Grant Office Lead

We are looking for an experienced Grant Office Lead to oversee KInIT’s internally managed projects and grant portfolio.

This senior role reports to the COO and involves leading project managers and administrators, collaborating across the organization, and strengthening the processes and structures that support successful project delivery. You will combine strategic leadership with hands-on execution: shaping the function, developing people, improving processes, and stepping into operational detail when needed. 

You will have the opportunity to shape the Grant Office, develop its people, strengthen organization-wide processes, and help KInIT scale its project-delivery capabilities. It is an ideal opportunity for an experienced leader seeking meaningful organizational impact through strategic influence, team leadership, and practical problem-solving.

Job description

• Lead and develop the Grant Office team, including project managers and administrators.

• Build clear responsibilities, processes, and effective grant-management practices.

• Take responsibility for a grant portfolio and ensure strong oversight and accountability.

• Establish an effective operating model for project and grant delivery.

• Work with the COO and other departments to align priorities, resources, timelines, and project needs.

• Identify synergies across projects and support effective capacity planning.

• Assign and prioritize work, delegating confidently when deadlines compete.

• Interpret and apply grant rules, funding conditions, and grant schemes, including EU requirements.

• Provide senior judgment on project and grant-management challenges.

• Review and improve existing processes to increase efficiency, quality, and delivery.

• Mentor team members and step in operationally when necessary.

• Promote a collaborative, accountable, and organization-first culture.

Personality requirements

• Master’s degree or equivalent second-cycle university qualification.

• At least 3 years of experience leading a project team.

• Demonstrable experience with grants, grant rules, and funding schemes, ideally at EU level.

• Strong project-management and people-management experience.

• Experience building or improving teams, functions, processes, or operating structures.

• Excellent command of English.

• Strong Microsoft Excel skills.

Leadership and Professional Competencies

• Structured yet flexible thinking.

• Strong leadership, prioritization, and delegation skills.

• Ability to combine strategic oversight with operational detail.

• Sound judgment and confidence in decision-making.

• A builder’s mindset and willingness to improve existing ways of working.

• Excellent communication and partnership-oriented collaboration across all levels.

• Confidence to challenge processes constructively.

• A collaborative, hands-on, organization-first approach.

• Alignment with KInIT’s values and mission.

Company description

KInIT is an independent non-profit institute connecting industry to excellent science. We bring together and enable growth of experts in artificial intelligence and other areas of computer science, with connections to other disciplines:

- Web and user data processing including empowering humans with the ability to evaluate credibility of information and its manipulation
- Processing and comprehension of natural language
- Green and secure environment
- Ethics and human values in intelligent technologies

KInIT combines the excellent competencies of academic researchers and educators with innovative companies, their needs and experience. By involving the private sector, our team of top notch Slovak AI research experts seek to create a healthy research ecosystem that bridges academia and industry.