About this role
<div><div style="padding:10.0px 0.0px;border:1.0px solid transparent"><div style="font-size:16.0px;word-wrap:break-word"><H2 style="font-size:1.0em;margin:0.0px">Summary</H2> </div><div><p>Provides strategic and operational leadership for the Department of Pediatrics’ pre-award grant portfolio, including oversight of ESP2 grant submissions and management of the CRA Pre-Award team. Responsible for ensuring timely, accurate, and compliant preparation and submission of federal, state, and private grant applications. Leads a centralized pre-award function supporting pediatric research and serves as a key liaison among faculty, institutional leadership, and sponsors. Drives standardization, process improvement, and high-quality customer service in a high-volume, deadline-driven environment. Role operates in a high-volume, deadline-driven environment requiring strict adherence to sponsor timelines. Critical to ensuring institutional compliance, funding success, and operational efficiency for pediatric research. Plays a key role in faculty satisfaction and grant success rates through high-quality service and expertise. Contributes to continuous improvement initiatives and enterprise-wide standardization of pre-award processes. </p> <p> </p> <p>Position is eligible for hybrid work schedule after initial training period. </p> <p>Employees with CRA certification are eligible for certification pay.</p></div></div><div style="padding:10.0px 0.0px;border:1.0px solid transparent"><div style="font-size:16.0px;word-wrap:break-word"><H2 style="font-size:1.0em;margin:0.0px">Job Duties</H2> </div><div><p>Leadership & Team Management</p> <ul> <li>Directly manages the CRA Pre-Award team responsible for pediatric grant submissions.</li> <li>Provides hiring, onboarding, training, performance management, and professional development for team members.</li> <li>Establishes team priorities, workload distribution, and service level expectations aligned with departmental goals.</li> <li>Assigns complex grant applications and high-risk submissions to senior staff based on experience and expertise, while strategically allocating assignments to junior team members to support training, skill development, and professional growth objectives.</li> <li>Serves as escalation point for complex submissions, compliance issues, and sponsor requirements.</li> <li>Promotes a culture of accountability, customer service, and continuous improvement.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>Pre-Award Oversight & ESP2 Grant Management</p> <ul> <li>Oversees end-to-end pre-award processes including preparation, review, and submission of grant applications.</li> <li>Provides leadership for ESP2 workflows and ensures compliance with institutional and sponsor requirements.</li> <li>Reviews and approves complex applications, validating financial and administrative accuracy in BRAIN and sponsor systems.</li> <li>Monitors submission timelines and ensures adherence to strict deadlines.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>Budget Development & Application Support</p> <ul> <li>Oversees development of detailed grant budgets, including personnel effort, direct/indirect costs, and subawards.</li> <li>Reviews financial proposals for accuracy, compliance, and competitiveness.</li> <li>Provides guidance on application components such as biosketches and facilities documentation.</li> <li>Interprets sponsor guidelines and funding announcements for faculty and staff.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>Training, Education & Knowledge Management</p> <ul> <li>Develops and delivers training programs on grant submission processes and systems.</li> <li>Creates SOPs, job aids, and standardized materials to support consistent operations.</li> <li>Serves as a subject matter expert for grant policies, systems, and sponsor requirements.</li> <li>Ensures team and stakeholders remain current on regulatory and sponsor changes.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>Subawards & Research Collaboration</p> <ul> <li>Oversees preparation and coordination of subaward documentation.</li> <li>Ensures compliance for multi-site and collaborative proposals.</li> <li>Coordinates with institutional offices and external partners to support submission readiness.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>Stakeholder Engagement & Institutional Liaison</p> <ul> <li>Serves as a primary liaison between faculty, CRA, Baylor College of Medicine, and sponsors.</li> <li>Provides consultation to investigators on submission strategy and sponsor expectations.</li> </ul> <p> </p> <p>Process Improvement & Compliance</p> <ul> <li>Identifies and implements process improvements to enhance efficiency and standardization.</li> <li>Ensures adherence to institutional policies and regulatory requirements.</li> <li>Contributes to system enhancements and workflow optimization. </li> <li>Performs other job-related duties as assigned.</li> </ul></div></div><div style="padding:10.0px 0.0px;border:1.0px solid transparent"><div style="font-size:16.0px;word-wrap:break-word"><H2 style="font-size:1.0em;margin:0.0px">Minimum Qualifications</H2> </div><div><ul> <li>Bachelor's degree. Certified Research Administrator certification through the Research Administrators Certification Council (RACC) may substitute for the degree requirement.</li> <li>Four years of relevant experience. </li> </ul></div></div><div style="padding:10.0px 0.0px;border:1.0px solid transparent"><div style="font-size:16.0px;word-wrap:break-word"><H2 style="font-size:1.0em;margin:0.0px">Preferred Qualifications</H2> </div><div><ul> <li>Four years of progressive research administration experience, including pre-award management and leadership. </li> <li>Advanced expertise in pre-award grant administration and budget development.</li> <li>Knowledge of federal and non-federal grant mechanisms (e.g., NIH R01, U01, career awards).</li> <li>Experience with sponsor systems (ASSIST, Workspace, ProposalCentral).</li> <li>Strong leadership, organizational, and problem-solving skills.</li> <li>Ability to operate effectively in a high-volume, deadline-driven environment.</li> <li>Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.</li> </ul></div></div></div><p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Work Authorization Requirement:</strong></p> <p><strong>This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.</strong> Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States at the time of application and throughout the duration of employment. </p> <p> </p> <p>Baylor College of Medicine is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Equal Access Employer.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <h6><span style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;color:dimgray"></span></h6>