Director of Sponsored Programs and Title III

Job Summary:

The Director of Sponsored Programs and Title III assists administrators, faculty, and staff with identifying funding opportunities, planning, writing, submitting, managing, coordinating, and overseeing the pre-award life cycle through grant awards. Ensure deliverables, in conjunction with the assigned staff per grant awards and terms and conditions. Position will supervise the Grant Coordinator and Title III Coordinator. 

Coordination with financial staff will be required both in the pre- and post-award life cycle of grants. Additionally, the position will support Title III programs in pre-award efforts and with post-award program management, working in conjunction with the Comptroller to ensure both pre- and post-award requirements are met, and projects are implemented on time and within their approved budgets. 

Essential Job Functions, Duties & Responsibilities:

• Assist faculty and staff in the different departments within the University in successfully navigating both formula and competitive grant processes including identifying sources of external funding from federal, state and private agencies, manage grant development and submission, manage pre-award process, and disseminate grant documents to Comptroller’s office for post-award financial processes (including Title III and USDA capacity funds). 
• Develop and maintain relationships with external grant agencies, as well as other administrative offices and departments within the University. 
• Conduct grant workshops and training sessions for administrators, faculty and staff on grant development and administration. 
• Develop the Office of Research Support and Sponsored Programs annual report.  
• Develop, monitor, and maintain a grant tracking system to ensure timely preparation of grant applications and implementation of grant requirements.   
• Maintain an application tracking and award spreadsheet that allows all funding outcomes to be tracked by academic/program area and by individual faculty along with the overall success rate and total dollars awarded to LU annually. 
• For projects that are not funded, whenever possible, request copies of the grant reviewer’s comments and share with the application team at LU. This information should be used to determine if a viable grant can and should be submitted next year. 
• Funding opportunity reports should be created for priority areas with the greatest funding needs. Grant forecasts should also be created and shared with deans, provost, and program administrators at least annually. This should include a summary of the opportunity and general due dates and average award size and match requirements.  
• Will supervise Grant Coordinator and Title III Coordinator. 
• Coordinate Title III program(s) as well as USDA capacity funds and ensure grant program reporting is completed timely by grantor agency deadlines. 
• Serve as the authorized representative for the University in signing documents related to grant application proposal processes and for program reporting and collaborating with fiscal staff on fiscal reporting as needed. 
• Support project directors to ensure program goals, guidelines, policies, and procedures are met.
• Serve as Title III point of contact for university for communications with U.S. Department of Education.   
• Coordinate, monitor and report on all Title III funded activities as required by university administrators and by the US Department of Education. Identify and report problems to administration as soon as possible to mitigate risk and ensure projects stay on track. 
• Support the University Land Grant programs to ensure timely submission of grants and help ensure timely reporting to avoid program or audit findings. 
• Maintain knowledge, skills, and abilities regarding both competitive and formula grants and ensure the university is kept informed of opportunities or administrative changes that affect external funding programs.   
• Other duties as assigned. 

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Must be deadline orientated, flexible, and extremely organized. 
• Excellent people skills to work collaboratively with faculty, staff, and administrators. 
• One year of experience with Microsoft Office. 
• Familiarity with Grants.gov and other widely used grant systems. 

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree required or five plus years’ experience in higher education or nonprofit organization. Bachelor’s degree requirement will be waived with five plus years’ experience. 
• Five or more years of grant related experience required. 
• Demonstrated ability to write successful grant proposals and managing complex processes.   

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s degree or seven plus years of experience in higher education or nonprofit organization.
• One-year supervisory experience preferred.
• Significant grant training experience with a professional grant certification. 
• One year of experience with Microsoft Office.   
• Experience in Colleague system. 

Physical Demands:

• Light sedentary office work. 
• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer. 
• Ability to lift to 25 lbs. 

Lincoln University is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and institutional needs. Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process should contact the Office of Human Resources at 573-681-5018.