Lila Sciences is seeking a Senior Manager, Grants and Contracts to build and lead its non-dilutive administrative funding engine. This role involves managing the full lifecycle of grants and contracts from proposal development and submission to compliant execution, reporting, and closeout, focusing on federal government and foundation sponsors. The manager will increase win rates, ensure compliance, and scale processes and a team to support growth, working with various agencies like DOE, DoD, NSF, NIH, and ARPA‑H.

Must Have

• 7+ years managing federal research funding across DOE/ARPA‑E, DoD/DARPA, NSF, NIH, ARPA‑H, and foundations
• Full-cycle expertise in pre- and post-award, from budget development and submission to financial reporting, subrecipient monitoring, and closeout
• Mastery of cost principles (allowable/allocable/reasonable), indirect/F&A, cost share, and budget narratives
• Proficiency with Grants.gov, Research.gov, eRA Commons/ASSIST, ARPA‑E eXCHANGE, DARPA BAAT, DoD portals (e.g., eBRAP), iEdison
• Strong Excel and ERP/financial systems fluency
• Exceptional writing, organization, and deadline management
• Strong cross-functional communication
• Leadership experience building processes and mentoring/leading a small team

Good to Have

• Prior government experience (e.g., military, other federal agency, FFRDC, DoD lab, etc.)
• Active or prior security clearance and/or export control program experience
• CRA/CPRA, PMP, or contracts certifications
• Experience with OTAs and cooperative agreements
• Familiarity with NIST 800‑171/CMMC
• Demonstrated improvements in win rate, reporting timeliness, audit outcomes, or scalable process/SOP development

Perks & Benefits

• Bonus potential
• Generous early equity

Senior Manager, Grants and Contracts (Pre-and Post-Award)

Cambridge, MA USA

Your Impact at Lila

You will build and lead Lila’s non-dilutive, administrative funding engine across the federal government, and foundation sponsors, owning the full lifecycle from proposal development & submission to compliant execution, reporting, and closeout. Focusing on DOE (incl. ARPA‑E), DoD (incl. DARPA), NSF, NIH, ARPA‑H, select state and international organizations, and leading foundations, you will increase win rates, safeguard compliance, and position the company to win and deliver mid- to large-sized awards—while standing up processes and a team that scales with our growth.

What You'll Be Building

• End-to-End Portfolio Management
• Manage pipeline, calendars, and teaming for DOE/ARPA‑E, DoD/DARPA, NSF, NIH, ARPA‑H, select international organizations, and foundations; ensure on-time, compliant submissions.
• Pre-Award
• Build budgets and justifications; compile administrative and compliance documents; coordinate subrecipient packages; manage submissions via Grants.gov, Research.gov, eRA Commons/ASSIST, ARPA‑E eXCHANGE, and DoD portals.
• Award Negotiation & Setup
• Support terms and conditions for grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, and OTAs; address IP/data rights, publication, and export control; set up a proposal and award tracking system with award files, codes, and reporting calendars; brief PIs.
• Post-Award
• Lead financial management and reporting (e.g., SF‑425), RPPR/technical deliverables, invoicing/drawdowns, cost share, budget revisions, and subrecipient monitoring; manage invention reporting (iEdison) and closeout.
• Compliance & Risk
• Ensure adherence to 2 CFR 200, agency guides, SBIR/STTR policies, and relevant FAR/DFARS flowdowns; maintain audit readiness and internal controls across time/effort, procurement, travel, and equipment.
• Systems & Templates
• Stand up SOPs, budget models, checklists, boilerplate, and dashboards; maintain registrations (UEI/CAGE, SAM) and sponsor systems; integrate with Finance/ERP and Legal workflows.
• Leadership & Enablement
• Partner with PIs, Finance, Legal, and Ops; run training and office hours; establish scalable processes and hire a small team as award volume grows.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• 7+ years managing federal research funding with a strong track record across DOE/ARPA‑E, DoD/DARPA, NSF, NIH, ARPA‑H, and foundations.
• Full-cycle expertise in pre- and post-award, from budget development and submission to financial reporting, subrecipient monitoring, and closeout.
• Mastery of cost principles (allowable/allocable/reasonable), indirect/F&A, cost share, and budget narratives.
• Proficiency with Grants.gov, Research.gov, eRA Commons/ASSIST, ARPA‑E eXCHANGE, DARPA BAAT, DoD portals (e.g., eBRAP), iEdison; strong Excel and ERP/financial systems fluency.
• Exceptional writing, organization, and deadline management; strong cross-functional communicator.
• Leadership experience building processes and mentoring/leading a small team.

Bonus Points For

• Prior government experience (e.g., military, other federal agency, FFRDC, DoD lab, etc.).
• Active or prior security clearance and/or export control program experience.
• CRA/CPRA, PMP, or contracts certifications; experience with OTAs and cooperative agreements; familiarity with NIST 800‑171/CMMC.
• Demonstrated improvements in win rate, reporting timeliness, audit outcomes, or scalable process/SOP development.

About Lila

Lila Sciences is the world’s first scientific superintelligence platform and autonomous lab for life, chemistry, and materials science. We are pioneering a new age of boundless discovery by building the capabilities to apply AI to every aspect of the scientific method. We are introducing scientific superintelligence to solve humankind's greatest challenges, enabling scientists to bring forth solutions in human health, climate, and sustainability at a pace and scale never experienced before. Learn more about this mission at www.lila.ai

If this sounds like an environment you’d love to work in, even if you only have some of the experience listed below, we encourage you to apply.

Compensation

We expect the base salary for this role to fall between $140,000–$172,667 USD per year, along with bonus potential and generous early equity. The final offer will reflect your unique background, expertise, and impact.

We’re All In

Lila Sciences is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

Information you provide during your application process will be handled in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Policy.

A Note to Agencies

Lila Sciences does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Lila Sciences or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Lila Science’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Lila Sciences, and Lila Sciences will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.