Assistant Director, Proposal Development

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Financial Administration (FAD) is dedicated to advancing Harvard University’s teaching and research mission by stewarding its resources; providing support, guidance, and consultation; ensuring compliance with university and federal guidelines; mitigating risk; pursuing operational excellence; and promoting the financial health of the University.

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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.

The Assistant Director, Proposal Development oversees three managers, each leading a team of proposal development staff, and reports to the Senior Director of Pre‑Award in OSP. The Assistant Director leads school‑ and department‑level pre‑award efforts across the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), setting standards, priorities, and expectations for proposal development and Just‑in‑Time (JIT). In partnership with the Senior Director, the Assistant Director provides leadership, builds community, and evaluates, designs, and refines team structure, workflows, business processes, and resource allocation across the school‑ and department‑level pre‑award lifecycle.

• Provide strategic leadership and supervision for an OSP‑based proposal development team embedded in FAS, including developing long‑term strategy and business objectives, workload planning, assignment of complex proposals, performance management, and staff development to deliver consistent, high quality proposal development and pre‑award support. Serve as a recognized subject matter expert and thought leader in research administration.
• Oversee the full pre‑award lifecycle for the team’s portfolio, from concept development through final submission and sponsor‑required pre‑award actions including JIT, setting standards, timelines, and review processes that ensure compliance with sponsor, school, and University requirements.
• Serve as primary central office liaison to FAS research administration leadership and central partners (e.g., OSP, OVPR, OGC, OTD), resolving escalated policy and risk issues and aligning proposal and pre‑award strategies with institutional research priorities. Represent the school / department / university to senior FAS leadership and external groups and collaborate with management and university partners to develop initiatives and processes.
• Develop, implement, and refine proposal development policies, templates, tools, and metrics; analyze proposal volume, turnaround times, pre‑award activity, and success rates to identify gaps and drive process improvements, training, and resource allocation decisions.
• Direct and coordinate the team’s management of pre‑award operations, actions and other time sensitive sponsor…