Associate Director of Research Development

UMBC • Baltimore, MD

2d • $98,000 - $110,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Creative Achievement and Research Administration Team (CARAT) in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) is seeking an Associate Director of Research Development (ADRD). As a senior member of CARAT, the ADRD will serve as a principal pre-award partner to CAHSS faculty pursuing external funding from federal sponsors, major private foundations, and other strategic sources, primarily in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. The ADRD will advance the research vision of CAHSS leadership by helping to develop competitive proposals, including identifying and curating funding opportunities, developing concept papers and letters of inquiry, editing narratives, preparing budgets and justifications, and devising resubmission strategies. The role also involves developing a deep understanding of CAHSS faculty research strengths and interdisciplinary themes to foster collaborations and position faculty for team and collaborative research opportunities. The ADRD will partner with the Office of Institutional Advancement and the Provost’s Office on specific foundation opportunities, provide logistical guidance, and maintain a directory of program officers to support faculty engagement. In collaboration with the CARAT team, CAHSS research centers, and the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), the ADRD will develop and coordinate workshops, writing cohorts, mock review panels, and other programming to enhance faculty grant competitiveness.

Requirements

• MA in a relevant field (preferably social sciences, arts, humanities or related discipline such as education)
• At least five (5) years of research development experience required
• Demonstrated knowledge of the sponsored research lifecycle and the external funding landscape in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, including familiarity with state, federal, and major private foundations
• Demonstrated experience writing, substantively editing, and developing competitive proposals
• Strong project management skills and the ability to coordinate complex initiatives involving multiple investigators and stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to identify, curate, and communicate funding opportunities across federal, foundation, and corporate sources
• Experience with funding-opportunity tools and databases

Nice To Haves

• Ph.D in a relevant field (social sciences, arts, humanities or related discipline)
• Professional credential in research development, relevant continuing professional development (e.g., NORDP-recognized programs, NCURA, SRAI)
• Experience in higher education is preferred
• Demonstrated experience coaching or mentoring faculty on competitive grant and fellowship applications
• Experience designing or running cohort-based grant-writing programs
• Experience cultivating program-officer relationships at sponsoring institutions
• Personal track record of obtaining external funding from federal sponsors or private foundations
• Experience with research analytics platforms
• Ability to work with various software technologies, such as PeopleSoft Financial and Human Resources and Kuali, is strongly desired

Responsibilities

• Identify and disseminate funding opportunities for CAHSS sub-disciplines across all external sponsors and internal funding programs.
• Track and analyze trends in sponsored funding.
• Develop and maintain deep working knowledge of faculty research strengths and emerging interdisciplinary themes across CAHSS, the broader UMBC campus and sister USM institutions.
• Maintaining a working program-officer directory across all sponsors as well as broker structured introductions between faculty and program officers at disciplinary society meetings.
• Liaison with corporate and foundation relations staff within OIA and external sponsors to coordinate cultivation strategy.
• Collaborate and partner with CAHSS research centers to stay current on affiliated-faculty research portfolios.
• Coordinate funding-opportunity matching with center priorities, align College-level and center-level grant pipelines, and participate in Center activities.
• Track pre-award activity and support CARAT leadership in producing portfolio analytics on proposal volume, win rate, awarded dollars, and funder mix.
• Organize and manage the grant proposal development process.
• Develop, edit, proofread and format proposal materials that align with sponsor guidelines.
• Support faculty teams in developing complex, multi-investigator proposals.
• Assist in the development of concept papers and letters of inquiry.
• Prepare and justify workable project budgets.
• Coordinate targeted proposal development for strategic funding opportunities.
• Establish internal timelines, track proposal development progress and collaboration.
• Convene mock review panels for large or strategically important proposals.
• Develop and disseminate regular communications on external funding opportunities.
• Plan and coordinate workshops, webinars, grant writing retreats and programming to support faculty grant competitiveness.
• Coordinate with CAHSS research centers, OIA and OSP on workshops, webinars, retreats and professional development.
• Design and run differentiated cohort programs for opportunities across the career arc.
• Coach early-career faculty on fellowships and grants that align with the tenure trajectories.
• Identify mid-career faculty and help them develop research pathways.
• Coordinate sabbatical-aligned book completion support for senior and named-chair faculty.
• Coordinate with the CARAT team, OSP and ORCA on development of grant-focused initiatives, training materials and institutional guidance.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation
• Over 4 weeks of vacation for regular full time roles
• Tuition remission
• Generous Leave which includes accruing 22 Days of Annual Leave
• 15 Days of Sick Leave
• 15 Holidays
• 3 Personal Days
• 8 credit hours per semester of Tuition remission at UMBC for eligible dependents after two years of FT employment
• Life and disability insurance
• Retirement plans (including the choice of joining the pension plan)
• Professional development opportunities
• Wellness opportunities

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior