Multidisciplinary Proposal Developer

• CURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, apply internally through Workday.

• CURRENT PENN STATE STUDENT (not employed previously at the university) and seeking employment with Penn State, please login to Workday to complete the student application process. Please do not apply here, apply internally through Workday.

• If you are NOT a current employee or student, please click "Apply" and complete the application process for external applicants.

JOB DESCRIPTION AND POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

The Strategic Interdisciplinary Research Office (SIRO) is a research development and administration unit that is part of the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research (OSVPR) at Penn State. The OSVPR is responsible for facilitating a more than $1-billion-per-year research enterprise at Penn State by working with a broad range of units across the institution. SIRO provides active support for the development, submission, and management of large-team multidisciplinary proposals for external funding.

Proposal Development Support: SIRO offers support to University faculty in preparation of a variety of proposals and funded projects. In addition to supporting proposals for research and program funding, SIRO provides faculty support in areas such as outreach, diversity and education. Proposal developers support projects through the development of proposal application timelines, writing/editing non-technical sections of proposals, collection of supporting documents (e.g., biosketches, letters of support, data management). Proposal developers also create sponsor-compliant templates and assist in assembly and pre-submission red team reviews.

SIRO is looking for a Multidisciplinary Proposal Developer, who will provide proposal development support services to a diverse community of faculty and staff and report to the SIRO Associate Director of Proposal Development.

Role: As a member of a cross-functional team that includes faculty researchers, proposal developers, research administrators, and project managers, the individual in this position will provide proposal development services to both faculty and administrator teams as they develop complex multidisciplinary research projects and proposals in response to federal and foundation funding opportunities. This position will be focused on understanding a variety of funding agency missions, programs, policies, and grant solicitations/RFPs. The Developer will be responsible for working with faculty teams to develop proposal content (contributor of ideas and content within the proposals) and tactical duties such as managing timeline adherence, assisting faculty in requests/collection of supplementary documentation and working with cross-disciplinary departments to acquire, edit, or author supplemental proposal content.

Responsibilities: The responsibilities of this position include, but are not limited to the following:

• Understand funding agency missions, programs, policies, and grant solicitations.
• Working with faculty teams to develop proposal content (contributor of ideas and proposal content).
• Assist principal investigators to develop equitable and sustainable research teams and partnerships necessary to address the writing of non-technical sections (e.g., diversity and inclusion, education and outreach, project management, data management, facilities, etc.) of proposals by connecting with strategic partners across Penn State and externally.
• Contribute innovative ideas/writing and gather data, identify resources, and edit non-technical sections or proposals and support the development of technical proposal sections as requested.
• Coordinate and plan meetings with the research team and developing proposal development roadmaps, identifying deliverables, and coordinating timelines to meet proposal submission deadlines.
• Manage proposal preparation timeline to meet the needs of PI and SIRO as well as agency submission deadlines.
• Manage shared folders including review/upload of proposal documents/edits submitted by faculty participants.
• Develop strategies in coordination with SIRO's multimedia specialists to enhance messaging/presentation of data and facts through the addition of graphics, figures, and other visuals.
• Assist faculty with technical document development (i.e. formatting, bibliography management, familiarity with reference software, etc.)
• Coordinate and participate in peer (red team) reviews of proposals prior to finalization and submission.
• Collaborate with internal and external teams to adhere to and promote best practices for proposal management, including presenting and facilitating workshops or webinars, developing templates, boilerplates, and libraries to support submissions, proposal teams, and SIRO.
• Other duties as assigned.

The Multidisciplinary Proposal Developer will be highly engaged in team communications that occur throughout the proposal development process to ensure timely and effective submissions.

Desired Qualifications: Effective administrative, management, communication, and technical writing skills are essential in addition to the following:

• Knowledge of the federal procurement or grant process, policies, procedures, and standards for proposal development
• Experience in creating educational and resource materials and presentations (e.g., graphical presentation of data and concepts)
• Evidence in proficiency in software platforms required for proposal management (e.g., Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Suite, Zoom, etc.)
• Experience in managing multiple, diverse, complex projects

Work Arrangement: This position is eligible to work fully remotely within the US. Standard work times are in EST.

The Pennsylvania State University is committed to and accountable for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion inallits forms.We embrace individual uniqueness, foster a culture of inclusive excellence that supports both broad and specific diversity initiatives, leverage the educational and institutional benefits of diversity, and engage all individuals to help them thrive. We value inclusive excellence as a core strength and an essential element of our public service mission.

Penn State offers competitive benefits to full-time employees, including medical, dental, vision, and retirement plans, in addition to tuition discounts (75% discount for spouse and children), and paid holidays. Please visit https://hr.psu.edu/current-employee/benefits for more detailed information.

The salary range for this position, including all possible grades is:

Salary Structure - additional information on Penn State's job and salary structure.

CAMPUS SECURITY CRIME STATISTICS: