Research Project Manager

Job Purpose:

The Research Project Manager at MBZUAI is responsible for driving the effective delivery of the University’s research portfolio by ensuring that all research projects are translated from approved plans into structured execution. The role oversees project initiation, coordination, and delivery across multiple stakeholders, ensuring milestones, timelines, outputs, and reporting obligations are met. The position provides hands-on project management support to PIs and research teams, proactively monitors progress and delivery risks, and enables informed decision-making through reliable portfolio-level visibility of project status, dependencies, and outcomes for MBZUAI leadership. The role also supports the coordination and dissemination of Research Administration initiatives, updates, and guidance through official communication channels. This position will lead cross-functional strategic initiatives from inception through delivery, providing program and project governance support to ensure alignment with institutional priorities and delivery against defined objectives and outcomes.

Key Responsibilities:

Project Lifecycle Management

• Manage project initiation activities, including award kick-off meetings, milestone planning, and alignment on reporting requirements with PIs and project teams, across all internal and external research projects (faculty projects, centers, flagship initiatives, strategic POCs, university collaborations, etc.).
• Develop and maintain project plans covering timelines, milestones, deliverables, dependencies, and roles.
• Monitor progress against approved workplans, identify delays, risks, and interdependencies, and escalate material issues for resolution.
• Coordinate project changes (scope, timelines, extensions) in alignment with post-award processes and sponsor requirements.

Portfolio Performance Management

• Track research outputs and deliverables against approved project plans and reporting requirements.
• Coordinate periodic technical and progress reporting with PIs and partners, ensuring timely submission to sponsors and internal governance bodies.
• Maintain accurate, up-to-date portfolio records (key dates, milestones, reporting deadlines, deliverables) and ensure data integrity across institutional systems and trackers.
• Produce leadership-facing dashboards and consolidated portfolio reports highlighting project status, milestones achieved, upcoming deliverables, and material risks.
• Prepare consolidated portfolio reports for senior management and committees.

Stakeholder Coordination & PI Support

• Reporting to the Head, serve as the operational point of contact for PIs on project tracking, milestones, and reporting timelines.
• Coordinate across Post-Award, Finance, Contracts, Research Ethics, and external partners to support effective project execution and reporting.
• Facilitate regular project check-ins and status reviews with project teams.
• Support alignment on deliverables, reporting expectations, and corrective actions where performance gaps are identified.

Compliance & Risk Management

• Monitor project risks and issues, escalate material risks, and support mitigation planning.
• Support adherence to sponsor requirements, institutional policies, and governance frameworks throughout project execution.
• Coordinate documentation and approvals for project changes, extensions, and amendments in collaboration with Post-Award and Contracts.

Process, Documentation & Quality Control

• Apply standardized project management templates, trackers, and reporting formats across the research portfolio.
• Maintain organized, audit-ready project documentation and reporting records.
• Identify recurring delivery or reporting issues and recommend process improvements to strengthen project tracking and reporting quality.

Systems Enablement (Operational Support)

• Use designated institutional systems and tools (e.g., GMS, CRM, RIS) to record milestones, track project progress and outputs, and monitor reporting status.
• Support user acceptance testing, data validation, and issue logging related to project tracking and reporting workflows.
• Ensure data accuracy and completeness in institutional dashboards and portfolio-level reports.

Research Administration Communications & Initiatives

• Coordinate and maintain Research Administration communications and content across official channels (e.g., intranet pages, process documentation).
• Translate Research Administration resources, initiatives, policies, and process updates into clear, standardized communications for faculty and administrators.
• Track and publish updates on Research Administration initiatives and milestones across approved platforms.

Other Duties

• Carry out all other duties as reasonably directed by the manager that are commensurate with these functional objectives.

Academic Qualification:

• A Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Public Administration, Project Management, Higher Education, Science/Engineering, or a related discipline.
• A postgraduate degree is preferred, but not mandatory.

Professional Experience:

Essential

• Minimum of 4–6 years of experience in research administration, project management, or program coordination within a higher education or research environment.
• Demonstrated experience managing multi-project portfolios, milestones, and reporting cycles.
• Strong coordination skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent projects and deadlines.
• Experience preparing progress reports, dashboards, and management summaries.

Preferred

• Experience supporting sponsored research projects (internal and/or external grants).
• Experience with project management and reporting tools (e.g., dashboards, portfolio trackers).
• Exposure to enterprise research administration or grants management systems (e.g., RIS, GMS, CRM, ERP).