Job Summary

Grant Development Manager

The Price College of Engineering seeks a collaborative, strategic, and service-oriented Research Development Manager to lead a centralized college Pre-Award Grants and Contract Officer team supporting pre-award activities across multiple engineering departments, centers, and research initiatives. This position combines operational leadership with direct research administration responsibilities and plays a critical role in advancing the College's research enterprise and external funding growth.

The Grant Development Manager oversees the daily operations, staffing, training, and continuous improvement of the centralized pre-award team while also managing a portfolio of complex grant and contract proposals. The position supports faculty pursuing external funding from federal agencies, industry sponsors, foundations, and other entities by coordinating the development, preparation, submission, and follow-up of sponsored project proposals.

This role is responsible for developing and implementing processes, policies, and service models that improve faculty support, increase proposal submission capacity, strengthen compliance, and enhance operational effectiveness across the College. The Research Development Manager partners closely with faculty, department leadership, the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP), the Office of the Vice President for Research, and other University stakeholders to support a high-performing and collaborative research administration environment.

The position also leads efforts to evaluate and implement emerging tools, technologies, and process improvements, including AI-enabled resources and workflow solutions, to streamline proposal development, improve service delivery, and support continued growth in research activity and proposal submissions.

Responsibilities

Pre-Award Research Administration

• Independently manage complex pre-award proposal development and submission activities for faculty, centers, and interdisciplinary initiatives across the Price College of Engineering.
• Coordinate the preparation, review, and submission of grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, subawards, and other sponsored project proposals in compliance with sponsor and University requirements.
• Develop and review proposal budgets and budget justifications and provide guidance regarding sponsor regulations, funding opportunities, and University research administration policies.
• Serve as a liaison among faculty, departments, the Office of Sponsored Projects, the Office of the Vice President for Research, sponsors, and other University stakeholders to support successful proposal development and submission activities.
• Maintain current knowledge of federal regulations, sponsor requirements, and research administration best practices.

Team Leadership & Operations Management

• Direct and manage the operations of the centralized Pre-award Grants & Contracts team, including hiring, onboarding, workload allocation, performance management, mentoring, and professional development.
• Foster a collaborative, customer-service-oriented team culture focused on operational excellence, responsiveness, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Evaluate departmental research administration needs and allocate staff and operational resources to support proposal growth, service delivery, and budgetary priorities.
• Provide leadership and guidance for complex proposal, compliance, and operational issues while ensuring alignment with University standards and policies.

Strategic Initiatives & Process Improvement

• Develop and implement policies, procedures, workflows, and service models that improve proposal development processes, operational efficiency, compliance, and faculty support across the College.
• Lead initiatives to increase proposal submission capacity and strengthen research development support services through process improvement, operational analysis, and strategic planning.
• Evaluate and implement emerging technologies, AI-enabled tools, automation resources, and other innovations to enhance pre-award administrative effectiveness and faculty support.
• Oversee the collection, analysis, and reporting of operational metrics related to proposal activity, team productivity, service delivery, and research administration performance to support continuous quality improvement and strategic decision-making.