Grants Manager

City Colleges of Chicago (CCC), the largest community college system in Illinois, is made up of seven colleges and five satellite sites, providing more than 65,000 students each year access to a quality, affordable education.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE

Reporting to the Associate Vice Chancellor of Institutional Resource Development, a Grants Manager

provides guidance and direction to Principal Investigators (PIs), Program Directors, and other staff at the colleges through the post-award process.  These tasks include, but are not limited to budget setup in PeopleSoft Financials, grant implementation, scheduled reporting, and grant closeout to ensure funded projects/programs are effectively administered and in compliance with grant requirements.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

       Provides District-level management and guidance throughout the post-award grant lifecycle for multiple public college and district-wide grant awards. 

       Monitors a portfolio of public and/or private grant awards for up to four colleges and/or the CCC Foundation, regularly reviewing spenddown and performance goals, important dates and deadlines, as well as running expenditure reports.

       Actively engages key stakeholders to develop spenddown plans, and provide problem-solving strategies and thought partnership for successful grant implementation. 

       Understands and communicates internal CCC processes, including contract execution and budget load process.  

       Actively and regularly engages PIs, co-PIs, Program Directors, and college teams to ensure proper grant implementation, reporting requirements, and close-out within grantors' deadlines.  

       Assists with analyzing, interpreting, and applying federal, state, and local government statutes, OMB Guidance, CFR, private funders' requirements, and other regulations for grant administration. 

       Works closely with the finance team and Business Managers to support Principal Investigators on grant budget load, spenddown, modification requests, and other grant-related financial matters.  

       Manages the execution of sub-awards, sponsoring consulting agreements, and subaward amendments. 

       Maintains up-to-date and accurate electronic records and files of grants, contracts, and correspondence using Excel, PeopleSoft, and related systems. 

       Assists in the preparation of the monthly Resource Development Report for the City Colleges of Chicago Board of Trustees. 

       Collaborates with Institutional Resource Development team in the development and implementation of District-wide resources and communication strategies.  

       Participates in weekly team meetings and prepares reports summarizing status of proposal submissions, awards, and progress toward goals and objectives. 

       Participates in quarterly updates to the Executive Vice Chancellor of key public grants.  

       Performs other duties as assigned.  

REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS

Reports To                       Associate Vice Chancellor, Institutional Resource Development

Direct Supervision          None

QUALIFICATIONS

       Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in Education, Business Administration, Communications, or a related field.  Master's degree preferred 

       Four (4) years of work experience in educational research, proposal development, or grant management.

       Grants Professional Certification (GPC) or similar credential, such as PMP, highly desirable.   

       Demonstrated knowledge and experience implementing projects in a complex organization.

       Knowledge of general accounting structures for grants.

       Good understanding of public (i.e., city, state, and federal level) funding sources and the private philanthropic community. 

       Knowledge of evaluation and research methodology.

       Understanding of post-secondary education, equity, community issues.

       Excellent written and oral communication skills. 

       Excellent interpersonal and group communication skills. 

       Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.  

       Ability to work independently.  

       Ability to work within a culturally diverse environment. 

       Proficiency in the use of PeopleSoft and Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).

The intent of this job description is to provide a general description of the duties and responsibilities of this position.  It is not intended to be an exhaustive set of the duties and responsibilities, nor all of the necessary qualifications to perform the work.