Research Development Officer
The Office of Research Development at Northeastern University is situated under the Office of the Sr. Vice Provost for Research and supports Northeastern research, scholarship, creativity and innovation within the Research Division. The office provides specific assistance to all Northeastern faculty and researchers in the development and submission of research proposals and offers professional development opportunities to faculty and researchers.
Reporting to the Director of Research Development and Strategic Projects, the Research Development Officer (RDO) helps to produce, manage and implement a suite of programs and services designed to increase the competitiveness of proposals for extramural funding, with an emphasis on projects that can scale to major center-level initiatives. The RDO will develop deep knowledge of college-based and multidisciplinary research programs and will participate in the expansion of existing programs and the development of new initiatives. The RDO develops and maintains up-to-date knowledge of federal and non-federal extramural sponsor priorities in support of faculty research development efforts, with a focus on building a sustainable matrix of sponsorship from diverse sources and will leverage faculty strengths and internal funding programs to map to key sponsor initiatives. Advised by their supervisor, the RDO oversees the limited submissions process at Northeastern, provides support for the RDO office for event planning and offers proposal development support for single investigator or early career proposals, and to those colleges/campuses without local research development support.
Location: Boston, Massachusetts (would consider strong candidates based in Seattle, WA; Portland, ME; San Francisco, CA; or Washington DC)
Approximate hiring range: $65,000+
- Master’s degree in a research related field, plus three years of experience in either research development/research administration with an emphasis on multi-investigator proposal development, or comparable experience in research communications or public administration;
- Excellent oral and written communication abilities with particular emphasis on ability to understand, interpret, and summarize scientific research initiatives across a variety of subject domains for presentation to technical and non-technical audiences;
- Knowledge of extramural federal and non-federal sponsors supporting research and education activities, preferably in a university environment;
- Ability to work simultaneously on multiple projects and activities, and flexibility to manage addition or reprioritization of projects and to request guidance as needed;
- Ability to assume a leading role in project and program management and demonstrated expertise in managing the development of complex documents;
- Strong interpersonal and organizations skills with a demonstrated ability to build consensus in order to achieve desired outcomes;
- Experience in academic research, business development, strategic planning, data design and analysis, and technical writing, a plus;
- The successful candidate will be a flexible, creative, scientifically literate professional and team player with ability to add value to the development of faculty-led research proposals and initiatives across a variety of subject domains.