Pre-Award Research Administrator

Department: Costello College of Business

Classification: Financial Svcs Specialist 1

Job Category: Classified Staff

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)

Location: Fairfax, VA

Workplace Type: Remote Eligible

Pay Band: 04

Salary: Salary commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

About the Department:

The Donald G. Costello College of Business at George Mason University is one of the largest business schools in Virginia, and is located near Washington, D.C., in Arlington and Fairfax, and at George Mason’s global campus in Incheon, South Korea. The college’s AACSB-accredited business and accounting curricula prepare undergraduate and graduate students from the U.S. and across the globe for career success in business and government. Its research-based faculty and focus on multi-disciplinary academic programs, inclusive entrepreneurship, modular education, experiential learning, and corporate partner engagement are transforming the landscape of business education and workforce development. Learn more at business.gmu.edu.

George Mason has a strong institutional commitment to the achievement of excellence and diversity among its faculty and staff, and strongly encourages candidates to apply who will enrich Mason’s academic and culturally inclusive environment. Mason is highly ranked for its campus diversity and is ranked by U.S. News & World Report in 2024 as the top-performing public university in Virginia for social mobility.

About the Position:

Reporting to the Senior Associate Dean, Faculty Affairs and Research, and in coordination with principal investigators, Area Chairs, Center Directors and Finance office, the Pre-Award Research Administrator serves as the lead of Research Development and Pre-Award Research Administration. Identifies funding sources, provides grant writing support and facilitates proposal development. Designs, creates and maintains research and grant writing tools for the college. Works with faculty and staff to research, design, and prepare sponsored project proposals in accordance with sponsor standards and requirements. Participates in writing narrative sections and edits narrative drafts. Assists with graphic selection and proposal layout. Works closely and in conjunction with leadership and staff to support strategic initiatives. The position's objective is to increase the competitiveness of Costello College of Business researchers in obtaining grant funding.

Responsibilities:

Research Development

• Facilitates and coordinates the creation and submission of internal and external research proposals;
• Cultivates interest among faculty in external funding;
• Understands faculty research and provides guidance to help them identify appropriate funding opportunities;
• Assists principal investigators (PIs) with proposal development interpreting grant solicitation requirement vis-à-vis faculty expertise;
• Understands procedures governing state, federal, and private grant proposal submissions and reviewer expectations;
• Keeps informed regarding relevant topics and initiatives, particularly topics related to grant writing and sponsor expectations/guidelines; and
• Maintains confidentiality of proposal elements at all times.

Grant Writing, Editing, and Submission

• Provides project management support to PIs or Center Directors in proposal writing plans (contributes to the grant application writing and provides comprehensive editorial review of research proposals) and timelines;
• Coordinates and oversees proposal team responsibilities, ensuring timely completion of tasks, addressing inquiries, and liaising with the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) and others as needed to resolve questions and maintain compliance with deadlines and guidelines;
• With PI, identifies budget needs, creates budgets that accurately reflect the effort and resource commitments of each proposal to adhere to appropriate funding agency, state, university, and college policies;
• Collaborates with other proposal development staff, department/college fiscal and administrative staff, and OSP with regards to the proposal and budget;
• Works collaboratively with PIs and other proposal faculty drafting non-technical sections as well as provides significant input into the content, organization, wording, and tone of the full document;
• Assists with graphic selection, and formatting and editing of figures and other graphical proposal elements;
• Proofreads/edits written copy prior to submission, ensuring readability, typographical/grammatical correctness, appropriate formatting, and completeness;
• Ensures successful integration of all grant components and compliance with all funding solicitation and sponsor requirements, cross walking the proposal content with the solicitation requirements;
• Coordinates timely submission in RAMP (internal GMU research grants portal) or sponsor sites of all documents and of qualified proposals, including supporting documentation; and
• Maintains professional and collegial relationships with PIs.

Build a Repository of Proposal and Proposal Section Exemplars

• Identifies proposal elements (e.g., Facilities, Budget Justification, Post-Doctoral Mentoring Plan, Data and Safety Monitoring Plan, etc.) for specific funding agencies (NSF, NIH, DoD, Dept. of Ed., etc.);
• Creates templates of standard proposal elements; and
• Advises PI or college administrators on practical approaches for successful research proposal submissions.

Process Improvement

• Seeks out opportunities to improve proposal development processes and makes recommendations for their implementation; and
• Takes on additional work as needed to ensure the smooth operations of proposals.

Special Projects/Duties

• Executes special projects and additional duties as assigned to support the department.  

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in related field or equivalent combination of education and experience;
• Experience in reading, comprehending, interpreting and adhering to government regulations, university and college policies, and proposal guidelines;
• Experience in developing, writing and submitting grant applications;
• Experience in designing resource tools, materials and presentations for writing proposals;
• Experience in managing, organizing and prioritizing multiple concurrent projects effectively to meet internal and external deadlines;
• Evidence of research relationships with external funding sponsors and agencies;
• Experience creating budgets and working with stakeholders on revisions;
• Knowledge of Federal funding opportunities, various funding agency or foundation requirements and proposal submission procedures;
• Knowledge of federal rules and regulations relating to research grant and/or contract activity;
• Excellent technical and/or research proposal writing skills resulting in high quality written documents;
• Proficient in using a Research Administration Management Portal (RAMP) system to manage proposal submissions, track research activities, and ensure compliance with institutional and funding agency requirements;
• Proficient in office technology: Microsoft Office Products (Word, Excel, Outlook, and Power Point), SharePoint, Teams;
• Skill in providing effective customer service and the ability to effectively coordinate and communicate with diverse faculty, staff and administrators across multiple disciplines and administrative offices;
• Strong oral and written communication skills, and interpersonal and diplomatic skills;
• Excellent time management and organizational skills with experience setting project schedules and the ability to be detail oriented under pressure and meet deadlines;
• Exhibit independent decision-making skills with the ability to take initiative and follow through on specific requests and proactively resolve problems and issues in a timely manner; and
• Ability to work well with co- workers in a flexible and ethical manner and maintain confidentiality.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in related field;
• Experience facilitating collaborations between multi-disciplinary/diverse sets of professionals;
• Experience in business academic domain;
• Knowledge of university policies and procedures relating to grants and contract activity; and university processes, systems, and offices related to and/or involved in grant and contract submission and management; and
• Proficient in utilizing George Mason University's Research Administration Management Portal (RAMP).

Instructions to Applicants: 

For full consideration, applicants must apply for Pre-Award Research Administrator at https://jobs.gmu.edu/. Complete and submit the online application to include three professional references with contact information and provide a cover letter and resume for review.

Posting Open Date: February 4, 2025

For Full Consideration, Apply by:  February 18, 2025

Open Until Filled:  Yes