Proposal Development Specialist

Children's National Hospital; Silver Spring (MD); On-site; USD 58,000 - 109,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health coverage

Generous paid time off

401(k) plan with match

Employer-paid life, AD&D, long-termDis

Tuition assistance and wellness perks

Commuter benefits and more

Job summary

Children's National Hospital in Silver Spring, MD is seeking a Proposal Development Specialist I to facilitate sponsored research proposals for faculty and staff. You will develop budgets, supporting documentation, and ensure compliance with sponsor requirements and internal policies.

This role coordinates with pre-award teams, manages timelines, and supports post-award transitions, with emphasis on accuracy, communication, and teamwork.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education, training and experience.
• 1 year grants, contracts, finance, and budget-related experience in a healthcare, academic, research or corporate setting.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office tools (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Teams), Adobe, and internal application systems used to support research operations.
• Strong problem-solving, attention to detail, and highly organized work style.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and ability to work across teams.

Responsibilities

• Initiates pre-application meetings with Principal Investigators to discuss Funding Opportunity Announcements and creates proposal timelines.
• Acts as liaison between the Proposal Development team, Grants and Contracts Pre-Award team and Principal Investigators to ensure requirements and deadlines are met.
• Collaborates with other Proposal Development team members to support CRI proposals.
• Ensures the smooth transition of awarded proposals to post-award team through communication and record keeping.
• Verifies compliance training for COI and other required certificates are up to date for faculty.
• Performs related responsibilities as required.
• Assists investigators by answering questions regarding sponsors, funding opportunities and the proposal development process.
• Manages pre-award activities for assigned proposals using grant management rules, technical expertise, and analytical skills.
• Reviews funding announcements in detail to ensure investigators meet sponsor requirements.
• Develops budgets and budget justifications and verifies financial information, including F&A and fringe rates.
• Coordinates and reviews proposal elements for formatting, accuracy, and sponsor guidelines.
• Facilitates and monitors proposals through routing and approval processes in compliance with CRI procedures.
• Monitors proposal statuses and advises Investigators on deadlines; escalates if needed.

Skills

Computers and security-focused tools

Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPo

Critical thinking

Funding opportunity analysis (RFA/RFP/

Verbal and written communication

Education

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent

Tools

BearGrants

Job description

1 Inventa PlaceSilver Spring, MD 20910

Kids Are Our Everything.

Department

10422 Proposal Development

Pay Range

$57,969.60 - $108,555.20

Proposal Development Specialist I facilitate the preparation of sponsored research proposals on behalf of Children’s National faculty and staff. Responsibilities include developing budgets and supporting documentation, and ensuring that proposal is compliant with sponsor requirements and internal policies and timelines. In addition, PDS I facilitate all sponsor requirements and requests up until the Notice of Award is received.

Minimum Education
Bachelors Degree or equivalent combination of education, training and experience. (Preferred)

Minimum Work Experience
1 year Grants, contracts, finance, and budget-related experience in a healthcare, academic, research or corporate setting. (Preferred)

Required Skills/Knowledge

• Use of computers and web-based applications in a security-focused environment.

• Use of Microsoft Office tools (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Teams), Adobe, and internal application systems used to support research operations.

• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Gives attention to detail and is highly organized.

• Ability to analyze and interpret various funding opportunity announcements (RFA, RFP, FOA) from sponsor agencies including NIH, FDA, DoD, State and local government agencies, and foundations.

• Excellent verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills. Ability to work as part of a team including working well with faculty, staff and across multiple teams to accomplish goals.

Functional Accountabilities
Research Support Services

• Initiates pre-application meetings with Principal Investigators to discuss Funding Opportunity Announcements and creates proposal specific timelines for complex/large grant submissions or for new/junior faculty who may need additional support.

• Acts as liaison between the Proposal Development team, Grants and Contracts Pre-Award team and Principal Investigators to ensure that all requirements and deadlines are met.

• Collaborates with other Proposal Development team members to ensure exceptional and uniform support of all CRI proposals.

