Legal Career Center

SUMMARY

The Principal Grant and Contract Officer ("PGCO") serves as a manager (approximately 33% time) and a senior level contract and grant expert (approximately 67% time) in the central sponsored projects office.  This position is primarily responsible for activities with federal & non-federal sponsors.  Incumbents hold personal delegated authority on behalf of the University to solicit, negotiate, and administer extramural support for University research, training, and public service projects sponsored by government and non-government sponsors ("sponsored projects.").  Primary duties include review, approval, and submission of extramural proposals for research, public service, and training; negotiation and execution of complex contract and grant awards (including federal & non-federal contracts); and the negotiation, issuance, and oversight of subawards to other legal entities.  Incumbents also serve as institutional experts in the area of sponsor regulations and requirements; manage a team of 5-9 other staff performing this work; and participate or lead specialized institution-wide research administration initiatives. 

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

TEAM MANAGER (33%) 

● On behalf of the Regents of the University of Minnesota, hold delegated authority to submit proposals, execute sponsored awards committing the University to perform externally-funded sponsored research, outreach, and training projects, as well as , and subawards and amendments/correspondence related  to these documents.  This includes executing documents for team members who do not themselves hold delegated signature authority. 
● Train and mentor team members at all levels. 
● Assist team members with complex issues or transactions that exceed their knowledge or capability, or to resolve temporary work overload issues.
● Rebalance team workload on at least an annual basis, coordinating with other PGCOs and SPA Managers.
● Lead search committees, make hiring and firing decisions (with ratification from senior management) supervise, evaluate, and - if needed - implement corrective action plans for team members.
● Manage work schedules within overall office parameters and ensure adequate backup arrangements are in place for vacations, illnesses, and vacancies.
● Manage timely, high quality, and effective completion of team workload, and arrange assistance for other teams when the need arises.
● Foster a positive, productive, healthy work environment for all team members
● Identify and help resolve business process issues in the team or within the office
● Engage faculty, staff, and other offices proactively and effectively, fostering good working relationships and excellent communications.  Attend or lead meetings with clients to enhance the relationship.  Respond to customer concerns or issues, resolving problems and communicating effectively in writing or orally with faculty, unit heads, and deans as well as other central offices. 

AWARD NEGOTIATION AND SIGNATURE (25%)

● Execute awards and commit the University to perform sponsored research contracts, grants, and clinical trials, acting on behalf of the Regents of the University of Minnesota, after verifying adequacy of the terms.
● Negotiate terms and conditions of incoming awards and subawards with sponsors to determine the adequacy and acceptability of terms and conditions for the University.  Work with sponsor’s legal counsel and contracting officers, and university principal investigators, Office of the General Counsel, research associate deans, other University business offices to devise or alter terms as needed to minimize administrative burden, ensure proper costing and adherence to University policies while ensuring positive relationships with sponsoring agencies.
● Understand and apply wide range of University policy and procedures related to research/sponsored projects.
● Using various electronic systems, establish the award in the University's financial system and in databases tracking contract and grant activity.  Summarize terms and conditions to accurately reflect the parameters of the award and to provide proper notifications to principal investigators and various university business offices.
● Interpret for-profit, non-profit federal, state and other government terms and conditions and reconcile with applicable University policy and procedure to provide proper internal guidance to investigators, senior research officials and staff.
● Review mid-life cycle requests for prior approval, additional funding, or other needed changes on behalf of the University.
● Assist faculty and staff in resolution of issues or problems that arise during project performance.
● Negotiate and issue subawards (see Section 4).
● Resolve issues or concerns identified by the sponsor or the investigator.

PROPOSALS (20%)

● Review agency proposal guidelines, Requests for Proposals (contracts), and Broad Agency Announcements and compare agency requirements to proposals submitted for review and endorsement.  Notify investigators and departments of errors.  Exercise subjective judgment about which errors require correction prior to institutional endorsement.
● Endorse proposal on behalf of the University
● Submit the proposal using a wide variety of sponsor electronic and manual systems
● Respond to questions and issues that arise from sponsor or the investigator prior to award (reduced budgets, budget negotiations with sponsor, questions about adherence to terms, potential terms and conditions imposed by sponsors, etc.).
● Review pre-award spending requests to determine if sponsor will permit expenditures prior to execution of an award; advise departments accurately about risks.

