Grant and Contract Manager

Job Description

As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem‑solving skills, and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.

UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits, and natural beauty.

The Department of Human Centered Design and Engineering is an academic department within the College of Engineering with over $10M in annual expenditures. The department is highly interdisciplinary with collaborative research programs that cross over departmental, college and institutional boundaries as well as involving local, national, and international research organizations and foundations. This position will be responsible for administering incoming and outing subawards and contracts with these diverse organizations.

Human Centered Design and Engineering serves over 500 students annually, grants bachelors, masters, and PhD degrees, including a certificate in User-Centered Design (UCD). As of January 2025, the department has 19 tenure‑track faculty, 7 teaching faculty, and 12 staff. HCDE averages approximately $5M in research expenditures per year, and submits over 30 proposals per year, all of which are managed by the Grant and Contract Manager.

The work that we do is continuous. We are committed to the ongoing, evolving process of teaching and practicing equitable design, acknowledging our responsibility for the things we create and actions we take by following these principles:

• We respect all individuals, communities and their agency. We assume positive intent on behalf of those we work with and strive to understand before acting.
• We celebrate innovation, iteration, and reflection using interdisciplinary methods and perspectives. We see opportunities for collaborative exploration and partnerships.
• We are action-oriented toward challenges while continually questioning and improving.

The position includes exercising independent judgment and has delegated decision‑making authority for funds management and contract administration. Primary responsibilities include proposal preparation, fiscal planning, budget management, grant/contract administration (federal, industry, & self‑sustaining), purchasing and payroll oversight. This position is responsible for problem solving, prioritizing and multi‑tasking of assignments, requests and report deadlines. The role is fast‑paced and often requires responding to deadlines with short lead times.

• Provide technical and administrative support to principal investigators during proposal submissions.
• Ensure successful proposal submission by exercising independent judgment interpreting and applying sponsor, UW, federal, state and industry policies, rules and regulations with grant/contract preparation and implementation.
• Work with staff in HCDE, other campus units, and collaborative institutions to prepare proposal budget and compile sponsor‑required data for student training grants and center proposals.
• Obtain documentation related to matching and department support.

• Provide administrative and grant/contract support for individual research programs for all principal investigators.
• Position is expected to act as a liaison with sponsors, subcontractors and other UW units.
• Manage and administer multiple, complex budgets including state, federal, university/industry cooperative, industry contracts and subcontracts.
• Interface directly with UW units, funding agencies and subcontractors to handle invoices, supplements, extensions, fiscal reports and compliance.

• Meet with the PIs to present the financial status of each program and possible problem areas.
• Provide representation for each program and provide information related to the content, policies, procedures and activities of each.
• Establish and maintain account management procedures…