SEARCH EXTENDED

The University of Illinois Chicago is among the nation’s top-tier research universities and is not only Chicago’s only public research institution but its largest and most diverse. Research is fundamental to our mission; it improves the lives, health and well-being of communities both urban and rural, local and global. We have experienced three consecutive years of record growth in our research portfolio and are on track to continue that trend. We are ranked in the top five nationwide for research expenditures among High Hispanic Enrolling institutions and top 20 most diverse universities. Join our team and see what one of America’s premiere public research universities has to offer.

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) is accepting applications for an Associate Director in our Office of Research Development.  This role provides expertise to faculty members and research personnel to enable competitive individual, team extramural research funding, and facilitate research excellence. Supports faculty in multiple departments and/or center(s) in all phases of the research proposal process. Works collaboratively with the UIC research community in limited/internal funding competitions and peer review oversight and in the develop of strategic programs and services to promote scholarly activities and pursue externally sponsored funding. Contributes to organizational improvement by identifying opportunities to improve and recommending possible alternatives for a situation.

Job Responsibilities

Build strong relationships with diverse faculty, researchers, research administrators, and department staffacross scholarly disciplines; understand their research strengths and look for synergies and opportunitiesfor collaboration on multi-disciplinary proposals.

Develop a strong understanding of faculty research interests and the alignment of these interests withsignature and emerging programs, identify and flag relevant grant opportunities from various fundingsources, including government, state, and private sources.

Develop inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional initiatives aimed at securing external funding toadvance the university’s research mission. Provide instruction and support to faculty, deans, departmentheads/chairs and departmental administrators on policy interpretation and management of all internalgrant mechanisms supported by the OVCR and other central units.

Act as a point of contact for seed funding managed by OVCR, including drafting application guidelinesand managing peer review.

Analyze return on investment from internal grant investments, monitors federal and foundation fundingtrends, and recommend modifications to funding strategies based on analytical results.

Identify funding opportunities and support UIC’s pursuit of research-related opportunities as a MinorityServing Institution (MSI), Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution(AANAPISI), and Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI).

Proactively communicate possible funding opportunities via newsletters, the department website andtargeted emails to faculty.

Manage limited submissions, including identifying limited submission opportunities, establishing deadlines, communicating deadlines to campus and managing the internal review process.

Interpret program announcements and requests for proposals and advise investigators of the opportunities.

Produce reports as needed that summarize campus research activity.

Coordinate submissions for grant applications of institutional significance as identified by the Director of Research Development. Responsible for establishing internal deadlines, monitoring progress towards these deadlines, and coordinating input from multiple investigators.

Plan and facilitate meetings and networking events for investigators, support communication among investigators, help develop asset maps and competitive analyses, and support proposal development among teams of investigators in strategic topic areas identified by the Vice Chancellor for Research and the Director of Research Development.

Provide training for various software systems such as PIVOT and InfoReady.

Work closely with the Office of Governmental Relations and Lewis-Burke Associates to stay abreast of trends in federal research funding and to facilitate research outreach in Washington, D.C.

Participate in ongoing collaboration with campus offices, including UIC’s Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Innovation, Office of Diversity, Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, and Office of International Affairs.

Review grant proposal narratives for grammar, consistency, and responsiveness to the solicitation’s merit review criteria. Assist with staffing grant writing workshops for new and mid-career faculty.

Perform other related duties and participate in special projects as assigned.

Master’s degree required, PhD, preferred.

Minimum of seven years of combined relevant experience in research development, conducting research as a Principal Investigator, and/or obtaining extramural research grants.

Must be comfortable leading and facilitating complex conversations among faculty and researchers.

Demonstrated knowledge of the pre-award research administration process, sponsored grant life cycle and managing the development of competitive proposals for funding.

Scientific background and experience preferred.

Experience working within an academic research setting.

Strong project management skills, including building consensus on the approach, holding collaborators accountable to the approach, and garnering resources to support the project development.

Critical thinking and strong problem-solving skills.

Experience working with a diverse population of faculty, researchers and staff.

Excellent communications skills, including oral, written and presentation.