Director of Grants and Sponsored Projects

Director of Grants and Sponsored Projects

Georgia College & State University is the state's designated public liberal arts university. As a member of the prestigious Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC), Georgia College is committed to fostering a liberal arts environment that values interdisciplinary inquiry, diversity and inclusion, and academic excellence. The College enrolls approximately 7,000 students –5,800 undergraduate and 1,200 graduate students-- and is prominently cited for excellence in teaching, undergraduate research, nursing education, and high impact practices outside the classroom in a number of leading publications.

The university's beautiful and historic campus is located downtown in Milledgeville, Georgia, a charming, diverse college town of approximately 19,000 residents in Central Georgia, approximately 90 miles southeast of Atlanta. Milledgeville is also the home of noted American author and alumna, Flannery O’Conner, and the college community enjoys many exciting literary arts programs at O’Connor’s former home, the Andalusia Institute, now owned by the College. Milledgeville is also located on the banks of beautiful Lake Sinclair and Lake Oconee, allowing faculty, staff, and students to take full advantage of the environmental and recreational benefits of being part of a lake community. For cultural, educational, and leisure opportunities beyond Milledgeville, Macon and Atlanta are located within easy driving distances.

Georgia College takes great pride in combining the educational experience of private liberal arts colleges with the affordability of a public university. The university's main campus is a residential learning community focused on undergraduate education and a select number of graduate programs. Faculty and staff are dedicated to engaging students through high-impact pedagogies that foster intellectual curiosity, reasoned inquiry, and critical thinking. We strive for excellence in the classroom and beyond. We nurture collaborative leadership and global citizenship, and we value diversity and inclusion in all of its forms.

Georgia College seeks faculty and administrators who understand and embrace our public liberal arts mission, who are committed to respecting and fostering diversity and inclusion inside and outside of the classroom, and who are dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through teaching, scholarship, and service. All Georgia College faculty share the responsibility of teaching our core curriculum and providing foundation courses for majors and non-majors alike. To carry out our public liberal arts mission, we seek faculty with the desire and ability to provide a first-class learning experience for our students, one that will prepare them to be competent, thoughtful, and well-rounded leaders who make transformative contributions to their communities and to the world.

In keeping with the University's mission, we especially encourage applicants who will further our goal of cultural, ethnic, racial, and gender diversity.

Job Summary

The Director of Grants and Sponsored Projects works to significantly expand the level of external support for the university's instructional programs, research, creative activities, and public service. The director is responsible for promoting and stimulating a robust grant portfolio, supervises all operational matters related to pre-award and non-financial post-award administration and ensures and maintains compliance with all federal, state, local, and private sector funding sources. The director links grant initiatives to university goals, seeking operational performance improvement and effective fiscal strategies, including the diversification of funding support, and helps strengthen community and regional ties through programs, partnerships, research, and service that enhances economic, educational, and cultural opportunities. The director cultivates collaborative relationships with faculty, administrators, and other key campus stakeholders to stay informed of current programmatic activities, scholarly and/or creative interests, and upcoming initiatives. The director provides formal and informal training and working sessions for faculty.

Responsibilities

Directing - 30%
Serves as a campus-wide champion in stimulating robust grant activity. Develops and maintains procedures to encourage grant proposal writing and submission; identifies potential funding sources and opportunities; makes recommendations for departmental consideration; works with faculty and academic departments to identify fundable research and program ideas and to locate sources of funding for these activities. Provides university-wide leadership for all aspects of pre-award and non financial post-award grant activity. Researches and disseminates funding opportunities, offers workshops in proposal and budget development, assists with proposal editing and design, and provides oversight for grants management and compliance. Reviews and proofreads funding applications for completeness, accuracy and quality; aligns grant services with the needs of the university; and makes improvements in grant-related services as necessary.

