Research Development Officer, Division of Research & Innovation

Wayne State University•Detroit, MI

3d•Onsite

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 (DORI), reporting to the Assistant Vice President for Research. The Office of Research Development empowers faculty and researchers to pursue competitive funding opportunities through proposal development support, strategic partnership building, and faculty recognition initiatives. This role provides proposal development expertise and infrastructure to help researchers compete for external funding and advance the university’s research and community impact. The officer manages large-scale proposal development, supports faculty and staff through programming and resources, and works with university leadership and external partners to identify and pursue funding opportunities. The role also tracks federal funding opportunities and coordinates communications about relevant opportunities. Work is primarily performed in an office environment.

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; alternatively, a master’s degree with at least 5 years of such experience.
Significant experience with the conduct and/or management of sponsored research, such as familiarity with funders or funding mechanisms, peer review, and federal merit review processes.
Program or project management experience, with demonstrated ability to carry projects through to completion.
Experience with administrative aspects of activity and event planning.
Knowledge of federal and non-federal research sponsors’ common requirements and anticipated funding goals.
Ability to effectively 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 impacts, 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 varied 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 over $5 million.
Training and/or experience in participatory facilitation practices, such as Strategic Doing, Liberating Structures, Ideas Labs, design sprints, or other methods and tools that invite diverse perspectives and help participants develop a shared vision.

Responsibilities

Manage large-scale proposals by working with faculty and staff teams to develop organized, polished proposals responsive to funder requests.
Provide grantsmanship guidance.
Establish timelines for items required for proposal submission.
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 to external partners and manage partnerships.
Develop programming and resources for faculty and staff, such as toolkits, workshops, and mentoring programs, to help teams pursue external research funding successfully.
Work with the Assistant Vice President for Research on forecasting and strategic planning for large-scale funding opportunities.
Track federal funding opportunities and work with the Communications team to advertise relevant opportunities to the Wayne State community.
Work with Wayne State’s government relations firm on strategic opportunity discovery and matching.
Perform other related duties as assigned.