Grants Specialist

SCOPE OF WORK:

The Grants Specialist strengthens grant management and compliance by coordinating activities between Grants & Compliance and the Business Office. Working closely with the Director of Grants & Compliance, Grants Accountant, and Chief Financial Officer, the position strengthens shared processes, documentation, financial compliance, and audit preparedness. The position also serves as a key resource for developing and maintaining grant-related policies, procedures, internal controls, and guidance materials, including those shared across both departments. The Grants Specialist continuously updates the Grant Manager’s Manual, supports audit and monitoring activities, and helps ensure grant processes and documentation remain current, consistent, and compliant.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Grants & Business Office Coordination

• Serve as a primary coordination point between the Grants & Compliance Department and Business Office for grant-related administrative, financial, compliance, and documentation matters.
• Work closely and routinely with the Grants Accountant and Chief Financial Officer to strengthen communication, coordination, and shared accountability between the two departments.
• Coordinate regular Grants & Compliance and Business Office meetings to identify outstanding grant financial matters, documentation needs, compliance concerns, deadlines, and areas requiring follow-up.
• Assist in defining and documenting roles and responsibilities among Grants & Compliance, the Grants Accountant, Finance personnel, principal investigators, project directors, and other responsible personnel.
• Help develop and document workflows for grant setup, budget management and monitoring, financial reporting, expenditure review, reconciliations, time and effort reporting, award modifications, closeout, records retention, and other shared grant-management functions.
• Identify gaps, inefficiencies, inconsistencies, and breakdowns in communication or processes between Grants & Compliance and the Business Office and assist with developing practical, corrective or improved processes.
• Support the development and documentation of internal controls that strengthen grant financial management, documentation, accountability, and compliance.
• Assist with resolving grant-related documentation and coordination issues by ensuring matters are routed to the appropriate Grants & Compliance or Business Office personnel.
• Maintain clear documentation of shared processes, decisions, responsibilities, action items, and follow-up activities.

Policy, Procedure, and Internal Control Development

• Serve as a primary drafting and development resource for grant-related institutional policies, procedures, standard operating procedures, internal controls, guidance documents, and administrative processes.
• Assist the Director of Grants & Compliance in establishing a structured and continuous process for developing, reviewing, revising, approving, implementing, and maintaining grant-related policies and procedures.
• Research applicable federal regulations, including 2 CFR Part 200, sponsor-specific requirements, College policies, audit guidance, and established institutional practices to support accurate and defensible policy and procedure development.
• Draft new policies and procedures and substantially revise existing documents to address identified compliance requirements, operational needs, audit risks, internal-control weaknesses, and changes in institutional or sponsor requirements.
• Lead the drafting and documentation of policies and procedures that intersect the responsibilities of Grants & Compliance and the Business Office in collaboration with the Director of Grants & Compliance, Grants Accountant, Chief Financial Officer, and other appropriate personnel.
• Draft and maintain procedures addressing grant setup, budget monitoring, cost allowability, financial reporting, time and effort reporting, cost transfers, procurement, matching and cost sharing, program income, subrecipient administration, records retention, award modifications, grant closeout, audit documentation, and other applicable sponsored-program functions.
• Translate regulatory requirements and institutional expectations into clear, practical procedures that identify responsible parties, required actions, approvals, documentation standards, timelines, and escalation points.
• Document cross-departmental workflows and internal controls that clearly define the respective responsibilities of Grants & Compliance, the Business Office, principal investigators, project directors, and other College personnel.
• Conduct periodic reviews of grant-related policies and procedures to identify outdated provisions, gaps, inconsistencies, duplicative processes, unclear responsibilities, or opportunities for stronger internal controls and coordination.
• Maintain a policy and procedure development schedule or tracking system to monitor documents under development, pending review or approval, implementation status, required revisions, and scheduled review dates.
• Coordinate feedback and review of draft policies and procedures with affected departments and responsible officials and incorporate approved revisions into final institutional documents.
• Develop supporting forms, checklists, templates, desk guides, workflow diagrams, training materials, and other implementation tools necessary to operationalize approved policies and procedures.
• Assist with communicating and implementing new or revised policies and procedures and support training for College personnel on applicable grant management and financial management requirements.
• Maintain organized records of policy and procedure versions, approvals, effective dates, revisions, and supporting regulatory or institutional references.

