Pre-Award Research Coordinator

Job Summary

The College of Forestry at Oregon State University is seeking a Pre-Award Research Coordinator. This is a full-time (1.00 FTE), 12-month, professional faculty position.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary pre-award resource for College of Forestry faculty, guiding proposal development from concept through submission and award setup.
• Interpret sponsor guidelines and federal/state regulations to ensure proposals meet agency and university compliance requirements.
• Develop and review proposal budgets and budget narratives, including labor, fringe, indirect costs, subawards, and cost share.
• Manage multiple concurrent grant applications and deadlines, coordinating timelines with PIs and research teams across a college-wide portfolio.
• Prepare, route, and submit proposals through OSU and agency systems, ensuring accuracy and on-time delivery.
• Build and maintain relationships with OSU research administrators and external funding agencies to resolve issues and support compliance.
• Contribute to strategic growth of the College's sponsored programs portfolio through workshops, training, and process improvements.

Qualifications

• Required: Bachelor’s degree in natural resources, STEM or related field and a minimum of three years of experience in sponsored programs administration, including proposal development, budget preparation, and submission to federal or other external funding agencies; OR five years of comparable experience in a research administration or grants management role.
• Demonstrated experience preparing proposal budgets including estimation of labor, fringe, indirect costs, subawards, and other direct expenses.
• Demonstrated experience with proposal routing and submission systems such as Grants.gov, research.gov, Assist, or comparable platforms.
• Demonstrated communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to collaborate across teams and units, and to translate complex regulatory requirements for faculty and research staff.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent grant applications with competing deadlines in an environment requiring significant independent judgment and project management skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft (MS) Office suite and in particular, proficiency with budgeting within MS Excel.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated knowledge of federal grant requirements and regulations, including Uniform Guidance and requirements of major research funding agencies such as USDA, NSF, or DOE.
• Experience developing and implementing proposal tracking systems or pipeline management tools to support a high-volume research portfolio.
• Experience in preparing proposals for federal funding agencies.
• Demonstrated understanding of scientific and technical processes, especially in disciplines related to forestry, natural resources, biological sciences, engineering, or closely related discipline.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate expectations, timelines and milestones to achieve submission objectives.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate and enforce compliance requirements clearly and diplomatically, including delivering unwelcome information to faculty, administrators, and other stakeholders.

Working Conditions/Schedule

• Sitting for long periods of time in an office setting.
• Occasional after-hours or weekend work required.
• Occasional travel for conferences and meetings, and work outdoors to visit research sites.
• Work from home/remote agreement possible with approval from supervisor.

Salary Range

$62,000-$89,000

Anticipated Start Date

2026-08-31

Anticipated End Date

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability, protected veteran, and other protected status. OSU will conduct a review of the National Sex Offender Public website prior to hire. OSU is a fair chance employer committed to inclusive hiring. We encourage applications from candidates who bring a wide range of lived experience including involvement with the justice system. If this position has “critical or security-sensitive” responsibilities and/or driving duties and you are selected as a finalist, your initial job offer will be contingent upon the results of a job-related pre-employment check (such as a background check, motor vehicle history check, sexual misconduct reference check, etc.). Background check results do not automatically disqualify a candidate. Take a look at our Background Checks website including the for candidates section for more details. If you have questions or concerns about the pre-employment check, please contact OSU’s Employee and Labor Relations team at employee.relations@oregonstate.edu.