Writer III / Proposal Development Manager (Research Administration)

Johns Hopkins University•Baltimore, MD

23d•$64,470 - $112,850

About The Position

The Writer III / Proposal Development Manager creates messaging strategies and develops clear, effective content for internal and external audiences. The role produces reports, presentations, collateral, fundraising and development materials, email campaigns, and print and digital communications that support the designated area’s strategic goals. It helps ensure effective internal communications across the university community and alignment with central university communications. The position may contribute significantly to communication vehicles, articles, official documents, reports, and proposals for external audiences. It may function as a science writer, technical writer, or speech writer. As Proposal Development Manager in Research Administration at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, the role provides high-level scientific writing and proposal-development support to faculty, especially for competitive federal applications, complex interdisciplinary proposals, center and program grants, training grants, and other strategically important funding opportunities. It works with faculty investigators, the VDR, the Senior Research Operations Manager, NORA, and other School and University resources to shape proposal narratives, align applications with funding opportunities, coordinate scientific contributions, and develop clear, persuasive, competitive submissions. The role supports proposal strategy and writing from early planning through submission, including interpreting funding announcements and review criteria, developing proposal outlines and writing plans, coordinating contributors and deadlines, and writing, editing, restructuring, and integrating proposal sections. It supports faculty across career stages, including with resubmissions, and may organize writing workshops and create reusable proposal-development resources. It also helps articulate the School’s research capabilities, environment, resources, and interdisciplinary strengths in proposals.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
Three years of related experience.
Writing samples may be requested during the selection process.
Ability to manage basic figure design using drawing programs such as PowerPoint or Adobe Illustrator and to develop and understand illustrations related to written communication.
Experience writing and providing technical feedback, fact-checking, and clarification in scientific or technical areas.
Experience writing and managing peer-reviewed research articles, handling data collection and dissemination, and writing and editing research grants for NIH, NSF, and other federal agencies.
Editorial research proficiency at intermediate level.
Grammar proficiency at advanced level.
Information-gathering proficiency at intermediate level.
Project-management proficiency at intermediate level.
Proofreading proficiency at advanced level.
Style-guide proficiency at intermediate level.
Version-control proficiency at intermediate level.
Writing proficiency at advanced level.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree in health sciences, scientific writing, or a related field.
Demonstrated experience developing successful externally funded research proposals in an academic health-sciences environment.
Strong working knowledge of NIH-style applications and federal peer review; experience with additional sponsors is desirable.
Exceptional scientific writing, developmental editing, synthesis, and organizational skills.
Ability to understand and communicate research across multiple disciplines and methodological approaches.
Experience supporting large, multi-investigator or multi-component proposals.
Ability to manage multiple concurrent deadlines while maintaining high editorial and strategic standards.
Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively with investigators at different career stages.

Responsibilities

Develop a strategic internal communications calendar as needed.
Communicate complex information clearly, precisely, and compellingly to targeted audiences.
Identify, research, write, and edit internal and external communications for various audiences and media.
Develop and implement projects for disseminating news and creating communications materials about technical or scientific areas.
Determine publication topics and themes, contribute to publication design, and oversee and edit other contributors’ work.
May manage production schedules and publication budgets.
Advise contributors on writing and provide instruction on grammar, writing strategies, and content structure.
Coordinate multi-contributor documents, monitor progress, and manage delivery deadlines.
Provide editing and feedback to stakeholder group members.
Collaborate with subject matter experts to establish proposal-development specifications and subject matter.
Proofread, standardize, and edit proposal sections to align with the proposal’s language.
Write assigned proposal sections.
May conduct research for projects as assigned.
Monitor and analyze developments and major issues in relevant sectors and share them with targeted audiences as appropriate.
Develop and sustain effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
Work on special projects as requested; may direct or oversee support staff; perform other duties as assigned.
Partner with faculty investigators to develop compelling research proposals articulating significance, innovation, approach, impact, and fit with funding opportunities.
Help translate complex interdisciplinary ideas into coherent proposal narratives, including specific aims, project narratives, research strategies, training plans, center components, and other major scientific sections.
Provide substantive writing, editing, restructuring, and synthesis across proposal components to ensure consistent terminology, logic, messaging, and scientific narrative.
Provide intensive proposal-development support for large, multi-investigator, multi-school, center, program project, training, infrastructure, and other complex applications.
Develop proposal outlines, writing plans, contributor assignments, internal deadlines, and integration strategies with the PI and Senior Research Operations Manager; manage internal deadlines as appropriate.
Coordinate scientific content across cores, projects, aims, work packages, or other components of complex proposals.
Work with the VDR and faculty to identify and prioritize funding opportunities aligned with School strengths and emerging strategic areas.
Interpret funding announcements and help investigators respond directly to review criteria and sponsor priorities.
Participate in early-stage proposal planning and help position applications strategically before writing begins.
Help faculty assess whether an idea is best suited to an individual investigator proposal, team-science application, center grant, training grant, foundation proposal, or another mechanism.
Support the VDR in administering internal funding opportunities, including calls for proposals, review committees, and selection notifications.
Support faculty across career stages in developing competitive, persuasive, and responsive submissions.
Organize workshops or writing sessions on proposal topics and develop reusable guidance, exemplars, checklists, and writing resources.
Support resubmissions by helping investigators interpret critiques, develop response strategies, and strengthen revised narratives.
Maintain familiarity with major NIH, AHRQ, CDC, HRSA, PCORI, foundation, and other funding mechanisms relevant to nursing and health research.
Help articulate the School’s distinctive research capabilities, environment, resources, and interdisciplinary strengths consistently in strategic applications.
Contribute to standard institutional language and resource descriptions that can be tailored for proposals.