• Ensures the smooth transition of awarded proposals to post-award team through communication and detailed record keeping.

• Verifies compliance training for COI and other required certificates are up to date for faculty.

• Performs related responsibilities as required.

Proposal Development & JIT

• Assists investigators by answering questions regarding sponsors, funding opportunities and the proposal development process.

• Manages pre-award activities for assigned proposals using knowledge of grant management rules and regulations, technical expertise, and analytical skills.

• Reviews funding announcements in detail. Ensures that Investigators are aware of any unique/unusual requirements.

• Completes responsibilities matrices and communicates deadlines and required deliverables to all members of team.

• Develops budgets and budget justifications which includes proofing budgets for inconsistencies and ensuring accuracy. Ensures that budgets are consistent with sponsor and CRI requirements; verifies all financial information to including application of appropriate F&A and fringe rates.

• Coordinates and reviews certain proposal elements for consistency in formatting, accuracy, and completeness. Reviews proposal for consistency with sponsor guidelines on budget, format, font size, and page limits.

• Collaborates with investigators and pre-award staff at external institutions to secure necessary sub-award documents for proposal.

• Ensures proposals are entered correctly into CRI systems (BearGrants) and grant proposal portals or application systems.

• Facilitates and monitors proposals through the routing and approval process in compliance with CRI procedures and securing appropriate sign offs.

• Monitors proposal statuses and advises Principal Investigators on requirements and deadlines. Escalates to Manager if deadlines are not met.

• Facilitates Just-In-Time requests including development of other support documents.

Responsible Conduct of Research

• Consistently demonstrates adherence to the standards for the responsible conduct of research.

• Uses research funds and resources appropriately.

• Maintains confidentiality of data as required.

• Meets all annual job-related training and compliance requirements.

What You’ll Receive:

• Comprehensive health coverage, including medical, prescription, infertility, and transgender health services.

• Generous paid time off, including vacation accrual from

• day one, sick leave, holidays, and a personal day.

• Financial wellness support, including a 401(k) plan and healthcare and dependent care spending accounts.

• Employer-paid life, AD&D, and long-term disability coverage, with optional supplemental plans.

• Additional perks, including tuition assistance, fitness resources, employee assistance, commuter benefits, and more.

Why Join Us:

• Nationally Recognized Excellence – Consistently ranked among the Top 10 Children’s Hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.

• Leading Pediatric Care – One of the largest and most comprehensive children’s hospitals in the country, offering nationally ranked specialties and cutting-edge treatments.

• Innovation & Research – A premier academic medical center with a strong commitment to pediatric research, education, and advancing the future of child health.

• Mission-Driven Culture – Dedicated to providing family-centered care while fostering a collaborative, supportive environment for clinical teams.

The disclosed salary range includes the minimum and maximum rates within which Children’s National believes an individual’s base pay rate will fall for this position. It is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the maximum of the pay range. The exact pay rate for this position will be based on a variety of factors in alignment with the Children’s National compensation philosophy. These factors are legitimate and non-discriminatory including, but not limited to, the current market conditions; organizational needs; the individual’s combination of prior work experience, level of education, knowledge, skills, and other qualifications. Children’s National is committed to providing a fair and competitive total rewards package to each of our employees. This base salary range does not include our comprehensive benefits package or any additional compensation for which this position may be eligible. Childrens National Hospital is an equal opportunity employer that evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, identity, or other characteristics protected by law. The “Know Your Rights” poster is available here: and the pay transparency policy is available here:Know Your RightsPay Transparency Nondiscrimination Poster. Please note that it is the policy of Children’s National Hospital to ensure a “drug-free” work environment: a workplace free from the illegal use, possession or distribution of controlled substances (as defined in the Controlled Substances Act), or the misuse of legal substances, by all staff (management, employees and contractors). Though recreational and medical marijuana are now legal in the District of Columbia, Children’s National and its affiliates maintain the right, in accordance with our policy, to enforce a drug-free workplace, including prohibiting recreational or prescribed marijuana.