Grant & Finance Associate

About the role

The job performs routine pre-award and/or post-award activities relating to grant and contract proposals and funding within a department or unit. Pre-award activities include research, preparing applications, and editing proposals. Post-award activities include compliance monitoring, payment processing, and salary allocations. Performs work with guidance from others.

Responsibilities

• Coordinates the contracting lifecycle for Weiss Fund awards from initial agreement through execution and closeout, processing agreements per year across a global portfolio of research institutions.
• Serves as a liaison between the Weiss Fund and University Research Administration (URA), and contracting institutions, coordinating contract amendments, following up with non-responsive institutions, and maintaining administrative point-of-contact information to reduce delays in agreement execution.
• Maintains a Master Service Agreement (MSA) tracking system for high-volume institutional partners.
• Implements Weiss Fund contracting policies and procedures, ensuring all awardees have access to clear guidance from the outset of their engagement with the Fund.
• Supports compliance with University and sponsor grant rules and regulations across the Weiss Fund award portfolio.
• Prepares interim financial reports, closeout documentation, and assists with responses to grant audit requests.
• Updates contract templates as needed, including updating reporting requirements to align with programmatic changes.
• Processes AURA portal submissions, AMR requests, and no-cost extension requests.
• Processes invoices and coordinates vendor payments for the Weiss Fund portfolio.
• Maintains a structured vendor tracking system; coordinates with PaymentWorks and UChicago Procurement Services to support timely vendor setup and accurate disbursements.
• Conducts monthly audits and budget reconciliations across all Weiss Fund accounts, flagging discrepancies for resolution.
• Prepares budget analyses and financial reports to support Weiss Fund leadership's visibility into fund utilization and remaining balances and support financial reporting to the donor.
• Ensures smooth account creation for Weiss Fund internal awards.
• Collaborates with DIL HR or Operations teams on cross-functional Weiss Fund projects.
• Supports cross-functional Weiss Fund projects in collaboration with DIL HR or Operations teams.
• Works with DIL teams on shared operational tasks, systems, and processes relevant to Weiss Fund administration.
• Helps set team priorities, delegate tasks and review workstreams, in coordination with the Program Manager.
• Ensures accuracy and consistency through quality assurance checks and reviews.
• Supports training and onboarding of new staff on Weiss Fund operational processes, systems, and procedures.
• Documents and maintains operational processes, policies, and manuals for the Weiss Fund.
• Maintains data on platforms, as related to grants and finance on platforms including NextZen, Google Drive, Box, and the AURA portal, and leading related troubleshooting as needed.
• Identifies opportunities to streamline Weiss Fund workflows.
• Assists with 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.
• Prepares summaries of grants and effort allocations for Principal Investigators, meets with them and responds to their questions. Coordinates with other departments/units/divisions regarding multi-investigator grants.
• Serves as department contact for annual audits and agency site visits.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Education

• Minimum Qualifications: College or university degree in related field.
• Work Experience: Knowledge and skills developed through < 2 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Preferred Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree.
• Experience: Experience with grant management and contract administration, experience with invoicing, vendor management, or budget reconciliation, experience providing guidance to or supporting junior staff, experience in a higher education or non-profit research environment, familiarity with university financial systems (Workday, Oracle/PeopleSoft, AURA).

Preferred Competencies

• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage a high-volume workload accurately and on time.
• Proactive problem-solver; identifies and flags issues before they escalate.
• Clear written and verbal communicator, comfortable working across teams and institutional partners.
• Exercises sound judgment and handles sensitive financial and personnel information with discretion.
• Comfortable working independently and supporting process improvement in a structured environment.