Associate Director of Research Development

Creative Achievement and Research Administration Team (CARAT) 

The Creative Achievement and Research Administration Team (CARAT) in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) is a team of employees that fosters the development of sponsored research and creative achievement while supporting the post-award administration of sponsored projects.

As a senior member of CARAT, the Associate Director of Research Development (ADRD) serves as a principal pre-award partner to CAHSS faculty pursuing external funding from federal sponsors (IES, NEH, NHPRC, NIH, NIJ, NSF SBE, etc.),
major private foundations (Mellon, Spencer, Russell Sage, Ford, Luce, Carnegie, ACLS), and other strategic sources primarily —though not exclusively — in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. The ADRD advances the research vision of CAHSS leadership and helps to develop competitive proposals, including identification and curation of funding opportunities, concept-paper and letter-of-inquiry development, narrative editing, budget preparation and justification, and resubmission strategies.

The ADRD also develops a deep working knowledge of CAHSS faculty research strengths and emerging interdisciplinary themes across the College, the broader UMBC campus, and sister USM institutions. The ADRD uses that knowledge to
foster collaborations across departments and to position CAHSS faculty into team and collaborative-research opportunities.

The ADRD partners with the Office of Institutional Advancement and the Provost’s Office on invitation-only and institution led foundation opportunities, providing logistical guidance and proposal development. The ADRD maintains a working
program-officer directory across relevant federal, state, and private sponsors and peer-reviewed learned-society competitions to support faculty engagement with those programs.

In collaboration with the CARAT team, the CAHSS research centers, and the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP), the ADRD develops, plans, and coordinates workshops, writing cohorts, mock review panels, and programming that build
faculty grant competitiveness across the career arcs.

UMBC offers competitive compensation.  This role starts at $98,000 and has over 4 weeks of vacation for regular full time roles. Tuition remission is also available.

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A hybrid telework schedule may be available.

This position will provide support in three main areas: 

1. Research Development and Funding Intelligence

• Identify and disseminate funding opportunities for CAHSS sub-disciplines across all external sponsors and internal funding programs.
• Track and analyze trends in sponsored funding
• Develop and maintain deep working knowledge of faculty research strengths and emerging interdisciplinary themes across CAHSS, the broader UMBC campus and sister USM institutions
• Maintaining a working program-officer directory across all sponsors as well as broker structured introductions between faculty and program officers at disciplinary society meetings.
• Liaison with corporate and foundation relations staff within OIA and external sponsors to coordinate cultivation strategy 
• Collaborate and partner with CAHSS research centers to stay current on affiliated-faculty research portfolios,
• Coordinate funding-opportunity matching with center priorities, align College-level and center-level grant pipelines, and participate in Center activities
• Track pre-award activity and support CARAT leadership in producing portfolio analytics on proposal volume, win rate, awarded dollars, and funder mix

2. Proposal Development and Coordination

• Organize and manage the grant proposal development proess
• Develop, edit, proofread and format proposal materials that align with sponsor guidelines
• Support faculty teams in developing complex, multi-investigator proposals
• Assist in the development of concept papers and letters of inquiry
• Prepare and justify workable project budgets
• Coordinate targeted proposal development for strategic funding opportunities 
• Establish internal timelines, track proposal development progress and collaboration
• Convene mock review panels for large or strategically important proposals

3. Faculty Engagement, Training and Career-Stage Mentoring

• Develop and disseminate regular communications on external funding opportunities
• Plan and coordinate workshps, webinars, grant writing retreats and programming to support faculty grant competitiveness
• Coordinate with CAHSS research centers, OIA and OSP on workshops, webinars, retreats and professional development
• Design an run differentiated cohort programs for opportunities across the career arc
• Coach early-career faculty on fellowships and grants that align with the tenure trajectories
• Identify mid-career faculty and help them develop research pathways
• Coordinate sabbatical-aligned book completion support for senior and named-chair faculty
• Coordinate with the CARAT team, OSP and ORCA on development of grant-focused initiatives, training materials and institutional guidance

Education: MA in a relevant field (preferably social sciences, arts, humanities or related discipline such as education)

Experience: At least five (5) years of research development experience required; demonstrated knowledge of the sponsored research lifecycle and the external funding landscape in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, including familiarity with state, federal, and major private foundations; demonstrated experience writing, substantively editing, and developing competitive proposals; strong project management skills and the ability to coordinate complex initiatives involving multiple investigators and stakeholders; demonstrated ability to identify, curate, and communicate funding opportunities across federal, foundation, and corporate sources; experience with funding-opportunity tools and databases.

Education: Ph.D in a relevant field (social sciences, arts, humanities or related discipline); professional credential in research development, relevant continuing professional development (e.g., NORDP-recognized programs, NCURA, SRAI)

Experience: Experience in higher education is preferred. Demonstrated experience coaching or mentoring faculty on competitive grant and fellowship applications. Experience designing or running cohort-based grant-writing programs. Experience cultivating program-officer relationships at sponsoring institutions. Personal track record of obtaining external funding from federal sponsors or private foundations. Experience with research analytics platforms. Ability to work with various software technologies, such as PeopleSoft Financial and Human Resources and Kuali, is strongly desired.

A background check will be required. 

Upload a cover letter and a resume.  

UMBC offers a rich benefits package.

Regular and grant funded regular positions (Full benefits summary click here):

Generous Leave which includes accruing:

• 22 Days of Annual Leave  
• 15 Days of Sick Leave  
• 15 Holidays
• 3 Personal Days

Tuition Remission:

• 8 credit hours per semester
• Tuition remission at UMBC for eligible dependents after two years of FT employment

Additional Benefits:

• Life and disability insurance
• Retirement plans (including the choice of joining the pension plan)
• Professional development opportunities
• Wellness opportunities
• & Much more

Benefits offered align with type (Regular, Contingent II, etc.) of position. 

Salary: $98,000 - 110,000 depending on qualifications and experience.

The salary of the finalist(s) selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to, internal equity, budget, prior experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, education, licensure and certifications, and other business considerations.

The above salary range represents the University’s good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.