management:

• Monitor and review the expenditure and budget activities associated with successful sponsored project management.
• Perform regular account reconciliation process and correct posting of expenditures to various awards.
• Prepare monthly, or more frequent as necessary, review of financial status, assuring funds are expended appropriately to maximize research opportunities over the course of the funded project.
• Manage spending of various awards to ensure that all grant expenditures are reasonable, allocable, and
• allowable according to OMB and agency guidelines and follow cost accounting standards.
• Prepare financial projections for principal investigators, the Division Chair and Division Operations Officer. Develop and customize, if necessary, periodic (tertiary at a minimum) reports for faculty and Division Chair. Advise faculty of potential problems and provide recommendations for corrective action.
• Interact with central accounting office and Office of Sponsored Research on matters related to award closeouts.
• Perform other related job duties as assigned.
• Support the administrative and financial infrastructure necessary for the succus of the DSA 2000 research program.

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent with 3 or more years of relevant work experience is required.
• Communicate effectively both orally and in writing. Exercise good judgment, diplomacy, and patience.
• Possess interpersonal skills using tact, patience, and courtesy.
• Use a computer proficiently for word processing, databases, spreadsheets and online research.
• Experience with preparing and managing budgets.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with preparing grant proposals.
• Experience with analyzing, evaluating and recommending solutions to faculty on grant-related matters.
• Knowledge of federal funding administration (2 CFR 200 Uniform Guidance).
• Knowledge of electronic proposal submission via agency websites (e.g., NSF Fastlane, Grants.gov, DARPA TFIMS).
• Oracle and/or Caltech experience is strongly preferred. Ability to work independently with minimal supervision is desired.

Required Documents

• Resume