Associate Director of Grants Administration

The Public Health Institute (PHI) is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting health, well-being, and quality of life for people throughout California, across the nation and around the world. As one of the largest and most comprehensive public health organizations in the nation, we are at the forefront of research and innovations to improve the efficacy of public health statewide, nationally, and internationally.

PHI was distinguished as one of the top 50 "Best Non-Profit Organizations to Work For" by the Non-Profit Times in a national search.

Summary

The Children's Oncology Group (COG), a National Cancer Institute supported clinical trials group, is the world's largest organization devoted exclusively to childhood and adolescent cancer research. The COG unites more than 12,000 experts in childhood cancer at more than 220 leading children's hospitals, universities, and cancer centers across North America, Australia, and New Zealand in the fight against childhood cancer. Our goal is to cure all children and adolescents with cancer, reduce the short- and long-term complications of cancer treatments, and determine the causes and find ways to prevent childhood cancer.

The Associate Director of Grants Administration will report to the Senior Director of Grants Administration and help lead the strategic and operational management of the COG Grants Administration Office (GAO). This role will provide oversight and mentorship to a team of grants administration staff, while advancing cross-functional initiatives and infrastructure to support COG's expanding federal and federal flow-through funding portfolio, which includes substantial National Institutes of Health (NIH) Cooperative Agreement funding. The Associate Director will manage complex projects across the full grant lifecycle, guide development of scalable systems and processes, and ensure compliance with all applicable regulations and sponsor requirements. This position will also represent the GAO in high-level collaborations with internal and external stakeholders on behalf of the Senior Director.

This is a full-time and remote position. COG is at an exciting time of growth as we embark on a significant milestone in our development. COG is in the process of transitioning from being a program under PHI to an independent 501 (c)(3) organization in January 2026. The expected end date for this position under PHI is December 31, 2025.

Full salary range for this position: $120,498 to $184,813 per year. The typical hiring range for this position is from $120,498 (minimum) to $152,656 (midpoint), based on 100% FTE. The starting salary is determined using a variety of factors, such as the candidate's knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as internal equity consideration and budget availability.

Employment Type: Full Time

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following:

Leadership and Program Oversight:

• In direct collaboration with the Senior Director of Grants Administration, lead daily operations of the COG Grants Administration Office, supporting both strategic direction and operational execution.
• Supervise and mentor at least 2 direct reports and provide mentorship to other GAO staff within the team.
• In partnership with the Senior Director, develop and implement department goals, policies, workflows, and systems.
• Represent the GAO in internal leadership meetings and externally with NCI, NIH, member sites, and other sponsors.
• Manage work portfolio to balance priorities, deadlines and workload capacity through the assignment of work, providing oversight of the work products, and conducting performance evaluations for direct reports.

Grants and Contracts Management:

• Oversee the pre- and post-award administration of COG's federally funded grants and contracts portfolio, including NIH cooperative agreements and associated aspects of sponsor supported research, and foundation funding that intersect with federal funding.
• Provide leadership in resolving complex grant issues. Ensure proposals, just-in-time submissions, progress reports, and financial deliverables are submitted accurately and on time.
• Collaborate with internal and external stake holders including legal, finance, human resources, operations, and scientific leadership to coordinate all aspects of research administration.

Infrastructure and Process Development:

• Lead the development and refinement of tools, standard operating procedures, templates, and training to support grant lifecycle management and operational consistency.
• Guide documentation initiatives to include standard operating procedures, onboarding training manuals, and cross-team processes and workflows.
• Support implementation of system applications for grant tracking and reporting.

Compliance and Policy:

• Maintain deep understanding of NIH and federal funding regulations, including 2 CFR Part 200 (Uniform Guidance), and stay current on guidance and regulatory changes.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable institutional, sponsor, and regulatory requirements.
• Collaborate with other COG department teams to develop internal controls and tools that achieve risk mitigation, and work towards continuous improvement.

Perform other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

Minimum Qualifications

• Seven (7) years in grants research administration, with two (2) or more years of progressive experience in a complex grants administration office overseeing approximately $50 million in federal funding, to include both pre- and post-award management.
• At least three (3) years of management level experience. Knowledge/experience related to leadership can substitute.
• Bachelor's degree in business administration, public administration, research administration or related field, or substitute with four (4) additional years of relevant experience.
• Significant experience with NIH NCI (National Cancer Institute) U10 Cooperative Clinical Research Cooperative Agreements.

Other Required Qualifications

• Deep knowledge and understanding of federal regulations including the Office of Management and Budget's 2 CFR 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), NIH grants policy, and sponsor regulations.
• Demonstrated ability to supervise staff and lead multi-functional projects.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with all stakeholders by fostering openness, trust, and partnership at all levels. A strong sense of integrity, humility, professionalism, and commitment to creating a positive culture within the organization.
• Exceptional written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Highly organized, proactive, and capable of managing multiple complex priorities.
• Proficient computer literacy which may include, but not limited to, advanced knowledge in Microsoft Office, Google Suite or similar office applications, as well as ERP applications, and other cloud-based software applications and project management tools (Smartsheet, etc.).
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Collaborative leadership style with high ethical standards.

FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT (FLSA) STATUS

This position is classified as exempt based on the job duties. However, based on the FTE, salary level of the employee, or federal/state/local laws, the employee may be classified as nonexempt.

The Public Health Institute is committed to a policy that provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, pregnancy, medical condition including genetic characteristics, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identification and expression, sexual orientation, and to make all employment decisions so as to further this principle of equal employment opportunity. To this end, the PHI will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, pregnancy, medical condition including genetic characteristics, physical or mental disability, veteran status, gender identification and expression, sexual orientation, and will take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are offered employment and employees are treated during employment without regard to these characteristics.

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