Proposal Development Specialist

About the role

The Proposal Development Specialist will collaborate with faculty in the College of Science (COS), Virginia Tech, and external partners to support proposal writing from the identification of opportunities through development and submission. Reporting to the Associate Dean for Research, this individual will work with stakeholders to support competitive federal research proposals, training grants, instrumentation proposals, and center-scale submissions, as well as proposals to foundations, industry, and state and local sponsors.

The Specialist's role is to assist with communication, organization, coordination, and compliance with sponsor requirements. The Specialist works closely with the College's pre-award and post-award grants administrators, who handle budget preparation, financial compliance, and award management, and supports COS-affiliated research centers and institutes in pursuit of external funding opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Preparation of non-technical proposal documents (project summaries, facilities and resources, data management plans, mentoring plans, management plans)
• Identifying and analyzing funding opportunities
• Coordinating and facilitating the work of proposal writing teams
• Developing and offering training sessions to enhance proposal-writing capacity across COS
• Partnering with stakeholders to prepare and manage a consistent, year-round pipeline of letters of intent, proposals, presentations, briefings, and progress/impact reports to local, state, federal, corporate, and foundation funding sources

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in a science, engineering, communications, English, technical writing, or related field; or an equivalent combination of education and professional experience in research administration, grant writing, scientific editing, or a closely related field
• Experience writing, editing, or supporting externally funded proposals, research publications, or comparable technical documents
• Demonstrated record of strong writing and editing skills, with the ability to engage with scientific content and communicate it clearly to varied audiences
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, function well under the pressure of deadlines, and manage multiple, diverse projects simultaneously
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; ability to collaborate effectively with faculty, administrators, grants administrators, and external partners
• Proficiency with standard office software, including Microsoft Office and collaborative document platforms

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduate degree in a science, engineering, or related discipline
• Experience with federal, foundation, or corporate grant writing, particularly in the natural or physical sciences, mathematics, or computing
• Direct familiarity with NSF, NIH, DOE, DOD, NASA, or DARPA proposal requirements and sponsor systems (e.g., Research.gov, Grants.gov, eRA Commons, PAMS)
• Experience supporting center-scale proposals, Limited Submissions, or institutional proposal reviews at a research university or national laboratory
• Familiarity with the division of responsibilities between proposal development, pre-award administration, and post-award administration in a university setting
• Experience with web-based research tools and funding opportunity databases (e.g., Pivot, Grant Forward, SPIN, InfoReady)

Pay and Schedule

Pay Band 5, starting at $75,000 commensurate with experience. This is an exempt position, scheduled for 40 hours per week, with additional hours as needed.