Federal Grants Administrator (Post-Award)

The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) supports faculty and research staff by managing the external funding life cycle. The Federal Grants Administrator serves as the primary post-award administrator for federally funded grants, cooperative agreements, and pass-through awards sponsored by federal agencies or entities awarding federal funds.

This position is responsible for the day-to-day post-award financial administration, compliance oversight, reporting coordination, award monitoring, and closeout activities for federally funded programs awarded to Touro University California. The position ensures compliance with Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200), agency-specific regulations, institutional policies, and sponsor requirements.

This position is expected to manage complex NIH-funded programs, including large multi-project and multi-component awards (e.g., NIH Program Project Grants [P01], Centers, cooperative agreements, and multi-institutional collaborations). The Federal Grants Administrator will coordinate administrative and financial oversight across multiple projects, cores, subawards, and participating institutions, ensuring compliance with NIH policies, reporting requirements, and institutional procedures.

The Federal Grants Administrator works closely with Principal Investigators (PIs), Finance, Human Resources, and other institutional offices, as well as with the OSP team, to provide effective stewardship of federal funding. This position also collaborates with and provides backup support to the current Grants Administrator responsible for non-federal grants and contracts, ensuring continuity of operations and consistent service delivery across the sponsored programs portfolio.

The position serves as a subject matter expert on federal grants management and contributes to the development of institutional processes that strengthen compliance, accountability, and efficient management of sponsored programs.

Federal and Pass-Through Award Management• Serve as primary post-award administrator for federal and federal pass-through awards, including complex NIH mechanisms (P01s, Centers, cooperative agreements, training grants, and other multi-component awards).• Ensure compliance with Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200), NIH Grants Policy Statement, agency-specific regulations, and institutional policy.• Monitor expenditures for allowability, allocability, and reasonableness; review and approve transactions (personnel, procurement, travel, cost transfers) charged to federal awards.• Manage award modifications, carryforward requests, no-cost extensions, rebudgeting, and sponsor prior-approval requests; monitor NOAs and terms of award for compliance implementation.• Coordinate award setup/maintenance in institutional financial systems and across multi-project awards involving several cores or collaborating institutions.• Serve as financial/administrative resource to PIs, core directors, and institutional leadership on complex award requirements.Financial Oversight and Reporting• Prepare and coordinate submission of interim/final financial reports and required sponsor reporting (e.g., RPPRs).• Manage drawdowns, billing, invoicing, and federal cash management.• Develop and maintain financial projections, spending plans, and burn-rate analyses; provide regular (e.g., monthly/quarterly) financial reviews and consultations to PIs, plus ad-hoc support as needed.• Monitor cost-sharing, effort reporting, carryforward balances, unobligated funds, participant support costs, and program income.• Provide proactive risk assessment to prevent overspending, underspending, or lapsed funds; support award closeout.Compliance and Audit Support• Maintain current expertise in federal and NIH regulations governing sponsored programs.• Support federal, state, sponsor, and institutional audits, site visits, and Just-in-Time requests.• Develop SOPs, identify compliance risks, and recommend/implement internal controls.Subrecipient Monitoring• Manage post-award administration of domestic and international subawards, including invoice review, risk evaluation, and performance/compliance monitoring.• Coordinate with PIs and leadership to resolve subrecipient compliance concerns.Training and Customer Service• Train and advise faculty, project managers, and research staff on federal/NIH post-award requirements — including RPPR prep, effort reporting, and cost allowability.• Develop reference materials and guidance resources for grants management.Collaboration and Continuity of Operations• Cross-train with the non-federal Grants Administrator and provide backup coverage as needed.• Participate in office-wide process improvement initiatives.• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications• Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution.• 3–5 years of sponsored programs administration experience, with significant responsibility managing federal grants.• Demonstrated knowledge of Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200), federal grant regulations, and post-award administration, including financial reporting, effort reporting, cost principles, and award closeout.• Experience managing NIH grants, including RPPR financial components, prior approval requests, carryforward/no-cost extension actions, subaward administration, and effort reporting compliance.• Experience coordinating administrative/financial management across multiple projects, investigators, and subrecipients under a single award.• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills; ability to interpret sponsor regulations and communicate requirements clearly.• Experience working with budgets and basic accounting principles, and collaborating with investigators, administrators, and finance staff in a research environment.Preferred Qualifications• 5–10 years of sponsored programs administration experience.• Certified Research Administrator (CRA) or similar certification.• Experience administering complex NIH mechanisms (P01s, Center Grants, multi-PI awards, multi-institutional collaborations) and federal pass-through funding.• Experience in an academic health sciences, medical school, or research-intensive higher education setting.• Familiarity with systems such as Banner, Grants.gov, eRA Commons, Payment Management System (PMS), ASSIST, or Research.gov.• Knowledge of cost accounting standards, indirect cost recovery, and subrecipient monitoring requirements.

Core Competencies 

Demonstrated ability to manage the full lifecycle of federal and federal pass-through awards while ensuring compliance with Uniform Guidance, sponsor regulations, and institutional policies. Maintains expert-level knowledge of federal grants management requirements, financial stewardship practices, audit readiness expectations, and regulatory compliance obligations. Provides guidance to faculty and institutional leadership regarding federal awards and serves as a key resource for sponsored programs administration.