Scientific Review Manager

Rocket Mortgage•Detroit, MI

About The Position

The Scientific Review Manager coordinates the scientific peer review process across the Gilbert Family Foundation’s Curing NF research portfolio. The role recruits and convenes expert reviewers, administers peer review policies and procedures, manages conflicts of interest, and prepares application summary statements. It also supports stakeholder communication and scientific program coordination for the Foundation’s NF1 meeting and represents the Foundation professionally within the scientific community. The position partners with the Program and Grants & Operations teams to establish application and peer review timelines, coordinate scientific review panels, maintain reviewer records, and improve peer review and grantmaking processes. It also coordinates communications and scientific programming for the Foundation’s NF1 meeting and develops relationships with scientific experts. The Gilbert Family Foundation is a private nonprofit foundation founded by Jennifer and Dan Gilbert. It supports research aimed at curing neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and initiatives to build economic opportunity and equity in Detroit.

Requirements

Doctoral degree in biomedical sciences, or a master’s degree in a related field with substantial experience in scientific peer review.
Four years of relevant experience in scientific peer review administration, research grant program management, or a comparable research funding environment.
Experience identifying and recruiting subject matter experts and coordinating scientific review panels, study sections, or comparable review groups.
Ability to evaluate research applications across multiple scientific areas and synthesize expert feedback into clear, accurate written summaries.
Knowledge of conflict-of-interest requirements and practices within a scientific peer review environment.
Demonstrated project management skills, including the ability to manage concurrent deadlines, funding cycles, and priorities.
Strong written and verbal communication, organization, and attention to detail.

Nice To Haves

Experience performing a scientific review function within a federal agency, scientific society, academic institution, research funder, or disease-focused foundation.
Experience administering multi-stage review processes involving applications across distinct scientific disciplines or stages of research.
Familiarity with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 research or a related biomedical research field.
Experience using Salesforce or a comparable grants management platform.

Responsibilities

Partner with the Program and Grants & Operations teams to establish application and peer review timelines for each funding cycle.
Identify, recruit, and coordinate expert reviewers to evaluate the scientific and technical merit of research applications.
Plan and facilitate scientific review panels and meetings, including reviewer assignments, materials, schedules, and follow-up activities.
Administer peer review criteria and scoring rubrics to support consistent evaluation across scientific areas and stages of research.
Apply and maintain peer review policies and procedures, including conflict-of-interest identification, disclosure, and recusal requirements.
Synthesize reviewer feedback and prepare clear, accurate summary statements for research applications.
Build and maintain reviewer records and an internal database of scientific experts.
Recommend improvements to peer review and grantmaking processes to strengthen consistency, efficiency, and the applicant and reviewer experience.
Coordinate stakeholder communications, timelines, abstracts, presentation materials, and scientific programming for the Foundation’s NF1 meeting in partnership with internal teams.
Develop relationships with scientific experts, maintain awareness of relevant NF1 research developments, and represent the Foundation at scientific conferences and other external engagements as needed.