Department of Veterans Affairs

Program Specialist - Research Grants Manager

Buffalo, New York Full time

Program Specialist - Research Grants Manager

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Buffalo, New York

Salary Range: $77318 - $100508 Per Year

Job Summary: This position is located at the VA Western New York Healthcare System (VAWNYHS), Buffalo, NY, and is organizationally aligned under the Research & Development (R&D) Service.

Major Duties:

  • ***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** The primary responsibility of the Grant Manager is to manage the Research & Development Grants Application Program and identify/analyze problems as they pertain to the management of new and active Federal Grants within the Enterprise Project Management Information System (ePROMISe), the Just-In-Time (JIT) System, and the eRA Commons System. Provides expert advice to investigators in the in the electronic grant application submission process and resolution of submission problems in the eRA Commons, Grants.gov Adobe Professional and other grant submission software and databases. Serves as a consultant to management and Research Investigators regarding grant management strategies and techniques and ensures compliance with federal regulations. Manages all aspects of budget and Human Resources (HR) processes to facilitate grant related transactions. Oversees and monitors data entry in the ePromise, RAFT, RDIS and JIT programs. Performs in-depth review and compilation of committee/subcommittee approvals of required documents for VA funded projects. Collects and analyzes data to prepare a variety of reports for research and facility leadership and VA Central Office. Analyzes and reviews grant accounts to determine what additions, modifications and deletions to data bases are needed. Conducts special studies to resolve a wide variety of administrative problems that arise in the operation of a research program. Performs outreach activities designed to grow the research program. Maintains up-to-date information on all research investigators and annual administrative progress reports on all research protocols. Acts as a liaison with Office of Research and Development and university affiliate; And All other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday from 8:00am - 4:30pm Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved

Qualifications: To qualify for this position at the GS-11 grade level, you must meet one of the following requirements: Experience: You must have one full year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-9) in Federal service that has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. Specialized experience is (1) performing grant administrative duties, (2) interpreting existing federal grant policies and monitoring and reviewing grant proposals for accuracy, (3) coordinating with research administrative staff and Human Resources to facilitate grant-related transactions, (4) providing guidance and information to leadership regarding grant management issues (6) advising on budget and proposal preparation to principal investigators and research staff and (7) utilizing IRBNet software to support Research & Development Service committees and subcommittees. Note: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hour worked per week. ~OR~ Education: In order to substitute education for experience, you must possess a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. ~OR~ Combination: You must have equivalent combinations of successfully completed graduate level education and specialized experience that may be used to meet total experience requirements. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Analysis and Problem Solving Customer Service Project Management Technical Competence IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Physical Requirements: The work is primarily performed in an office environment and requires alternating periods of walking and sedentary work. Manual dexterity is required for operating office equipment. Typing and computer operation may involve long periods of hand and wrist movement. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

How to Apply: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 01/09/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12859530. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USA JOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date. Beginning September 27, 2025, Federal agencies will only accept resumes up to two pages in length to comply with the Merit Hiring Plan. Resumes longer than two pages will result in ineligibility for further consideration for the position. USAJOBS will not allow you to upload or build resumes longer than two pages, and you will need to update the resumes in your profile before applying for a job. Resumes should include information relevant to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies of the position to which you are applying. VA is unable to make assumptions about qualifications if not clearly listed. Resumes must be legible so they can be reviewed for eligibility, minimum qualifications and other position requirements listed in the job announcement. If initial application submission is updated and resubmitted with a new resume, only the most current resume will be reviewed for consideration. Your resume must be 5MB or less. We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages. We also accept GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, RTF, TXT, PDF, ODT or Word (DOC or DOCX). We do not accept PDF portfolio files. We recommend using a sans-serif font size like Lato, if available. Other widely available options are Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open San Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noro Sans. Make your page margins 0.5 inches. Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume. The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started. Helpful Hints for Creating a Two-Page Resume: Prioritize most relevant and recent experience Use concise, results focused language Align language from the job announcement Focus on demonstrating skills and competencies Remove outdated or unrelated experience Use the USAJOBS resume builder Additional guidance on this new requirement and resume building tools can be found at: https://help.usajobs.gov/faq/application/documents/resume/page-limit https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-information/merit-hiring-plan-resources/applicant-guidance-on-the-two-page-resume-limit/ Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities (i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities), and/or disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. For more information on how to apply using this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator within the office, contact the facility Human Resources Department at (202) 020-2020. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation and be found well-qualified (have a final rating of 85 or more before any Veterans preference points) for this vacancy. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.

Application Deadline: 2026-01-09