Director, Grant Management

Cure Alzheimer's Fund; Wellesley (MA); Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Cure Alzheimer’s Fund is seeking a Director of Grant Management to own the end-to-end grant cycle, from identifying researchers to tracking progress post-award. This role emphasizes data-driven, unbiased decision-making within an externally advised framework and requires agile collaboration with a remote-friendly team.

The ideal candidate will have a PhD in neurodegenerative disease, strong communication skills, and a proven ability to build researcher relationships while guiding applications

Qualifications

• PhD in neurodegenerative disease required or MS with commensurate experience.
• 1–3 years of relevant professional experience following graduate training.
• Experience in neuroscience research landscape preferred.
• Strong written and verbal communication; ability to translate science for diverse audiences.

Responsibilities

• Identify researchers with transformative ideas and recruit aligned with CureAlz priorities.
• Guide LOI and full proposal submission, review and reporting process for applicants.
• Coordinate expert peer review and ensure rigorous, unbiased evaluation.
• Track progress post-award and surface notable findings or challenges to the team.
• Lead high-visibility programs and initiatives aligned with institutional history and mission.

Skills

Communication skills

Relationship building

Remote work capable

Travel up to 15%

Education

PhD in neurodegenerative disease

MS or equivalent considered

Job description

Position can be Hybrid or Remote (US based with ET or CT time zone preferred)

Position Overview:

The Director, Grant Management, is an individual contributor to the Research Management team. The role promotes process improvements within established protocols and owns the end-to-end grant cycle: identifying researchers with transformative ideas, guiding them through application and submission, coordinating expert peer review, and tracking the progress and impact of supported work. Scientific funding decisions are made exclusively by an external panel of scientific research advisors and reviewers. The Director serves as a critical partner, synthesizing data and managing processes to enable the most informed, rigorous, and unbiased decision-making possible working within the strategic direction set by CureAlz leadership.

Our grant management model is intentionally responsive to the evolving needs of the scientific community. Success in this role requires a candidate with a genuine love for science and scientific engagement, is creative and thrives in a dynamic environment that builds flexible, solution-oriented processes, and has strong organizational skills. The Director, Grant Management, must share this philosophy and demonstrate a track record of building researcher relationships through collaboration and scientific respect.

Responsibilities

Strategic Grant Lifecycle Management

• Recruitment and Identification: Proactively identify research directions and recruit researchers with strong potential, aligned with CureAlz's scientific priorities.
• Application Guidance: Serve as a knowledgeable, responsive, and trusted point of contact for applicants, guiding them through the Letter of Intent (LOI) and full proposal submission, review and reporting process.
• Peer Review Coordination: Match submitted proposals with expert scientific reviewers; facilitate the review process with attention to both scientific rigor and relationship management.
• Post-Award Stewardship: Track research progress post-award; surface notable findings, challenges, or opportunities to the team.
• Portfolio Development: Lead high-visibility programs and initiatives, ensuring they are managed with care, align with institutional history, and are mission-focused.

Portfolio Intelligence and Strategic Synthesis

• Pattern Recognition: Regularly review incoming applications and the overall portfolio to identify emerging scientific patterns, methodological similarities, redundancies, or gaps.
• Strategic Summarization: Synthesize observations into clear, actionable summaries for the research team, leadership, and external stakeholders (e.g. Board, donors, advisors).
• Data-Driven Insights: Translate complex portfolio data into narrative insights that frame our investment impact and inform future strategic direction.

Scientific Engagement and External Representation

• Community Building: Identify and connect scientists whose work would benefit from cross-pollination. Facilitate collaborations and consortium connections to amplify impact.
• Landscape Monitoring: Stay current with evolving Alzheimer's landscape (basic, translational, and clinical); synthesize developments from conferences, publications, and the scientific press for presentation to internal teams.
• Ambassadorship: Represent CureAlz at scientific conferences and meetings, building relationships grounded in trust and our collaborative ethos.
• Communication: Translate complex science for diverse audiences, including staff colleagues, donors, scientific reviewers, and the broader AD research community, via writing, verbal communication, and presentations. Actively promote accurate scientific information while identifying and debunking misinformation to ensure the community is equipped with reliable, evidence-based knowledge.

Cross-Functional Collaboration and Process Excellence

• Coordinate closely with Research and Business Services teams to ensure seamless handoff between programmatic and operational functions.
• Partner with Philanthropy, Marketing and Communications teams to support donor engagement, scientific storytelling, and the creation of high-impact materials.
• Identify opportunities to refine internal workflows for efficiency and adapt them accordingly to the evolving needs of the scientific community. Drive continuous improvement by proposing ideas and updates to leadership, fostering a culture of agility and innovation.
• Shares best practices for research management, reviewer selection, and relationship building.

Qualifications

• PhD in a specialty relevant to neurodegenerative disease (preferred); MS or equivalent advanced degree considered with commensurate experience.
• 1- 3 years of relevant professional experience following graduate training. Candidates should demonstrate growing responsibility, managing projects, and ability to operate with a moderate degree of autonomy.
• Familiarity with the Alzheimer's disease research landscape and diverse methods in neuroscience, including recent technological advances (preferred).
• Demonstrated ability to build and sustain trusted relationships with external partners and internal colleagues.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex science for lay and expert audiences alike. Examples of writing or recorded talks may be requested.
• Sound judgement, including the ability to read context, honor long-standing relationships, and exercise appropriate discretion.
• Strong organizational skills with ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities accurately and professionally in a remote environment.
• Comfort with remote work and building professional relationships at a distance; flexibility to adapt to the evolving needs of a dynamic organization supporting science; capacity for pre-planned domestic and international travel (up to 15%), primarily to scientific conferences, team meetings and donor events.
• Compassion and genuine commitment to the mission of ending Alzheimer's disease.
• A genuine orientation toward prioritizing collaborative relationships. We believe a productive workplace is built on mutual respect and a shared commitment. We seek someone who finds deep purpose in our mission while actively contributing to a supportive, balanced, and inclusive work environment.

Salary and Benefits:

The salary range for this position is $85,000 - 110,000 and represents the base pay the organization expects to offer for this role at the time of posting. Actual compensation will depend on a variety of factors, including but not limited to relevant experience, skills, qualifications, and geographic location.

CureAlz also offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, life & disability insurances, 401k retirement plan, and paid time off. This pay range and benefits information is being provided in accordance with applicable state and local pay transparency laws.

Equal Employment Opportunity & E-Verify:

Alzheimer’s disease affects people from all backgrounds. CureAlz similarly encourages applications from people of all backgrounds and will evaluate each applicant without regard to race, ethnicity, country of origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, genetic information (including family medical history), physical ability, or length of time spent unemployed.

CureAlz participates in E-Verify and as a US-based foundation, we adhere to all US employment legal requirements. We are unfortunately unable to sponsor immigration applications or work visas.

About Cure Alzheimer’s Fund:

Cure Alzheimer’s Fund is dedicated to funding research with the highest potential to prevent, slow, and ultimately cure Alzheimer’s disease. Our Research Management team ensures our funded portfolio meets mission goals, provides external scientific leadership with the information needed for optimal decision-making, keeps our donor community and the public well-informed of our impact and why scientific research and communication matters.

CureAlz operates on the foundational belief that the best science emerges from trust and genuine partnership with our research community. We prioritize collaboration and scientific respect and rigor, ensuring our administrative processes thoroughly serve the best science driven to ending Alzheimer’s disease. To learn more about us visit https://curealz.org/.