(On-site) Project Manager - West Virginia Water Research Institute

The West Virginia Water Research Institute at West Virginia University is currently accepting applications for a Project Manager.

About the Opportunity

Reporting directly to the Senior Project Manager, the Project Manager drives the West Virginia Water Research Institute's mission by coordinating substantial grant-funded portfolios ranging from $150,000 to $5 million. Working closely under senior guidance, the incumbent manages active project lifecycles by balancing rigid compliance and financial oversight with proactive stakeholder relations. This role serves as a vital communication bridge, providing guidance to research teams while collaborating seamlessly with external contractors and internal institutional support.

This position is responsible for collaborating with Principal Investigators and Institute leadership on projects for planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluating assigned projects according to timelines, budgets, and specifications. Overseeing project teams, reporting to the project sponsor, and ensuring quality control throughout the project's life cycles are central to this position. This position provides project, as well as direct internal and external project team support services. Responds to inquiries and independently resolves matters of low to moderate complexity. Responsibilities require some judgment, resourcefulness, and originality, but diverse guides and precedents are usually available to apply or adapt to the circumstances. Work effort has considerable impact on client services, program and project image, with potential legal liabilities.

The role involves functional responsibilities executed with a degree of independence, supporting the Water Research Institute. As the Project Manager, the primary focus is on effectively managing, supporting, and guiding stakeholders while providing comprehensive updates to management on the ongoing project's performance and progress. The key mandate is to ensure the successful and timely delivery of responsible projects within the designated budget.

This role necessitates seamless collaboration with the Water Research Institute, WVU Faculty, WVU Office of Sponsored Programs and Sponsored Research Accounting, WVU Foundation, Principal Investigators, and external partners throughout the entire project lifecycle-from planning and implementation to continuous monitoring and evaluation. The Project Manager is entrusted with maintaining strict adherence to timelines, budgets, and project specifications. Daily operational oversight of projects is a pivotal aspect of the role, ensuring that each facet of the projects aligns with strategic objectives and organizational standards.

We strongly believe in work-life balance and keeping time for things we love outside our work. WVU offers generous benefits, including:

• 37.5-hour work week
• 13 paid holidays (staff holiday calendar)
• 24 annual leave (vacation) days per year (employee leave)
• 18 sick days per year (for when you're ill, for when you need time to care for sick family, for your own, or your family's, regularly scheduled medical appointments. Who is family for the purpose of this leave? A lot of people in your life including immediate relatives and in-laws as well as others considered to be members of your household living under the same roof)
• WVU offers a range of health insurance and other benefits
• 401(a) retirement savings with 6% employee contribution match, eligibility to continue health insurance, and other retiree perks. Looking for more retirement benefits information? Check out retirement health insurance benefits, retirement income, and FAQ's.
• Wellness programs

