Senior Research Development Specialist

Overview

The Office of the Vice Provost for Research (OVPR) supports and advances the research and scholarship enterprise at Tufts University through research administration, compliance oversight, strategic initiatives, and research development services. Within OVPR, the Strategic Research Development (SRD) team partners with faculty, staff, and university leadership to strengthen research funding competitiveness through proposal development, grantsmanship support, funding strategy, and research capacity-building initiatives. SRD supports investigators across disciplines, with a particular focus on helping researchers identify funding opportunities, develop competitive proposals, build collaborative teams, and pursue innovative, high-impact scholarship.Through strategic partnerships, funding intelligence, and proposal development expertise, SRD helps investigators compete successfully for external funding while advancing the university's research priorities. The team is committed to a collaborative, service-oriented approach and supports both early-career investigators and interdisciplinary research teams pursuing complex federal and non-federal funding opportunities.

What You'll Do

As a Senior Research Development Specialist, you will serve as a strategic partner to faculty, research teams, and university leaders in the development of highly competitive extramural funding proposals. Working across a broad range of disciplines, including science, social science, engineering, biomedical science, technology, and education, you will provide proposal development leadership, grantsmanship expertise, strategic guidance, and project management support. This role places particular emphasis on supporting early-career investigators and facilitating large, complex, interdisciplinary funding initiatives. The ideal candidate combines exceptional writing and grantsmanship skills with strategic thinking, strong organization, and the ability to build consensus among diverse stakeholders. They are comfortable managing multiple priorities in a deadline-driven environment and enjoy helping researchers transform innovative ideas into competitive funding opportunities.

Responsibilities include:

• Collaborate with individual investigators and multidisciplinary teams to develop highly competitive funding proposals through strategic planning, team building, partnership development, grantsmanship editing, and writing.
• Provide expert proposal development support and grantsmanship guidance for federal and non-federal funding opportunities across a broad range of disciplines.
• Advise investigators on funding strategies, sponsor priorities, agency expectations, and competitive positioning to strengthen proposal success.
• Support the development of large-scale, interdisciplinary, and multi-investigator proposals.
• Guide and support early-career investigators in developing competitive funding strategies and proposal development skills.
• Collaborate with partners across the university, including Research Administration, Corporate and Foundation Relations, Tisch Library, academic leadership, and other stakeholders to support faculty research objectives.
• Disseminate information regarding funding opportunities, sponsor priorities, and emerging trends in the research funding landscape.
• Lead special projects designed to strengthen research capacity, enhance funding competitiveness, and support institutional research priorities, including establishing goals, tracking outcomes, evaluating impact, and communicating results to university leadership.
• Foster connections among investigators, funding agencies, external partners, and university leadership to advance collaborative research opportunities.
• Mentor and support less experienced research development staff and interns.

What We're Looking For

Basic Requirements:
Knowledge and experience typically acquired by:

• Completion of a Master's degree.
• 5+ years of related experience in academic research, research development, grant-seeking, technical writing, or a related field. 
• Demonstrated experience supporting the development of competitive extramural funding proposals and research funding initiatives.
• Strong grantsmanship, editing, writing, and communication skills, with the ability to translate complex ideas into compelling proposals for diverse audiences. 
• Knowledge of federal and/or foundation funding agencies, sponsor priorities, and the research funding landscape. 
• Experience managing multiple concurrent projects, competing priorities, and proposal deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to build effective relationships and collaborate with faculty, researchers, administrators, and external stakeholders.
• Strong organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience using Microsoft Office applications, project management tools, and related technology platforms. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Direct experience working in a research development office at a research university, academic medical center, or similar research-intensive environment.
• At least two years of direct experience supporting individual investigators and faculty teams pursuing federal funding opportunities. 
• Experience supporting proposals submitted to federal agencies such as NIH, NSF, USDA, Department of Education, Department of Defense, USAID, Department of State, or other major research sponsors.
• Experience supporting large-scale, complex, interdisciplinary, or multi-investigator proposals.
• Experience advising early-career investigators on funding strategy, proposal development, and research advancement.
• Strong presentation, facilitation, public speaking, training, or workshop delivery skills. 
• Experience developing partnerships among researchers, institutional leaders, funding agencies, and external collaborators.

Pay Range

Minimum $74,000.00, Midpoint $92,500.00, Maximum $111,000.00

Salary is based on related experience, expertise, and internal equity; generally, new hires can expect pay between the minimum and midpoint of the range.