Senior Associate Director of Research and Sponsored Programs

ABOUT SIMMONS

Located in Boston’s historic Fenway area, Simmons has a strong tradition of empowering women and challenging traditional gender roles. Simmons University was one of the first higher education institutions to prepare women to become leaders and has evolved to become a university offering a women’s undergraduate program and graduate programs open to all.

You’re joining our community at an especially exciting time as one of our strategic goals is to become the most inclusive campus in New England. You’ll find that people who work here are truly committed to our mission of preparing students to become champions of social justice and leaders in their professions and their communities. This commitment and pride make for a dynamic workplace. Simmons University is committed to inclusive excellence in all aspects of an individual’s community experience.

As a university committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups. Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices–at all levels, for all positions–ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience. Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum.

JOB SUMMARY

The Senior Associate Director of Research and Sponsored Programs is an exciting opportunity to provide broad support for faculty research, scholarship, and creative works, including both grant writing and professional development, as part of the Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE). Reporting to and collaborating closely with the Executive Director, the Senior Associate Director will help develop and enact a vision for supporting faculty in this area.

This is a unique opportunity for a professional with a strong background in sponsored programs or grant support to lead support for faculty research and scholarship. Responsibilities include oversight of traditional Sponsored Program activities, including developing a comprehensive understanding of faculty scholarly and creative agendas, identifying sources of sponsored research, supporting faculty in the preparation and submission of persuasive and compelling proposals, and ensuring quality operations and regulatory compliance. In addition, the Senior Associate Director has oversight over scholarship-focused faculty development programs and the IRB process. This is a campus-based position that is eligible for partial remote work.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.

• Collaborate with the Executive Director, senior academic leadership, and key CFE staff to develop a strategic vision for supporting faculty research, scholarship, and creative works;
• Serve as the University’s primary point person for Sponsored Programs, including providing leadership and expertise to continuously improve submission and compliance processes;
• Develop and maintain an understanding and records of faculty scholarly and creative agendas;
• Provide guidance and support for faculty in all aspects of identifying sources of funding, including training and support for Pivot software, and grant proposal development for external grants and programs;
• Manage and oversee all aspects of the pre-award process, including but not limited to: oversight of the internal approval process through InfoReady, approval and submissions compliance, budget preparation and justification, supporting documentation, and required institutional information;
• Serve as the institutional signatory, and provide leadership in review and negotiation of institutional agreements governing sponsored projects;
• Oversee post-award processes and compliance, including approving expenses, submitting amendments and no-cost extensions, and assisting with and approving financial reports, ensuring that post-award accounting and reporting is compliant. Communicate regularly with the Controller’s office on post-award management and accounting; including reviewing the work of the post-award specialist, facilitating award set-up, internal reporting, supporting collaborative relationship-management with and training for faculty, and monitoring and supporting any required external reporting;
• Manage all aspects of research compliance for the university: analyze and interpret policies and procedures relevant to research administration and expertise, ensuring compliance with regulatory policies governing research involving human subjects and conflicts of interest; including overseeing Simmons University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB);
• Responsible for the overall institutional compliance and registrations, as required for federal funding recipients;
• Monitor developments and trends in federal and state agencies as they impact funding regulations, policies or guidelines; serve as the University liaison to agencies as needed;
• In collaboration with the CFE Executive Director, and as bandwidth allows, design and implement professional development programs related to research and sponsored programs for faculty across disciplines, following the Guiding Principles of the CFE.
• Oversee and coordinate the University-wide collection and communication of data on faculty research, such as annual reporting on externally-awarded grants and/or faculty publications;
• Collaborate with the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations, steward grant-makers, and help promote Simmons University research outcomes to the public;
• Collaborate with the Provost’s office to organize recognition events related to faculty scholarship;
• Supervise full and/or part-time staff as assigned.

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Other duties as assigned.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university;
• Minimum of five years of higher education professional experience in faculty research support and/or sponsored programs;
• Familiarity and applied experience with all types of award mechanisms, including but not limited to, grant writing, contracts, sub-contracts, cooperative agreements and compliance reporting;
• Demonstrated pre-award management experience, including proposal development and completion of budget forms;
• Experience with federal agencies, such as NIH, NSF, and/or NEH;
• Extensive experience with the operational and financial management of sponsored research grants;
• Knowledge and understanding of regulations regarding research integrity and financial conflict of interest;
• Superb skills and significant experience with project management, data collection and management, and developing and implementing a communication plan.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s degree from an accredited four-year college or university;
• At least three years’ experience with sponsored programs in an academic setting involving both federal and non-federal funding agencies;
• Experience with developing professional development programming for faculty research;
• Experience overseeing an internal IRB process;
• Supervisory experience.

COMPETENCIES

• Demonstrated ability in cultivating collaborative relationships with a diverse campus community, including faculty, senior administrators, and other campus partners as well as external constituents;
• Strong quantitative, analytic and problem-solving skills to assess all aspects of a situation and make appropriate and timely decisions;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills;
• Highly organized and attention to detail.

WORK ENVIRONMENT & CONDITIONS/PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• This is an on-campus position that is eligible for a partial remote work arrangement.
• 12-month position, 40 hours/week.
• Office environment.
• Essential physical requirements including typing and light physical effort/lifting (up to 10 pounds).
• Work is primarily during business hours but occasional work on evenings or weekends may be needed to meet grant deadlines.
• Travel requirements include occasional travel to professional conferences.

Instructions to Applicants: Please upload all applicable application materials (e.g. resume/cv, cover letter, writing sample, teaching philosophy, etc.) in the Application Materials box on page 2 ("My Experience") of this application. Documents can be uploaded individually or as a combined document (e.g. PDF).