Project Manager - Sponsored Research

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JOB DESCRIPTION AND POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

The SIRO Project Management Office at Penn State is seeking a Project Manager to support a variety of federal and nonfederal, interdisciplinary, multi-million dollar grants.

SIRO is a central research administration unit that is part of the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research (OSVPR). The mission of the OSVPR is to support a rigorous program of faculty and student research and creative accomplishment by enhancing the environment for scholarly and artistic endeavors, encouraging the highest standards of quality, and fostering ethical conduct in research. SIRO's mission is to provide direct support for university-wide, strategic multi-college and multi-institutional research efforts.

This position will report to the SIRO Associate Director of Project Management while working cross functionally with leadership and staff from PSU colleges, Institutes, and central offices.

Responsibilities: Responsibilities are specific to lifecycle project management of research administration (pre-award/strategic coordination and post-award management) while leading project team management across multiple PSU Colleges/Departments, Central Offices, Sponsor, external collaborators, and subrecipients. The position requires flexibility and agility to pivot between projects. Key duties for this position include the following:

• Monitor lifecycle project management of the research administration process (upstream proposal development, proposal building process, account set-up, award management, reporting, close-out)
• Direct assignments of administrative team members and monitor status of assigned tasks during pre and post award stages
• Liaise with cross-functional teams and conduct regular communications with Principal Investigators, Subrecipients, Sponsor, Internal PSU and departmental/college staff on a variety of administrative functions
• Coordinate and manage multi-disciplinary working groups and committees
• Attend and lead administrative and technical meetings
• Plan and forecast sponsored budgets in-line with strategic plan
• Monitor and forecast project financial health to ensure on track with appropriate spend rate
• Monitor multiple subrecipient budgets, expenditures, amendments
• Monitor milestones, timelines, end dates, budget realignments and extensions, prior approvalrequirements for changing aspects of a fund
• Review sponsor and University guidelines, ensure team understanding and compliance
• Assess unique project requirements and work with various units to support
• Coordinate preparation and submission of complex reporting
• Participate and assist with internal and external audits
• Manage/coordinate the process of accessing sponsored funds and budget realignments
• Oversee closeout procedures for timely financial and technical close-out
• Utilize project management tools to track, monitor, and convey data
• Recommend and provide process improvement strategies and relative guidelines and/or standard operating procedures to support

Work Arrangement: This position is eligible to work remotely within the US. Standard work times will be in EST.

Education and Experience: This position will be filled at the Intermediate Professional or the Advanced Professional level. The minimum qualifications are a Bachelor's degree and 1+ years of related experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Higher levels of experience are required for higher level positions. Project Management industry certification(s) or equivalent relevant education/experience (e.g., PMI) are highly desirable.

Proficiency in MS Office suite and Advanced Excel is required, and experience working with collaborative tools such as Slack, GitHub, Teams and Google Drive would be a big plus.

Project management of research administration experience is strongly preferred. Experience working on DoD and Foundations related grants is highly desirable.

The Project Manager is expected to possess the ability to work in a team environment as well as independently, have strong time management, organizational, data analytics and communication skills, and contribute to innovative ideas in improving and streamlining processes while providing tools to best manage the project.

This is a term position for one-year from the date of hire, with the possibility of continued funding.

The Pennsylvania State University is committed to and accountable for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in all of its forms. We embrace individual uniqueness, foster a culture of inclusive excellence that supports both broad and specific diversity initiatives, leverage the educational and institutional benefits of diversity, and engage all individuals to help them thrive. We value inclusive excellence as a core strength and an essential element of our public service mission.

Penn State offers competitive benefits to full-time employees, including medical, dental, vision, and retirement plans, in addition to tuition discounts (75% discount for spouse and children), and paid holidays. Please visit https://hr.psu.edu/current-employee/benefits for more detailed information.

The salary range for this position, including all possible grades is:

Salary Structure - additional information on Penn State's job and salary structure.

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