Grant Manager's Manual Development and Maintenance

• Maintain the Grant Manager's Manual as a living institutional resource and continuously update the Manual to reflect approved policy and procedure changes, current institutional processes, sponsor requirements, federal regulations, forms, systems, roles, and responsibilities.
• Provide substantial drafting, editing, organization, and development support for all sections of the Grant Manager's Manual, including grant administration, financial management, compliance, reporting, documentation, internal controls, audit preparedness, award modifications, closeout, and Business Office coordination.
• Establish and maintain a routine review cycle for the Grant Manager's Manual to identify sections requiring revision due to regulatory changes, audit findings, process changes, new institutional policies, sponsor guidance, or operational improvements.
• Coordinate with the Director of Grants & Compliance, Grants Accountant, Chief Financial Officer, and other subject-matter personnel to verify that Manual guidance accurately reflects current institutional responsibilities and practices.
• Incorporate newly approved policies, procedures, forms, checklists, templates, workflows, and guidance into the Grant Manager's Manual in a timely manner.
• Maintain version control, revision dates, and a record of substantive updates to the Grant Manager's Manual to support institutional consistency and accountability.
• Identify areas where additional guidance is needed for principal investigators, project directors, grant managers, and other College personnel and draft new Manual content to address those needs.
• Ensure the Grant Manager's Manual remains practical, accessible, internally consistent, and aligned with the College's approved grant-related policies and procedures.
• Support communication and training related to significant Grant Manager's Manual updates so affected personnel understand new or revised responsibilities and processes.

Audit Preparedness and Grant Financial Documentation

• Work continuously with the Grants Accountant, Chief Financial Officer, and Grants & Compliance personnel to maintain year-round preparedness for the College's annual audit and other federal, state, sponsor, or regulatory reviews.
• Assist with organizing and reviewing grant documentation necessary to support audit testing, including award documents, approved budgets, amendments, expenditures, payroll documentation, procurement records, contracts, financial reports, cost-share documentation, and other supporting records.
• Conduct periodic reviews of grant files and supporting documentation to identify missing, incomplete, or inconsistent records before audit or monitoring review.
• Maintain audit-preparedness checklists and coordinate follow-up on outstanding grant-related documentation.
• Assist the Grants Accountant and Business Office with locating and organizing documentation necessary to support grant expenditures and financial transactions.
• Coordinate with Grants & Compliance personnel to ensure programmatic and administrative grant records correspond with financial documentation maintained by the Business Office.
• Assist with preparing supporting schedules, documentation packages, and responses to auditors, sponsor, or monitoring requests.
• Track grant-related audit findings, questioned costs, management recommendations, and corrective actions as directed by the Director of Grants & Compliance and appropriate Business Office leadership.
• Support documentation of corrective actions resulting from audits, monitoring reviews, or internal compliance assessments.
• Help identify recurring documentation or process weaknesses and recommend policy, procedure, training, or internal-control improvements.
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality and organization of financial, grant, and audit-related information.

Grant Compliance and Administrative Support

• Assist with monitoring institutional grant-management processes for alignment with award terms, sponsor requirements, College policies, and applicable federal requirements.
• Support review and organization of grant agreements, approved budgets, amendments, financial and programmatic reports, correspondence, and other official award records.
• Assist with tracking grant reporting, closeout, documentation, and compliance requirements that require coordination between Grants & Compliance and the Business Office.
• Support the development and delivery of guidance and training for College personnel on grant-management procedures, documentation requirements, and shared financial and compliance processes.
• Assist the Director of Grants & Compliance with special projects, compliance reviews, process improvement initiatives, and institutional grant-management activities as assigned.

