Job Description
The Water Institute is looking for an experienced Grants and Contracts Director to serve as a leader responsible for the integrity and performance of the Institute's grants and contracts function across the full award lifecycle, from pre-award strategy through post-award close-out. This role directs all aspects of grants and contracts functions and oversees day-to-day grants and contracts and sub-award administration, including but not limited to, partner negotiations, proposal reviews and submission, approvals and reports administration as well as negotiation and administration of all donor funded grants, contracts and agreements, from a diverse set of clients. The Director must bring deep subject-matter expertise in federal grant administration — including 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance) and pair that expertise with a collaborative working style. This role sits at the intersection of Applied Research, Finance, Legal, Mission Advancement, and Project Management, and its success depends as much on cross-functional partnership, transparent communication, and trust-building as on technical compliance expertise. The Director is expected to be visibly engaged across the Institute, to proactively shepherd work, and to model a service-oriented posture that supports the Institute's scientific and programmatic mission.
Roles and Responsibilities
- Serves as the Institute’s Authorized Organizational Official and is responsible for reviewing, approving and signing all proposal documents, federal reports and agreements obligating the Institute including prime federal awards, grants, and contracts to the Institutes as well as all subaward, subcontracts, vendor agreements, MOU’s, teaming agreements, non-disclosure agreements, awards, etc.
- Maintains all online accounts for any online grants user account systems, federal payment systems.
- Coordinates and approves project-funded procurement expenses following 2.CFR.200, documents procurement action as required by funder.
- Reviews all backup to ensure truth and accuracy.
- Serves as the Grants and Contracts approver of all final proposals in detail including narrative, budget, budget justification, and any proposal documents that need signatures.
- Represents G&C in high-risk proposal reviews and provides Go/No-Go risk recommendations that balance compliance rigor with enabling the Institute's mission.
- Coordinates approvals for NCE’s.
- Works with Director of Finance to develop IDC rate proposal, review all schedules, check expenditures/allowability, subcontracts vs subawards, SEFA.
- Provides leadership to the Grants & Contracts team, ensuring appropriate staffing levels and performance results of each team member, to achieve department objectives.
- Mentors and develops the Grants and Contracts team investing in their professional growth, cross-training, and ability to independently handle routine matters.
- Leads change management and continuous improvement of G&C workflows, including developing, documenting, and maintaining standard operating procedures (SOPs), QA/QC checkpoints, and written handoffs between G&C and cross-functional departments. Ensures documentation has clear workflows, roles, and responsibilities and complies with all state and federal regs and federal grant/procurement rules.
- Establishes proactive processes, timelines, and engagement expectations to ensure early and consistent involvement of the Grants and Contracts function across the lifecycle of projects (pre-award through closeout), reducing reactive workflows.
- Partners with Institute leadership to reinforce the importance of compliance and appropriate engagement with the Grants and Contracts function, addressing gaps in understanding and reducing process circumvention.
- Partners early and often with Principal Investigators, Project Managers, and proposal staff engaging at the pre-award strategy stage to identify compliance risks, protect the Institute's intellectual property, and improve proposal competitiveness.
- Serves as a visible point of contact for the Institute on grants and contracts matters; responds to status inquiries promptly and transparently, and maintains clear tracking of work-in-progress accessible to stakeholders.
- Ensures the role is working at an appropriately high level, largely overseeing day-to-day activities rather than completing day-to-day tasks personally
- Manages and maintains the Grants & Contracts department's annual operating budget.
- Performs other related duties as assigned.
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree in business administration, accounting, finance, public administration, or a related field; Master's preferred.
- Minimum 10 years of progressive experience in grants and contracts administration, with at least 5 years in a leadership role at a federally-funded research organization, nonprofit, or institution of higher education.
- Demonstrated expert-level command of 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance) and federal grant/procurement regulations.
- Experience serving as Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) or equivalent signatory authority.
- Demonstrated experience building and documenting SOPs, internal controls, and QA/QC processes from the ground up.
- Demonstrated success leading cross-functional initiatives and working collaboratively with legal, finance, research/technical, and development/advancement functions.
- Experience managing, mentoring, and developing a grants and contracts team.
Desired Qualifications:
- Active certification as a Certified Research Administrator (CRA), Certified Grants Management Specialist (CGMS), or Certified Federal Contracts Manager (CFCM).
- Experience with research environments spanning federal cooperative agreements, foundation/philanthropic funding, and fee-for-service contracts.
- Experience supporting intellectual property protection in sponsored research contexts.
Workload will vary from week to week, and candidates will be flexible, willing to occasionally work evenings, and travel for meetings and conferences.
The Water Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.
Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.
We are headquartered in Baton Rouge, and the position will require a strong presence in Baton Rouge, though it may reside in Baton Rouge or at our office located on the UNO campus in New Orleans.
The hiring pay for the position starts at $142,000 and the final determination is based on the skills, education, and/or experience of the successful candidate. We believe in the importance of pay equity and consider the internal equity of our current staff as part of any final offer. We also offer a generous benefits package for full-time exempt positions.
Unique Benefits of a Water Institute Career
- Flexibility: We understand that our team members have different needs and do our best to work with their schedules and provide benefits and resources to meet these needs.
- Inclusive environment: We are committed to building an inclusive environment where all teammates feel comfortable and supported.
- Fun! We love to keep things fun, both within our work and at company-wide events.
- Work life balance: We are respectful of people’s boundaries and support that through Institute values so that our team has time to recharge and do their best work within the mission of the organization.
- Growth opportunity: We are always learning and developing new research methodologies and working with partners to solve problems. You will have the opportunity to engage in growing and leading research with ample opportunities to take ownership and flourish.
- The Water Institute Values: Scientific Integrity, Excellence, Transdisciplinary Collaboration, Accountability, Diversity, Work/Life Balance, Respect, Impact