What You'll Do

• Strategic Project Leadership: Oversee and manage substantial, complex, precedent-setting, or nationally recognized research projects, navigating project planning and execution with political sensitivity.
• Pre-Award & Proposal Development: Lead the competitive acquisition of numerous grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. Coordinate proposal formulations while providing administrative and structural guidance to research and technical teams.
• Institutional Collaboration: Collaborate directly with various departments within the WVU Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) to efficiently handle proposal submissions, award acceptances, subawards, amendments, and university close-out processes.
• Project Initiation & Planning: Create detailed Project Management Plans (PMP) featuring explicit, measurable outcomes; obtain alignment and feedback from project teams and stakeholders, and conduct comprehensive kick-off meetings to communicate expectations, legal requirements, and compliance standards.
• Project Execution & Operational Oversight: Direct active research projects in strict compliance with contracts and grants, encompassing task organization, researcher oversight, and milestone achievement within established timelines and budgets.
• Financial Management: Manage overall project finances by crafting intricate funding requests, tracking fiscal obligations, monitoring expenditures throughout the project lifecycle, and developing innovative, compliant solutions for unexpected financial complications.
• Invoice Verification: Implement and oversee strict internal controls for financial approvals using a "Three-Way Match" process (verifying the Purchase Order/contract, actual progress report/receipt, and the final vendor invoice). Prepare, review, and formally submit verified invoices for payment through the procurement system to ensure timely vendor compensation and prevent scope creep or unauthorized fees.
• Subrecipient Risk Management: Oversee the lifecycle of passed-through grant funds to external subrecipients. Perform pre-award risk assessments, review subrecipient Single Audits, establish monitoring plans, conduct periodic administrative desk reviews of financial documentation, and verify technical milestones are met prior to authorizing payments.
• Procurement Navigation: Serve as the primary administrative problem-solver for procurement bottlenecks. Evaluate and draft rigorous "Sole Source" justifications when technically necessary, manage vendor timeline slippage, and balance execution speed demands with procurement compliance mandates.
• Stakeholder & Client Relations: Collaborate and negotiate with project sponsors, contractors, and federal/state customer agencies to define scope, goals, deliverables, budgets, and schedules while keeping them proactively informed of project status.
• Risk & Scope Control: Continuously assess project risks to develop mitigation strategies, log and systematically resolve operational issues, and manage project scope by formalizing, documenting, and approving change orders when necessary.
• Continuous Improvement: Develop, implement, and share project management execution tools, templates, and institutional best practices.
• Contractual Compliance & Deliverables: Meet all contractual obligations, ensuring flawless compliance with reporting timelines and producing all required technical products.
• Project Close-Out & Archival: Facilitate formal project close-out meetings with stakeholders and ensure the safe, organized archival of all project documents, data, and financial records for audit readiness.

• Bachelor's degree with a focus in Project Management, Public Administration, Business, or a related field
• A minimum of three (3) years in project management or related experience
• Any equivalent combination of related education and/or experience will be considered.
• All qualifications must be met by the time of employment.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to work independently and/or lead project teams.
• Skilled at identifying complex problems, assessing situations, and developing timely solutions.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Outlook and Word programs).
• Excellent communication and organizational skills.
• Familiarity with project management tools and/or software packages.
• Demonstrated leadership in facilitation, guidance, coordination, and overseeing teams of people.
• Experience working in a team-oriented, collaborative environment.
• Ability to rapidly adapt and respond to changes in environment and priorities.
• Excellent communication, leadership, problem solving, and analytical skills.
• Strong time and workload management skills.
• Strong communication skills in interacting with persons of various social, cultural, economic and educational backgrounds.
• Ability to simultaneously coordinate many different administrative tasks, determine relative importance of each, set deadline, and complete projects in a timely manner.
• Ability to effectively present information in one-on-one and small group situations to customers, clients, and other employees of the organization.

Preferred Qualifications

• Masters Degree in relevant field
• Previous experience working at a University
• Understanding of federal application and reporting platforms, such as grants.gov

Physical Demands
To successfully accomplish the position responsibilities, the ability to talk and hear, as well as strong visual acuity, including the ability to distinguish color are required. The incumbent must be able to sit for prolonged periods of time, operate office equipment effectively, and frequently stand and walk. Activities are predominantly non-manual though some manual work not directly involved with altering or transporting of products may be included.

Work Environment
This position works in a normal office environment with shared space and equipment with moderate noise levels. Statewide and national travel to various locations for meetings is required. Responsible to know and comply with all safety procedures.

Requirements

• Valid driver's license
• U.S. Citizen or permanent resident

West Virginia University is a place of purpose and community. We take pride in our profound impact on the state of West Virginia and are committed to the personal and professional growth of our employees.

From the groundbreaking R1 research at our flagship campus in Morgantown to the career-oriented programs at WVU Potomac State in Keyser, and the technology-intensive programs at WVU Tech in Beckley, the contributions of WVU employees resonate across the state, touching lives and shaping futures.

At WVU, you will discover a supportive community that champions work-life balance and fosters a collaborative atmosphere. Our core values - service, curiosity, respect, accountability and appreciation - unite us as Mountaineers.

Join us at West Virginia University, where your work will make a lasting impact. To learn more about WVU, visit wvu.edu.

West Virginia University is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We invite all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or Veteran status.