Defense Research Relationship Manager, Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Endeavors

University of Texas at Austin•Austin, TX

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The mission of the Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors (OVPR) is to foster the expansion of the scale, quality, and impact of scholarly endeavors at UT Austin. We are committed to building capacity, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration, and lowering the barriers and burden involved in scientific and creative inquiry through the development of an investigator-focused infrastructure that supports the needs of UT Austin's research enterprise. This role assists the OVPR Research Development portfolio in increasing UT’s capacity for executing innovative research for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) by building and maintaining strategic research relationships both within and beyond the University.

Requirements

U.S. Citizenship is required for this role
Bachelor’s degree and at least 5 years of relevant experience in relationship management, stakeholder engagement, program/project management, business development, or a related field; OR an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Demonstrated success building and maintaining professional relationships across organizational boundaries, including connecting technical or research staff with external partners or sponsors.
Working familiarity with the U.S. Department of Defense, including its organizations, culture, and how it funds and executes research.
Strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, including the ability to represent the institution to senior external stakeholders as well as translate evolving DOD priorities and requirements to faculty.
Demonstrated ability to manage and execute numerous parallel activities in a fast-paced, dynamic team environment.
Willingness and ability to travel regularly and maintain a consistent on-site and field presence at conferences, sponsor sites, and campus events.
Self-motivated to learn and share knowledge.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree (master’s or higher) in a technical, scientific, business, or policy field.
Direct experience within or alongside the DOD research and science & technology (S&T) ecosystem, such as service components, defense laboratories, program offices, or DOD-funded research.
Demonstrated understanding of R1 research university culture and how faculty pursue and manage sponsored research.
Experience developing and managing research projects for the DOD including proposals, budgets, quad charts and related documents.
Familiarity with research-security and compliance frameworks relevant to defense work, including NIST 800-171 (CUI), ITAR, CMMC/DFARS, NSPM-33, and CHIPS and Science Act restrictions.
Fluent in differences between DOD and academic culture.
Ability to prioritize academic requirements and capabilities.
Familiarity with DOD basic-research funding mechanisms such as DURIP, MURI, and early-career programs (YIP/YFA)
Experience coordinating across internal offices such as government/legislative relations, industry engagement, or technology commercialization.
Event, workshop, or convening planning experience in academia.

Responsibilities

Focus on maintaining strategic research relationships with a special emphasis placed on DOD including, but not limited to the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force, and direct reporting units.
Facilitate connections between UT PIs and DOD representatives and host DOD representatives on site.
Maintain a steady presence in key DOD research environments including research conferences and campus visits.
Assist the Defense RD Officer in the development and execution of workshops that convene UT faculty with DOD program managers and officials around emerging research topics of mutual interest.
Work cooperatively with other members of the OVPR Research Development team in pursuit of these objectives.
Support the Defense RD Officer in liaising with other UT campus offices involved with DOD, including Government Affairs, Discovery to Impact, and others.
Establish regular communication mechanisms with these partners and ensure that up-to-date information about research progress emerging from UT colleges and schools is being conveyed.
Lead efforts to ensure that DOD campus visits include broad representation from these units.
Assist the Defense RD Officer in furnishing research information relevant to Congressional funding requests.
Oversee internal seed funding designed to promote collaborative research relationships between University college/school PIs and Applied Research Laboratories (ARL:UT) PIs.
Develop calls for proposals and a vetted selection process, with support from OVPR Research Development team members.
Provide backup support to OVPR Research Development Officers by contributing strategic insight and suggested edits to DOD proposals as requested.
Contribute to the overall success of the OVPR Research Development team by performing other duties as assigned.