Director, Grants Administration

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a strategic vision for the grants administration department, including setting goals and performance metrics.
• Create and execute a framework for grant submissions to ensure alignment with sponsor guidelines and internal approvals.
• Oversee both pre-award functions, such as guiding faculty through proposal preparation, and post-award functions, such as monitoring budgets and compliance.
• Lead and mentor a growing team, providing training and performance management to ensure operational excellence.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for all grant-related activities, coordinating between university departments and external funding agencies.
• Establish policies, procedures, and workflows to ensure mission alignment and regulatory compliance.
• Collaborate with finance, legal, procurement, and advancement teams to achieve university-wide goals.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree with 10+ years of grants administration experience, or a Master's/Doctorate degree with 7+ years of experience.
• 5+ years of leadership and team management experience.
• Proven expertise in both pre-award and post-award grant functions.
• Deep understanding of federal, state, and private funding agency regulations.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel) and Salesforce CRM.
• Strong oral and written communication skills with the ability to direct diverse constituencies.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree.
• Direct experience in higher education grants administration.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, telehealth, and mental healthcare.
• Health savings account (HSA) and flexible spending account (FSA).
• Retirement savings plan.
• Flexible paid time off (PTO) and flexible paid sick time.
• 11 paid holidays and up to 12 weeks of parental leave.
• Discounted WGU tuition and wellbeing programs.

About the Company

Western Governors University (WGU) is a leading accredited online university founded to make higher education more accessible through online, competency-based degree programs. WGU is committed to serving a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals and pioneering new ways to learn in the 21st century.