Research Development Officer, Division of Research & Innovation
About The Position
The Research Development Officer will be a member of the Research Development team in Wayne State University’s Division of Research & Innovation and will report to the Assistant Vice President for Research. The Office of Research Development supports faculty and researchers pursuing competitive external funding through proposal development, strategic partnership building, and faculty recognition initiatives. The role manages large-scale proposal development with faculty and staff teams, providing grantsmanship guidance and coordinating proposal schedules, templates, required materials, partner relationships, and red team reviews. The officer also develops programming and resources for faculty and staff, contributes to forecasting and strategic planning for major funding opportunities, and monitors funding opportunities in coordination with university communications and government-relations partners.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
- At least 7 years of experience in research development, proposal development, and/or grant writing in higher education, or a master’s degree with at least 5 years of such experience.
- Significant experience with the conduct and/or management of sponsored research, including familiarity with funders and funding mechanisms, peer review, and federal merit review processes.
- Program or project management experience with demonstrated ability to carry projects to completion.
- Experience with administrative aspects of activity and event planning.
- Knowledge of common requirements and anticipated funding goals of federal and non-federal research sponsors.
- Ability to provide training through workshops and individual instruction.
- Strong initiative and ability to work independently and collaboratively.
- Ability to handle proposals and research data sensitively and confidentially, using independent judgment and professionalism.
- Commitment to strengthening broader and societal impacts and community engagement, and understanding of their importance to the research community.
- Ability to work collaboratively and professionally with faculty, staff, and stakeholders with a range of personalities, opinions, perspectives, and approaches.
Nice To Haves
- Ph.D. or other advanced degree.
- Experience in grant proposal development and scholarly writing and editing.
- Demonstrated success working with teams to submit large-scale proposals exceeding $5 million.
- Training and/or experience in participatory facilitation practices, such as Strategic Doing, Liberating Structures, Ideas Labs, design sprints, or other facilitation methods and tools that invite diverse perspectives and support development of a shared vision.
Responsibilities
- Manage large-scale proposal development with faculty and staff teams to produce organized, polished proposals responsive to funder requests.
- Provide grantsmanship guidance.
- Establish timelines for materials required for proposal submissions.
- Draft templates for proposals and supporting documents.
- Coordinate and collect required materials from external partners and stakeholders.
- Organize and run red team reviews.
- Facilitate connections with external partners and manage partnerships.
- Develop programming and resources for faculty and staff, including toolkits, workshops, and mentoring programs, to support pursuit of external research funding.
- Work with the Assistant Vice President for Research on forecasting and strategic planning for large-scale funding opportunities.
- Track federal funding opportunities and coordinate with the Communications team to advertise relevant opportunities to the WSU community.
- Work with WSU’s government relations firm on strategic opportunity discovery and matching.
- Perform other related duties as assigned.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
