Research Development Officer, Division of Research & Innovation

Wayne State University is searching for an experienced Research Development Officer, Division of Research & Innovation at its Detroit campus location.

Wayne State is a premier, public, urban research university located in the heart of Detroit, Michigan where students from all backgrounds are offered a rich, high-quality education. Our deep-rooted commitment to excellence, collaboration, integrity, diversity and inclusion creates exceptional educational opportunities which prepare students for success in a global society.

The Research Development (RD) Officer will be a member of the Research Development team in the Division of Research & Innovation (DORI) reporting to the Assistant Vice President for Research. The Office of Research Development (ORD) empowers Wayne State University faculty and researchers to pursue bold, competitive funding opportunities that advance discovery and impact. Through proposal development support, strategic partnership building, and faculty recognition initiatives, ORD provides the infrastructure and expertise researchers need to compete successfully for external funding, helping WSU strengthen its standing as an urban R1 research institution committed to excellence and community impact.

Project management on large-scale proposals: work with faculty and staff teams to develop well-organized, polished, competitive grant proposals that are responsive to funder requests.

Related activities include, but are not limited to:

• Providing grantsmanship guidance.
• Establishing a timeline for items required for proposal submission.
• Drafting templates for proposal and supporting documents.
• Coordinating and collecting required materials from external partners and stakeholders.
• Organizing and running red team reviews.
• Facilitating connections to external partners and partnership management.

Develop programming and resources for faculty and staff, such as toolkits, workshops, mentoring programs, etc. with the goal of helping position teams for success in pursuing external research funding.

Work with AVP on forecasting and strategic planning for proactively responding to large-scale funding opportunities.

Track federal funding opportunities and work with the Communications team to advertise those that are relevant to the WSU community. Work with WSU’s government relations firm on strategic opportunity discovery and matching.

Perform other related duties as assigned.

Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. Ph.D. or other advanced degree preferred.

Expert (established subject matter expert, 7+ years’ experience).

7+ years' experience in Research Development, proposal development, and/or grant writing in higher education or master’s degree with 5+ years' experience in Research Development, proposal development, and/or grant writing in higher education.

Experience in grant proposal development and scholarly writing and editing preferred.

Demonstrated success working with teams to submit large-scale proposals (>$5 million) preferred.

Training and/or experience in a variety of participatory facilitation practices (e.g., Strategic Doing, Liberating Structures, Ideas Labs, design sprints, or other facilitation methods and tools) that invite participants to share diverse perspectives/ideas and develop a shared vision preferred.

Significant experience with conduct and/or management of sponsored research, e.g., familiarity with funders and/or funding mechanisms, peer review, federal merit review processes, etc.

Program/project management experience with demonstrated ability to carry out projects to completion.

Experience with administrative…