Program Director: Health Innovations - Biltmore Campus, Asheville

Mountain Area Health Education Center - MAHEC•Asheville, NC

5d•Onsite

About The Position

The Program Director of Innovation/Pre-Award (PDI) is a strategic leader responsible for identifying, developing, and securing external funding that advances organizational priorities. This role oversees all pre‑award functions for government funding and partners with the Development team for private foundation funding, including opportunity scouting, proposal strategy, partnership development, budget planning, and submission coordination. The PDI ensures proposals are competitive, aligned with institutional goals, and compliant with sponsor requirements. The PDI collaborates closely with executive leadership, Development, department chairs, and program leads to build a strong pipeline of fundable initiatives and strengthen organizational capacity for grant development. The Program Director of Innovation (PDI) is a pre-award strategic leader responsible for cross-department and service line partnership who guides identifying, developing, and securing funding opportunities that support research, programs, and initiatives aligned to MAHEC strategic priorities. This role collaborates with MAHEC leaders on grant strategy, proposal development, and fostering collaborations to advance the organization’s mission. The PDI will provide expertise and leadership in developing, managing, resourcing, monitoring, and evaluating new initiatives, programs, and grants within MAHEC and for the benefit of the community. This role drives pre-award grant and contract development activities, identifying funding opportunities, building strategic partnerships, and developing high-quality, competitive proposals that align with the organization’s mission to advance healthcare innovation and workforce development. In addition, the position will promote and ensure high-quality evidence-based program design, program evaluation, and dissemination. The PDI will partner with the Development team to gather information, draft applications and align foundation support with areas of greatest needs and MAHEC priorities. In addition, the PDI will partner with key leaders to create a master strategy that aligns foundation, government and other external funding with MAHEC’s strategic plan. The role can manage multiple teams overseeing programs and projects through the full life cycle in alignment with the Office of Sponsored Programs policies and processes. When needed, the PDI will also initiate and implement new programs and projects identified by Chairs, Medical Directors, and Service Line Leaders to ensure effective and timely launch. The position can mentor learners, review/evaluate team members, identify training needs, conduct project management training and technical assistance for the organization, consult and support on other projects to initiate or correct course, participate in hiring new or replacement roles in program and project management, and facilitate CQI to ensure growth and improvement. This position is categorized as a designated driver position and requires the use of a MAHEC-owned or another vehicle to conduct MAHEC business on a regularly scheduled basis (e.g., daily, weekly, or for work essential to the employee’s job).

Requirements

Terminal degree in Public Health, Education, or related field, OR Master’s degree and 3 years of specialized experience, OR Bachelor’s degree and 5 years of specialized experience
Two years of experience in leading teams or providing supervision
Grant management experience
Ability to establish productive relationships and effective stakeholder engagement with colleagues, senior leadership, government officials, community physicians and leaders, private contractors, foundations, and other funders
Demonstrated knowledge and expertise in health equity, structural racism, and community engagement
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Excellent personnel management skills
Must use a MAHEC-owned or another vehicle to conduct MAHEC business on a regularly scheduled basis.

Nice To Haves

Experience facilitating large multi-sector strategic development
History of external funding from foundations, government, or industry (appropriate for career-level).
Experience teaching and mentoring students, staff, and/or peers
Experience designing data collection materials and databases
Trained or experienced with healthcare or health systems
Certified in Research and Grant Management

Responsibilities

Lead the organization’s pre‑award strategy for government funding to align opportunities with institutional priorities.
Align pre-award activities to the overall policy, procedures and guidance set by OSP leadership.
Conduct environmental scans to identify and synergize federal, state, foundation, and industry funding opportunities.
Advise leadership on funding trends, strategic positioning, and competitive opportunities.
Develop multi‑year funding strategies for departments and service lines.
Oversee the full pre‑award lifecycle from concept to submission.
Facilitate proposal planning meetings, timelines, and deliverables.
Guide teams in developing strong narratives, logic models, evaluation plans, and sustainability strategies.
Ensure proposals meet sponsor guidelines, institutional policies, and compliance requirements.
Partner with Development on foundation opportunities.
Coordinate with OSP for routing, approvals, and submission.
Collaborate with finance and OSP to develop compliant, accurate proposal budgets.
Advise leaders on staffing models, cost allocations, and allowable expenses.
Ensure budget narratives and justifications align with program design.
Build and maintain relationships with funders, community partners, academic collaborators, and government agencies.
Support faculty and program leads in developing strategic partnerships for competitive proposals.
Represent the organization at funder briefings, conferences, and networking events.
Provide training and technical assistance on proposal development, grant writing, and pre‑award processes.
Develop templates, toolkits, and standard operating procedures to streamline pre‑award work.
Mentor staff involved in grant development and support professional growth.
Ensure proposals incorporate evidence‑based practices, measurable objectives, and evaluation frameworks.
Partner with data and evaluation teams to develop performance metrics and data collection plans.
Support the creation of data dashboards and funder‑ready organizational profiles.
Maintain clear communication with leadership, program teams, and OSP throughout the pre‑award process.
Prepare summaries, briefs, and presentations on funding opportunities and proposal status.
Ensure transparent documentation and shared access to proposal materials.
Provide oversight and supervision to teams of, Program Managers, Project Managers, Program Coordinators, Project Logistics Specialists, Program Evaluators, Continuing Education Planners, and other positions assigned to the project or program team.