SUBAWARDS (15%)

● Work with guidance provided by subaward compliance officer to assist team members with special situations with their subaward agreements to appropriately address institutional risks. 
● Issue management decisions as required under OMB 2 CFR 200.
● Review scope of work and project parameters to determine the best contracting mechanism to acquire the services of the proposed subrecipient and to ensure that sponsor prior approvals (if any) are obtained.
● Ascertain applicability and ensure accurate flow down of the terms and conditions of prime awards to the proposed subrecipient, adjusting requirements as needed to fulfill principal investigator and institutional requirements and imposing terms necessary to adequately manage institutional risk.
● Negotiate and execute subawards with proposed subrecipients; modify such subawards over time to change funding, period of performance, work scope, reporting obligations, intellectual property or data right obligations, termination and payment terms, indemnification, or other parameters as needed to ensure that the University will be able to fulfill its obligations to our prime sponsors.
● Interpret federal and other sponsor requirements for principal investigators, university staff, and subrecipients. 
● Ascertain when and how prime sponsor prior approvals are required and ensure that such approvals are obtained.
● Ensure that compliance obligations (e.g., human subjects, animal subjects, export controls, intellectual property, etc.) are properly fulfilled.
● Ensure that the University can timely meet its reporting obligations under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act.
● Authorize payments for subrecipients after verification that progress meets the needs of principal investigators and costs are appropriate under the sponsor's terms.
● Monitor progress to determine if terms and conditions require adjustment or if award requires early termination for non-performance.
● Ensure proper and timely closeout of subawards to meet sponsor requirements.

SPECIAL INITIATIVES (7%)

● Engage in one or more institutional committees or work duties as assigned, such as serving as SPA's  representative to the institutional transactional classification committee; oversee SPA's award setup process and manage award setup team members; develop and/or teach courses in the SPECTRUM course series on contract and grant administration; lead planning and/or teach for the Sponsored Projects Symposia or specialized SPA training course series; serve as SPA trainer for new grant and contract officers; serve as institutional single point of contact and/or lead for highly complex sponsored projects (e.g., USAID $55M RESPOND project, USAID EG4PR initiative involving more than 200 faculty, $15M NSF Construction grant, $10M multi-site clinical trial); serve as SPA leader for cross- institutional initiatives.
● Perform specialized risk assessments to determine the financial adequacy of potential subrecipient entities (businesses, universities, other entities) that are not subject to the Single Audit provisions.

REMOTE WORK OPTIONS:

Sponsored Projects Administration endorses a “Work with Flexibility” approach that encourages employees to select a work location where they can do their best work.  This means that the incumbent has an option to work remotely, partially remotely, or entirely in the office; at this time, many SPA staff have opted to work remotely.  The incumbent will be asked to attend certain in-person work events during the year regardless of remote status.  Out-of-state candidates will be considered if their skills are extremely strong.  Regardless of work location, work processes will be digital and paperless.  Incumbents are provided University-configured equipment and supportive technology tools, but the employee will be required to provide reliable internet access and home office furnishings if they opt for part or all of their duties to be undertaken remotely.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

● BA/BS and 6 years of experience in proposal/award review, negotiation, and administration, including experience with federal and non-federal sponsors.
● Demonstrated experience in problem solving highly varied and unpredictable situations, including those that are complex and often non-recurring. 
● Ability to work independently, designing new and creative solutions when needed, and to resolve most problems without assistance.
● Excellent communication skills; ability to seamlessly adapt communication style and content to varying audiences (e.g., company and university attorneys and senior management, technology transfer professionals, principal investigators and other researchers, deans, department heads and research administration staff)
● Ability and commitment to get to “yes” in negotiations while simultaneously ensuring protection of key university assets and conformance with regental and university policy.
● Supervisory/mentoring experience.
● Demonstrated ability to work in deadline-oriented position with significant multi-tasking
● Experience using standard computer tools (e.g., MS Office suite, email, calendaring)

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

● Master’s degree or doctoral/advanced degree
● Experience working successfully with federal and non-federal contracts & grants
● Specialized training in Contract and Grant Administration

About University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

The University of Minnesota, founded in the belief that all people are enriched by understanding, is dedicated to the advancement of learning and the search for truth; to the sharing of this knowledge through education for a diverse community; and to the application of this knowledge to benefit the people of the state, the nation, and the world.

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