Associate Director for Sponsored Research

Overview

Smith College has an opening for an Associate Director of Sponsored Research on the Grants and Sponsored Research team. The Associate Director is the primary contact at Smith for pre-award sponsored research administration. As a liberal arts college with a diverse, dynamic, and research-active faculty, Smith offers an environment in which you can build close working relationships with faculty, develop project management and leadership skills, and contribute to strengthening research that directly benefits undergraduates.

This is a great opportunity for someone who enjoys and has proven experience:

• Working with faculty at all career stages to develop, review and submit proposals to federal and state funders, including but not limited to the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and U.S. Departments of Energy and Education

• Preparing subaward materials when another institution is the lead applicant and Smith faculty are collaborators on a grant

• Partnering with other Grants and Sponsored Research colleagues and the Associate Provost to monitor and respond to changing research compliance requirements 

• Developing resources to assist faculty in learning federal grant submission procedures and preparing competitive proposals.

Job Summary

As a member of the Grants and Sponsored Research (GSR) team, the Associate Director serves as Smith College’s principal pre-award sponsored research officer, overseeing the acquisition of external federal research grants. Assist faculty with the preparation of budgets, project descriptions, and supporting documentation for all pre-grant and pre-contract faculty research activities, helping to ensure that proposals comply with sponsoring agency regulations. Develop proposal and subaward review and submission procedures, interact with internal and external entities, and align proposals with college and grantor regulations and laws. Serve as the primary GSR reviewer for federal and state proposals of considerable complexity, requiring independent judgment, initiative, and extensive knowledge of the organization, accounting, and policies and procedures of the various federal, state and local agencies. Develop and refine training programs and written/web resources for faculty grant-seekers. Serve as a secondary contact for and reviewer of complex institutional grant proposals. Partner with campus stakeholders to educate the campus community about sponsored research policies and procedures. Partner with the Assistant Director of Grants Administration to ensure seamless transition to post-award management.

Take appropriate actions to support a diverse workforce and participate in the College's efforts to create a respectful, inclusive, and welcoming work environment.