Manager, Proposal Development

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.

Reporting to the Assistant Director of Proposal Development, this position leads one of three FAS Proposal Development Teams and manages a team consisting of three to five members. This position provides expert proposal development and Just In Time support and guidance, strategy, and process development. This role also works effectively with all stakeholders to resolve complex research administration issues. 

Job-Specific Responsibilities:

• Provide overall leadership and supervision for a central-office based proposal development team (junior and senior staff) embedded within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, including workload planning, assignment of complex proposals, performance management, and professional development to ensure consistent, high-quality pre-award support across departments.

• Oversee the full pre-award proposal development lifecycle for the portfolio supported by the team, from opportunity identification and concept development through final submission and Just In Time (JIT), establishing standards, timelines, and review processes that ensure compliance with sponsor and institutional requirements.

• Serve as the primary central-office liaison to Divisionals and Departmental Leadership, PIs, and other central units (Office for Sponsored Programs (OSP), compliance, finance, and legal), resolving escalated policy and risk issues, and supporting the aligning of departmental proposal strategies with institutional research priorities.

• Develop, implement, and continuously refine proposal development policies, templates, tools, and metrics; analyze proposal volume, turnaround times, and success rates to identify gaps and drive process improvements, training initiatives, and resource allocation decisions.

• Direct and coordinate the team’s management of JIT actions and other time-sensitive sponsor requests for complex and high-risk proposals, ensuring consistent interpretation of requirements, rigorous quality control, and timely, accurate submissions across all supported department. 

• Directly engage in proposal development and JIT related work for a portfolio of departments.