Project Manager

Tasks & Deliverables

• Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) & Administrative Support:

  • Draft FOA templates and administrative sections for GMS review.
  • Maintain FOA publication tracking log and clearance workflows.
  • Deliverable: FOA Template & Publication Tracking Spreadsheet.

• Application Intake & Validation:

  • Monitor Electronic Research Administration (eRA) Commons receipt queue.
  • Validate administrative completeness (forms present, page limits) and flag missing items.
  • Prepare administrative completeness reports for each application.
  • Deliverable: Application Intake Report (one per application).

• Budget Review Support:

  • Perform mathematical verification and consistency checks between SF-424 Research & Budget Justification.
  • Produce budget comparison worksheets and preliminary cost-analysis summaries.
  • Deliverable: Budget Verification Worksheet & Cost Summary.

• Compliance & Checklist Reviews:

  • Check presence of required assurances (human subjects, vertebrate animals, IACUC, IRB approvals), registrations (SAM/UEI), and other attachments.
  • Prepare checklist summary for GMS review.
  • Deliverable: Compliance Checklist.

• Risk & Due Diligence:

  • Compile institutional award history, audit summaries (Single Audit), and other source documents for GMS.
  • Deliverable: Applicant Risk Brief.

• JIT Tracking:

  • Track JIT requests; validate completeness of JIT materials and prepare JIT summary memos.
  • Deliverable: JIT Status Log & JIT Memo.

• Communications & Workflow:

  • Draft standard correspondence and internal routing memos for GMS approval.
  • Maintain shared mailbox triage log.
  • Deliverable: Draft Correspondence Packet.

• Award & Notice Preparation:

  • Draft Notice of Award (NoA) Packages:
  • Assemble draft Notice of Award elements (funding summary, terms to consider, recommended conditions) for GMS review.
  • Deliverable: Draft NoA Package (for review only).

  • Funding Documentation:

    • Prepare funding summary sheets, obligation worksheets, and internal checklists.
    • Deliverable: Funding Summary & Obligation Worksheet.

  • Post-Award Tasks:

    • Post-Award Setup & Onboarding:
    • Enter award metadata into NIH tracking systems (under supervision), create grantee file folders, and assemble administrative award packets.
    • Deliverable: Award Setup Checklist.

    • Financial Monitoring & Reporting Support:

      • Reconcile budget vs. awarded amounts; prepare monthly/quarterly financial status summaries for GMS review.
      • Track and summarize Federal Financial Report (FFR) submissions and flag delinquent reports.
      • Deliverable: Financial Monitoring Report (monthly/quarterly).

    • Grant Administration & Compliance Monitoring:

      • Review and summarize progress reports, other support, no-cost extension requests, and prior approval requests for completeness and policy issues.
      • Prepare issue logs and draft recommendation memos for GMS action.
      • Deliverable: Post-Award Compliance Summary & Issue Log.

    • Amendments, Modifications & Closeout Support:

      • Compile documentation for administrative amendments and closeout packages (final FFR reconciliation, final progress report, property disposition).
      • Prepare draft closeout checklists and closeout memos.
      • Deliverable: Closeout Package & Checklist.

    • Closeout & Records Management:

      • Ensure award records meet NIH retention/compliance standards and prepare electronic archive packages.
      • Deliverable: Archived Award Record Package.

    • Performance Standards & Acceptance Criteria:

      • Timeliness: Deliverables submitted within agreed due dates; late submissions require written notification and mitigation plan.
      • Accuracy: Zero arithmetic errors on budget worksheets; policy-related flags must reference applicable NIH policy citations (drafts acceptable; final determinations by GMS).
      • Completeness: Each deliverable contains required fields and a one-page executive summary for GMS.
      • Quality: Documents are professional, editable (MS Word/Excel), and include version control (version, date, author).
      • Acceptance: GMS reviewer will accept, accept with comments, or reject deliverable within 5 business days. Rejected deliverables must be corrected and resubmitted within the agreed timeline. (See Performance Evaluation Standards – Attachment 4)

    • Reporting & Meetings:

      • Status Reports: Weekly brief status report on active tasks and outstanding items (format: 1-page plus dashboard).
      • Monthly Meeting: Monthly review with GMS leadership to review performance metrics, risks, and backlog.
      • Ad Hoc: Immediate escalation for items that could materially affect award timing or compliance.
      • Deliverable Chart

    Key Personnel & Qualifications

    • Grants Management Specialist:

      • Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree preferred.
      • 5+ years of federal grants experience; NIH experience preferred.
      • Experience with eRA Commons and IMPAC II.
      • 3+ years of experience in finance/accounting preferred.
      • Proficiency with SF-424, modular budgets, and indirect cost calculations.
      • Knowledge of NIH Grants Policy Statement, human subjects regulations, and audit reporting.
      • Personnel must meet NIH background check and required clearance standards.

    • Project Manager:

      • Develops project management documentation and monitors/reports progress to project owners.
      • Conducts project analysis and reports to upper management.
      • Develops and tracks project budgets.
      • Researches project management best practices and new industry standards.
      • Provides subject matter expertise and support to other project managers.
      • 5–7 years of experience in a related field supporting a variety of projects.
      • Proficiency with MS Office Suite and project management software, including MS Project.
      • Strong oral and written communication skills.
      • Knowledge of methods, metrics, tools, and techniques of business process reengineering.
      • Knowledge of principles and methods of cost-benefit analysis.