DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE CLASS:
This position is responsible for managing the operations of the City of Syracuse Grants Management Center of Excellence (COE), which works with municipal departments that apply for and manage government and philanthropic grants. The incumbent is responsible for coordinating activities throughout the grants management lifecycle, including strategy development, grant opportunity identification, application support, award execution, reporting, and closeout.
The work involves providing day-to-day oversight of grant information collected from City departments, financial systems data, project management information, and workflow data maintained in SharePoint. The incumbent works closely with City department staff and the Director of Research to align grant strategies and programs with the City's funding priorities while ensuring adherence to the City's grants management standard operating procedures.
The incumbent develops processes and information tools to facilitate the identification of grant opportunities, maintains a database of potential funding sources, supports departments in documenting grant execution and spend-down plans, monitors grant performance data, and promotes best practices in grant administration and compliance. Considerable independent judgment is exercised in coordinating grants management activities, providing technical assistance to City departments, and developing processes that strengthen organizational capacity and improve grant outcomes. General supervision is received from the Director of Research. Does related work as required.
TYPICAL WORK ACTIVITIES:
- Coordinates activities associated with the City's Grants Management Center of Excellence (COE).
- Works across City departments to ensure adherence to the City's grants management standard operating procedures (SOPs).
- Assists departments in determining metrics to evaluate grant eligibility, risk, and alignment with City priorities.
- Prepares requests for legislation and coordinates with the City Clerk's Office to ensure accurate and timely Common Council submissions.
- Meets with implementing departments and subject matter experts (SMEs) to assist with grant application development.
- Develops processes for departments to report project objectives and performance measures in fulfillment of grant reporting requirements.
- Assists with the implementation and ongoing administration of the City's SharePoint grants management site to facilitate real-time collaboration between the Research Bureau and implementing departments.
- Develops internal and external reports and dashboards highlighting grant awards, declinations, expenditures, funding trends, and other key performance indicators.
- Produces reports utilizing SharePoint and other available systems to monitor grant awards, expenditures, project progress, and grant performance.
- Serves as a technical advisor to implementing departments throughout the grant application and grant management lifecycle.
- Develops monitoring plans for the Grants Management Center of Excellence (COE), provides targeted technical assistance, supports departmental capacity building, and promotes stronger programmatic and fiscal compliance outcomes.
- Maintains a database of potential funding opportunities and reviews available grant sources on a regular basis.
- Supports departments in documenting grant execution plans, spend-down plans, and grant performance activities.
- Prepares reports and conducts special projects as assigned.
FULL PERFORMANCE KNOWLEDGES, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS:
- Good knowledge of the principles and practices of grant lifecycle management, grant administration, and program management.
- Good knowledge of government operations, public-sector funding strategies, and best practices in grants management.
- Working knowledge of grant opportunity identification, grant application development, grant implementation, grant reporting, and grant closeout procedures.
- Working knowledge of Microsoft 365 applications, including Excel, SharePoint, Word, PowerPoint, Forms, and related collaboration tools.
- Ability to develop processes and information tools that support grant administration and organizational effectiveness.
- Ability to gather, organize, analyze, and synthesize financial, programmatic, and project management data from multiple sources.
- Ability to prepare reports, dashboards, and other analytical tools that communicate grant activity and performance.
- Ability to communicate complex ideas and information effectively, both orally and in writing, to a wide variety of internal and external audiences.
- Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with City departments, funding agencies, elected officials, and other stakeholders.
- Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and work collaboratively across departments.
- Initiative, sound judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to work independently.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
A) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a Bachelor's degree in Public Policy, Public Administration, Management, Information Science, or a closely related field and three (3) years of professional experience in grants management, public administration, program management, financial or project data analysis, or a closely related field; or
B) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a Master's degree in Public Policy, Public Administration, Management, Information Science, or a closely related field and one (1) year of professional experience in grants management, public administration, program management, financial or project data analysis, or a closely related field.
The Affirmative Action Policy of the City of Syracuse is to provide equal employment opportunity for all individuals regardless of race, color, sex, religion, creed, age (18 and over), marital status, national origin, disability, veteran status, gender identity or gender expression, sexual or affectional preference or orientation, or any other classified group within the protected class. The City also complies with 31 CFR part 51. If you have a disability for which you wish special accommodation to be made, contact the Office of Human Resources at 315-448-8780 or personnel@syr.gov.
All offers of employment will be contingent on the successful completion of a background check and/or drug screen.