Career Center

Manager, Research Development - Institute of Energy & Environment

Office of Research, Innovation & Economic Development, Research Informatics

Exempt, Market Range 13

Job Summary/Essential Job Functions

The Research Development Manager will work with the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Innovation Initiatives (AVCRII) and Senior Director of Research Development towards achieving the university's goal of increasing cross-disciplinary research, scholarship, and education through a combination of extramural funding, meaningful industry partnerships and engagement, and technology development. The RD manager will plan, implement, and oversee research initiatives in support of the IEE Gateway and related activities. The RD Manager will provide support to faculty research programs and teams, identify strategic funding and research opportunities matching these to faculty expertise, liaise with the Research Development team to provide grant proposal support for new research initiatives in the broad areas of energy and environment, coordinate and lead team-building activities across research, scholarship, and education disciplines to facilitate the growth and sustainability of trans-disciplinary engagement across UT, lead in the tracking and evaluation of outcomes and implement strategic response(s)/changes when necessary, and work with the AVCRII and Senior Director to build new partnerships for research, scholarly activities, and industry-associated activities.

Duties and Responsibilities

Team Building & Proposal Development

* Works independently to provide personalized consultation, strategy development, and substantive guidance to faculty teams to support their research, scholarship, and creative activities in areas aligned with UTK's Institute for Energy and Environment Innovation Gateway. Provides consultations for single opportunities or long-term, multi-agency funding strategies.

* On large or complex proposals, provides comprehensive proposal development support, including overall project management, writing and editing proposal content, organizing red team reviews, managing document collection, and coordinating with other support team members to ensure all required documents are complete, compliant, and responsive prior to proposal deadline.

* On smaller proposals, provides iterative, substantive edits to improve the strength of the proposal narrative, as well as advice on navigating additional requirements, internal processes, and other resources available to faculty.

* Ensures return on investment of UT's Energy and Environment Innovation Gateway seed funds by providing proposal guidance and ongoing collaborative assistance to internal seed grant awardees to leverage internal funding into external awards.

Programs, Events, and Training

* Manages one or more programs designed to build faculty collaborations (e.g., SPARKS-IEE, Community of Scholars) and strengthens faculty skills related to external funding (e.g., team building, proposal writing).

* Gathers and interprets new developments in federal and foundation funding guidelines and priorities to design and deliver workshops and presentations on topics related, but not limited, to general and sponsor-specific proposal development.

* Upon request, designs customized programming in support of the IEE Gateway.

Portfolio Management and Special Projects

* Manages one or more Innovation Gateway research and scholarship portfolios, including with respect to funding, community partnerships, and industry collaborations;

* Serves as first point of contact for potential applicants; maintaining awareness of sponsor operations, changes, and budget trends; communicating relevant opportunities and information to UT faculty; providing information sessions and trainings about the sponsor; engaging with program officials; etc. Portfolio content is independently developed and maintained by the Manager and determined by specific faculty interests and needs.

* As appropriate, may manage other mission-critical activities (e.g., communications, internal funding).

* Work with the AVCRII and Senior Director to develop ideas and innovations in research to propose to external partners of UT. Present ideas to researchers to build partnerships and follow through with the completion of innovations with, but not limited to, foundations, industry, and energy and environment systems.

Required knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Knowledge of University systems, as well as general research administration and/or research development concepts/procedures in an academic medical research or higher education environment;

Strong interpersonal skills, as well as the ability to work with a broad range of people including faculty, research scientists, administrators, industry partners, and community organizations;

Excellent organizational and planning skills; leadership ability to manage multiple projects and work assignments with competing deadlines;

Proven ability to handle confidential information with discretion, be adaptable to various competing demands, and demonstrate the highest level of customer/client service and response;

Forward-thinking mentality, actively seeking opportunities and proposing creative solutions with strong decision-making capability;

Demonstrated ability to achieve high performance goals and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment;

Proficiency using the Microsoft Office suite. Preferred experience with database development and management software tools.

Preferred knowledge, skills, and abilities

Skilled with computerized databases

Be knowledgeable and experienced with engineering, agriculture, environmental, and/ or social sciences research