"Research Development Officer"

Research Development Officer

Posted: 03-Mar-26

Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan

Categories: Staff/Administrative

Internal Number: 274587

In addition to your resume, please submit a cover letter where you describe how this role fits your experience and career goals. Your submission will be used to assess writing skills and attention to detail during the initial screening process. (Note that the system only allows for one single file attachment.)

The mission of the University of Michigan Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) is to catalyze, support, and safeguard U-M research. To that end, the OVPR team fosters new research, builds partnerships, and provides support to our researchers to realize our vision of research that serves the world.

The Research Development Officer will be a member of the Bold Challenges team and the Office of Research Development (ORD), and will focus primarily on supporting success for interdisciplinary research teams. As part of OVPR's Bold Challenges initiative, the Research Development Officer will work with colleagues across OVPR and other units across the institution to advance large-scale grant efforts. The Research Development Officer will support faculty teams through proposal/project management services to increase readiness and competitiveness for large-scale funding opportunities, as well as plan, support, and/or deliver ideation sessions, skill-building workshops, and other events. This position will also support operations within the ORD, including coordinating internal funding programs, limited submissions, and maintaining online resources.

This is a hybrid position. The Research Development Officer will be expected to spend one day a week in the office and to be on campus to support events as needed.

Responsibilities:

• Proposal management: work with faculty and staff teams to develop well-organized, polished, competitive grant proposals that are responsive to funder requests for large-scale and interdisciplinary opportunities; tasks include creating timelines and checklists, tracking proposal writing progress, drafting supporting documents, and proposal editing (as needed) with a goal of increasing the quality of submitted proposals.
• Team development: coordinating team meetings and activities, and tracking progress to support effective team science, helping position teams for success in pursuing external research funding.
• Coordinate activities related to proposal development: organizing peer/red team reviews, facilitating connections to external partners, and coordinating with other internal support units/services, etc.
• Support Bold Challenges events and related ORD activities; tasks may include coordinating logistics, managing registration, communication to participants, etc.
• Support OVPR internal funding programs and review processes via the InfoReady Review platform.
• Support OVPR limited submissions and related activities, including launching competitions, finding reviewers, and coordinating selected teams.
• Management and maintenance of online resources, e.g., Research Commons, proposal libraries, etc.
• Support and/or lead a range of gatherings, from single-team meetings to large networking events, to foster ideation, community-building, strategic planning, and complex problem-solving.
• Develop programming and resources for faculty and staff, such as toolkits, workshops, mentoring programs, writing groups, orientations, and individualized research plans.
• Support Bold Challenges and ORD-related communications content as needed to achieve OVPR and University objectives.

Required Qualifications:

• Master's degree or Bachelor's degree with equivalent experience required.
• Significant experience with conduct and/or management of sponsored research, e.g., familiarity with funders (NIH, NSF) and/or funding mechanisms, peer review, etc.
• Experience in grant proposal development and editing.
• Strong writing and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to effectively provide training to others in the form of workshops and individual instruction.
• Experience with administrative aspects of activity and event planning.
• Strong initiative and demonstrated ability to work independently and in collaborative settings are essential. Must be able to work in a sensitive and confidential manner using independent judgment and professionalism.
• Must be able to manage multiple projects and initiatives simultaneously while meeting deadlines and maintaining attention to detail.
• Familiarity with broader impacts/societal impacts/community engagement in the research community.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ph.D. or other advanced degree.
• Knowledge of federal and non-federal research sponsors' common requirements and anticipated funding goals.
• Demonstrated success working with teams to submit large-scale proposals (>$5 million)

Benefits at the University of Michigan

In addition to a career filled with purpose and opportunity, the University of Michigan offers a comprehensive benefits package to help you stay well, protect yourself and your family and plan for a secure future. Benefits include:

• Generous time off
• A retirement plan that provides two-for-one matching contributions with immediate vesting
• Many choices for comprehensive health insurance
• Life insurance
• Long-term disability coverage
• Flexible spending accounts for healthcare and dependent care expenses