Leading - 20%
Promotes links between funding opportunities and faculty, staff, and internal and external partners with complementary interests; works with faculty and staff on proposal development; and facilitates the coordination and integration of interdepartmental research.  As appropriate, leads and manages grant development activities including initial research, creation of time lines, identification of resources, proposal and report writing, data collection and aggregation, university and agency review processes, and submission of grant proposals to potential funding agencies.

Strategic Planning - 15%
Develops and implements a strategic plan for enhancing the growth of external funds building on the strengths of the university, working with appropriate university groups and individuals in evaluating goals, objectives, and programs.  Provides management and leadership for all aspects of departmental operations including budget oversight, strategic planning, staff supervision, professional development, and customer/support services. Ensures grant staff have the training and resources necessary to carry out their functions in an effective and efficient manner, and serves as an expert in the resolution of issues. Oversees ongoing training and written materials for principal investigators, faculty, department administrators and research support staff.

Compliance and Project Management - 25%
Designs, prepares, and seeks funding for university eligible projects and programs. Leads the development of policies, procedures, and guidelines to improve the institutions grants infrastructure and promote a campus climate supportive of sponsored research activity; interprets and applies state, federal, university and BOR policies and procedures regarding sponsored research including the submission of applications, acceptance of awards, monitoring of project activities and expenditures, preparation of reports, and compliance with sponsor and University terms and conditions; protects the interests of GCSU through careful review, negotiation, and approval of terms and conditions of sponsored project awards and ensures university compliance through effective post-award procedures.

Professional Development - 10%
Keeps abreast of current trends and policy changes relating to external funding and participates in related national and regional conferences and meetings; maintains contact with funding agencies; and serves as the University liaison with state, regional, and national organizations having special interests in funding scholarly activities. Encourages professional development among office staff to ensure current knowledge of policies and procedures related to grants and sponsored research activity.

Required Qualifications

Educational Requirements
Master's Degree

Required Experience
Eight or more years of highly successful research administration experience, preferably in a higher education setting; OR an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Preferred Qualifications

Preferred Educational Qualifications
CRA Certification
PhD or professional terminal degree

Preferred Experience
Higher education experience

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

ABILITIES
Strong administrative, planning, organizational, communication (verbal and written) and interpersonal skills.
Ability to think creatively to solve problems.
Ability to establish and maintain collaborative relationships with diverse individuals including faculty, staff, students, and departmental and senior administrators.
Ability to maintain confidentiality of records and information.
Ability to work under pressure and with deadlines, multi-task, and handle many major projects at once.
Ability to provide vision, shape policy, and oversee the accurate implementation of procedures in support of requests for external funding and administration of awards.
Possess outstanding technical writing ability and strong ethics and integrity with highly sensitive material.
Analytical abilities to identify and review problem situations, make independent decisions and/or recommend solutions.
Demonstrated ability to provide a positive influence and bring expertise, team-building and consensus-building with office staff.
Ability to manage respective budgets and indirect revenue.

KNOWLEDGE
Extensive knowledge of pre-award and post-award functions, OMB Uniform Guidance, and compliance requirements related to university research and sponsored programs.

SKILLS
Excellent judgment, vision and leadership, decision-making, strategic planning, and sound reasoning skills.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Georgia College is committed to the fundamental principle of equal opportunity and equal treatment for every prospective and current employee and strives to create a campus environment which understands, fosters, and embraces the value of diversity. No person shall, on the grounds of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or genetic information, be excluded from employment or participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination, under any program or activity conducted by Georgia College.

Other Information

This is a supervisory position.
This position has financial responsibilities.
No, this position will not be required to drive.
This role is considered a position of trust.
This position does not require a purchasing card (P-Card).
This position may travel 1% - 24% of the time
This position does not require security clearance.

Background Check

• Position of Trust + Education & Credit

GC&SU is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action institution, with a commitment to cultural, racial, and ethnic communities. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. It is expected that successful candidates share in this commitment. For more information, please visit our web page at www.gcsu.edu.