Decision-Making and Independent Judgment

The Grants Specialist exercises professional judgment in coordinating grant-related administrative and financial processes, drafting policies and procedures, identifying documentation and process gaps, and supporting audit preparedness. The position independently manages assigned work while referring matters requiring institutional or financial authority to the Director of Grants & Compliance, CFO, Grants Accountant, or other authorized officials.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

This job has no supervisory responsibilities.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED to perform this position successfully:

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in business administration, professional or technical writing, English, communications, education with a writing-intensive focus, public administration, nonprofit management, organizational management, or a related field. Degrees and academic programs that demonstrate substantial preparation in professional, technical, policy, procedural, or other applied writing are considered relevant to the position. An equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience may be considered.
• Demonstrated experience in professional or technical writing, policy and procedure development, administrative coordination, grants, finance, compliance, audit support, or related work.
• Experience coordinating projects, grants, financial or administrative processes, or other deadline-driven activities.
• Ability to interpret complex written requirements, policies, regulations, guidelines, and instructions.
• Demonstrated ability to independently organize work, establish priorities, coordinate across departments, and manage multiple concurrent deadlines.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and ability to learn grant-management, financial, and sponsor-specific electronic systems.
• Ability to work effectively and collaboratively with Business Office personnel, faculty, staff, administrators, auditors, and funding agencies.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with sponsored programs, grant administration, grant-related financial management, audit preparation, internal controls, or compliance in a higher-education, Tribal, nonprofit, governmental, or similar environment.
• Experience researching, drafting, or implementing institutional policies, procedures, standard operating procedures, desk guides, or internal controls.
• Familiarity with federal grant requirements and 2 CFR Part 200.
• Experience supporting annual audits, monitoring reviews, corrective action plans, or other external examinations.
• Experience working collaboratively across grants, finance, accounting, or business office functions.
• Experience with grant-management, financial-management, document-management, or sponsor-specific systems.
• Experience working with Tribal Colleges and Universities, Tribal Nations, Native communities, or organizations serving Native students and communities.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Knowledge of or ability to learn federal grant requirements, grant-related financial documentation, internal controls, audit preparedness, and sponsored-program administration.
• Ability to research, draft, organize, implement, and maintain policies, procedures, standard operating procedures, guidance materials, and process documentation.
• Ability to document complex cross-departmental workflows, roles, responsibilities, approvals, and internal controls in a clear and practical manner.
• Ability to review documentation for completeness, consistency, and alignment with established requirements.
• Ability to identify process gaps, documentation weaknesses, and opportunities for operational improvement.
• Strong project-management, organizational, and follow-through skills.
• Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills, particularly when coordinating work across departments.
• Ability to communicate effectively with individuals across different areas and levels of the College.
• Ability to handle sensitive institutional, financial, grant, and audit-related information with discretion.

Working Relationships

The Grants Specialist works closely with the Director of Grants & Compliance, Grants Accountant, Chief Financial Officer, Grants Compliance & Sponsored Programs personnel, Business Office personnel, principal investigators, project directors, program staff, administrators, and other College departments. The position may also communicate with funding agencies, auditors, consultants, and other external parties in support of grant administration, financial documentation, compliance, policy and procedure development, audit preparedness, and institutional process improvement.

APPLICATION PROCESS:

Interested individuals should submit the required application materials directly to the NWIC Human Resources Office only.

• Cover letter addressing how you meet the position qualifications
• NWIC Application
• Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) form
• Current and complete professional resume
• Copies of colleges transcripts (official copy requested at time of hire)
• Three letters of recommendation from persons, who not members of your immediate family, who have firsthand knowledge of your qualifications for the position
• If applicable to the position, provide copies of certificates/licenses/credentials

Pay: $60,000.00 - $72,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 403(b)
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Work Location: In person