Senior Proposal Development Manager

The Office for Sponsored Programs is a department within Harvard University’s Financial Administration (FAD) that is focused on providing high-quality administrative and financial assistance to faculty and other University affiliates performing sponsored research. OSP works with researchers and schools across Harvard to help obtain and negotiate awards from sponsoring agencies, assist with grant proposal preparation, ensure compliance with federal regulations and University policies, provide financial support including financial reporting and billing and collection services, assist with audits, and promote knowledge of sponsored research administration throughout the University research community through training and other educational programs. 

This position is responsible for pre-award management for a portfolio of faculty sponsored and non-sponsored research funding. The portfolio is of high complexity. Working under the direction of the Manager of Proposal Development and providing support to junior team members, this position is also responsible for ensuring compliance with key sponsor and university regulations, including those of federal sponsors.  

Job-Specific Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic guidance for the department's approach to proposal development and long-range proposal planning; shape proposal concepts to support enhancing competitiveness.  

• Lead and oversee development of complex, multi-PI, multi-site, and center-level proposals, including creation and negotiation of detailed budgets, subaward and consortium agreements, and specialized compliance plans; coordinate contributions from faculty, departmental staff, and central offices to ensure high-quality, on-time submissions.  

• Interpret complex and evolving funding announcements and sponsor policies; develop and disseminate departmental guidance, decision tools, and timelines that translate requirements into clear expectations and workflows for faculty and support staff.  

• Serve as the senior departmental liaison to the Office for Sponsored Programs (OSP) and other central units (compliance, finance, legal), independently resolving nuanced policy and risk issues and escalating truly complex matters; represent the department in institutional workgroups focused on pre-award policy and process improvement.  

• Provide oversight of proposal data integrity and workflow in institutional research administration systems, identifying patterns of delay or non-compliance; design and implement process enhancements and metrics dashboards to improve proposal volume, quality, and success rates.  

• Direct and prioritize departmental response to Just-in-Time (JIT) requests for complex and high-risk proposals, interpreting sponsor requirements, advising PIs on strategic disclosures (e.g., Other Support, overlap, effort commitments), and coordinating with compliance offices to mitigate institutional and PI risk.  

• Oversee the end-to-end JIT workflow for the department's complex awards; establish JIT standards and checklists, train others in their use, and monitor performance and compliance metrics to ensure timely, accurate, and policy-compliant JIT submissions.