Pay Range: Salary commensurate with experience

Benefits Eligible: Yes

Work Schedule: Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (may include some weekends)

Travel: Required

Position Introduction:

The Strategic Proposal Development (SPD) Specialist will work to expand the capacity of engineering-led faculty teams to prepare large, complex, transdisciplinary competitive research and programmatic proposals for federal, state, and private funding. The SPD Specialist will facilitate proposal development of large-scale, interdisciplinary, and inter-institutional projects in collaboration with VPRP and CFE research professionals, external consultants, and any partnering institutions and organizations.

Key responsibilities include developing a calendar of large and complex proposals to be submitted, implementing team science and project management principals to coordinate the submission of proposals with lead PIs and key team members, providing proposal development know-how and input on grant readiness and competitiveness, organizing proposal review panels, and writing non-technical and institutional proposal sections.

The SPD Specialist will facilitate faculty funding success by identifying and tracking major funding opportunities in collaboration with the engineering deans and directors, the Director of Strategic Research Initiatives, and supporting organizations such as the Vice President for Research and Partnerships and the Center for Faculty Excellence. The SPD Specialist will assist in promoting awareness of limited submission and large funding opportunities of $3M or more and complex proposals that support targeted strategic clusters, supporting the development of proposal teams, managing the proposal process, and contributing to communications via website and email newsletters.

The SPD Specialist will report to the Associate Dean for Research and will work collaboratively with the Director of Strategic Initiatives, the Office of Research Advancement (ORA) team, and other institutional partners to manage research development initiatives, programs, and engagement events that enable faculty to become more competitive in securing extramural funding for large transdisciplinary projects that advance OU’s Strategic Plan priorities related to Engineering and Computer Science.

Departmental Duties:

Large Proposal Support

• Foster and facilitate development and submission of complex, transdisciplinary, multi-institutional research grant proposals.
• Coordinate faculty teams from proposal concept development to submission, working closely with proposal support from ORS and other OU offices and working closely with external consultants when needed.
• Assist PIs to determine institutional support needs at the proposal stage, such as designated space and/or space renovations, additional equipment, or dedicated staff within specific OU offices to provide project support.
• Plan and convene events with investigators to coordinate and enhance grant writing activities such as proposal team kickoff or design meetings.
• Support the drafting of non-scientific/scholarly sections of grant proposals such as Facilities and Other Resources, mentoring plans, or figures and graphical elements as needed.
• Provide comprehensive editorial reviews of research proposals to ensure alignment with sponsor priorities and solicitation guidelines. Recommends text, graphics and data that describe value-added differentiators accurately and consistently position the university as the optimal choice for project award. Work directly with the principal investigators (PIs) to provide developmental editing of content, organization, wording, and tone of the full document.
• Organize targeted proposal pre-submission reviews such as Pink or Red Team panels with OU or external experts, or contracted consultants.

Program Management and Research Development Operations

• Coordinate and support engineering-led teams in development and submission of center-level or otherwise complex proposals by leading a cross-functional team of scientists, engineers, and other subject matter experts to deliver compelling, compliant, and winning responses to Requests for Proposals (RFPs).
• Manage the proposal development and content lifecycle, including maintaining schedules, organizing resources, coordinating inputs and reviews, ensuring alignment with institutional strategy, ensuring compliance, resolving internal team issues, providing process leadership, and leveraging project management resources to reduce burdens on the proposal team and enhance overall efficiency.
• Partner with PIs, administrators, and university central offices to anticipate and resolve challenges that are both strategic and operational, especially when they are complex and without clear precedent.
• Coordinate with college and university communications to raise profile of engineering strengths to increase visibility and impact of research with external funding sources.
• The role requires strong leadership, communication, and analytical skills to coordinate resources, meet tight deadlines, and ensure technical and budgetary accuracy.

Targeted Funding Opportunity Portfolio Management

• Coordinate with the engineering deans and directors and the Office of the VPRP to anticipate future submission opportunities in high priority area(s) that will form the proposal portfolio.
• Manage or assist with formation of proposal teams, primarily supporting the PI through proposal project management.
• Contribute to continuous process improvement of proposal submission processes to establish efficient and effective systems and practices to enhance all proposal development in the college.
• Develop and share knowledge of research funding landscape and of federal funding agency strategic plans for sponsors of strategic interest to the university.

Professional Development and Training

• Performs various duties as needed to successfully fulfill the function of the position.

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Required Education and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Communications, Public Administration, Business Administration or a related field.
• 3 years of experience in proposal writing, technical writing, grant writing, or a related field.

Department Preferences:

• 5 years of experience in research administration, proposal development, or project management for sponsored programs in addition to Bachelor’s degree.
• Professional experience and/or certifications in proposal management, project management, team science and research development are preferred.
• Valid Driver’s License for travel.

Hiring Contingent Upon a Background Check: Yes