Vice Provost - Research Development

Vice Provost for Research Development

The Vice Provost for Research Development (VPRD) reports to the Senior Vice Provost for Research (SVPR) and holds a strategic leadership role within the university research enterprise. The VPRD will partner with the SVPR and the university research community to advance two strategic imperatives: leaping ahead in global reputation and impact as a global research university system and achieving $350 million in annual research funding by the end of fiscal year 2027, and $500 million by the end of fiscal year 2030.

The VPRD will work with the SVPR and other senior administrators to ensure that staffing, systems, and programs for research development meet the current and future needs of Northeastern as an RI research institution. The VPRD will be the primary driver for identifying and disseminating opportunities aligned with the university's strategic research priorities and supporting individual faculty and teams to advance competitive submissions.

This leader will optimize and manage a research development enterprise that meets or exceeds the standards and performance of a top-tier research university and facilitates enhanced levels and quality of funding submissions to diversified sources.

The VPRD will represent the SVPR and/or the University at meetings, functions, and events as requested.

• Develop and execute a comprehensive research development strategy aligned with Northeastern's $500M funding goal and global research reputation objectives.
• Build and sustain networks across the university—including the Colleges, Institutes, and the University Network — to increase the quality, efficiency, and scale of the research enterprise.
• Coalesce faculty across disciplines around large-scale center grants and multi-investigator proposals, identifying strategic opportunities for coordinated pursuit of major funding vehicles (e.g., NSF centers, NIH P-series, DOE and DOD large programs).
• Monitor national funding trends and agency priorities, translating that intelligence into actionable opportunities for faculty and research teams.
• Leverage Northeastern's presence in London and Dublin to pursue Horizon Europe and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding opportunities, coordinating with campus leadership on eligible partnerships and lead institution arrangements
• Diversify and strengthen the resilience of Northeastern's funding portfolio by promoting industry partnerships and supporting faculty-led consortia spanning university, industry, government, and foundation sectors.
• Partner with Government Relations to coordinate federal appropriation requests and programmatic funding increases, ensuring alignment between congressional engagement strategies and the university's research development priorities.

The VPRD will represent the SVPR and/or the University at meetings, functions, and events as requested.

• Lead, develop, and manage the research development team, establishing clear workload expectations, role definitions, and professional development pathways.
• Design and implement a performance management framework with defined KPIs and metrics for research development staff, including proposal submission rates, win rates, award volumes, and faculty engagement.
• Conduct regular performance reviews, provide ongoing coaching, and hold staff accountable to productivity and quality standards.
• Assess staffing capacity against institutional goals and make recommendations for team structure and resource allocation.

• Cultivate strong relationships with faculty across colleges and research institutes, serving as a trusted partner in identifying and pursuing major funding opportunities.
• Lead or support the development of large, complex proposals, including coordinating across multiple investigators, institutions, and disciplines.
• Facilitate faculty coalitions around strategic research themes, center grant opportunities, and signature research initiatives with the potential for transformative institutional impact.
• Coordinate Northeastern's institutional responses to federal Requests for…