Proposal Manger Senior

Arizona State University; Tempe (AZ); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Arizona State University’s Advanced Capabilities for National Security Institute seeks a Proposal Manager Senior to support the growth of the defense and national security research portfolio. You will lead large-scale, multimillion-dollar proposals, collaborating with researchers and ASU units to ensure compliant submissions ahead of sponsor deadlines.

The role requires autonomous leadership, strong communication, and ability to work with cross-disciplinary teams across the university.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and five (5) years of relevant experience in research, information analysis or program evaluation, with three years in proposal production or capture.
• Flexible and can quickly shift tasks to meet urgent deadlines.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office products (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Ability to influence without authority.
• Self-starter; set personal workload priorities; know when to ask questions of peers and supervisors.
• Knowledge of project management techniques and realistic timelines.

Responsibilities

• Read and analyze funding opportunities quickly and accurately, including Broad Agency Announcements, Requests for Proposals, Funding Opportunity Announcements, and Proposers Days.
• Create templates and tracking documents to ensure proposals are submitted to the sponsor on time and in compliance with the sponsor’s requirements.
• Become familiar with sponsored research with the U.S. Department of Defense/War, as well as other potential funders (e.g., industry and philanthropy)
• Apply strong project and proposal management skills, including facilitating team meetings, creating timelines, setting expectations, conflict resolution, assigning roles and responsibilities
• Demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills, with an emphasis on diplomacy and relationship management
• Coordinate with ASU administrative and financial units to ensure submissions comply with funding announcements and sponsor requirements
• Assist core team with other tasks as needed, including data tracking and analysis

Skills

Proposal development

Project management

Communication skills

Strategic thinking

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Five years of relevant experience

Job description

Job Profile:

Research Development Specialist 3

Job Family:

Research Development

Time Type:

Full time

Apply before 11:59 PM Arizona time the day before the posted End Date.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree and five (5) years of experience appropriate to the area of assignment/field; OR, Any equivalent combination of experience and/or training from which comparable knowledge, skills and abilities have been achieved.

Job Profile Summary:
Takes a lead role in facilitating capacity-building activities, collaborating with central research administrations to develop and implement strategic initiatives that elevate the institution’s overall competitiveness for extramural research funding.

Job Description

Arizona State University’s Advanced Capabilities for National Security Institute (ACNSI) seeks a Proposal Manager Senior to support the continued growth of the university’s defense and national security research portfolio, particularly around critical and emerging technologies. Under the direction of the ACNSI Associate Director of Strategic Collaboration, the Proposal Manager Senior will work directly with researchers from across ASU to develop and submit competitive proposals aimed at advancing the state of the art in critical technology areas. The Proposal Manager Senior operates with a high degree of autonomy to lead large-scale (i.e., multimillion dollar, multi-institution) and strategic initiatives in advance of/in response to federal-/industry-/philanthropic-sponsored research funding opportunities. Specific responsibilities include:

• Read and analyze funding opportunities quickly and accurately, including Broad Agency Announcements, Requests for Proposals, Funding Opportunity Announcements, and Proposers Days

• Create templates and tracking documents to ensure proposals are submitted to the sponsor on time and in compliance with the sponsor’s requirements

• Become familiar with sponsored research with the U.S. Department of Defense/War, as well as other potential funders (e.g., industry and philanthropy)

• Apply strong project and proposal management skills, including facilitating team meetings, creating timelines, setting expectations, conflict resolution, assigning roles and responsibilities

• Demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills, with an emphasis on diplomacy and relationship management

• Coordinate with ASU administrative and financial units to ensure submissions comply with funding announcements and sponsor requirements

• Assist core team with other tasks as needed, including data tracking and analysis

Arizona State University is a leader in defense and national security research: Top 40 in Department of Defense research expenditures per the 2024 National Science Foundation HERD Survey; large-scale DARPA portfolios; home to a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence; and among the most DARPA Young Faculty Awards in the nation. The Advanced Capabilities for National Security Institute sits at the center of much of these efforts, serving as a core point of contact for science and technology engagements with defense and national security sponsors. Home to several research centers, ACNSI has a bifurcated mission: to drive transformational capabilities in core ASU strength areas such as cybersecurity and human/AI teaming, and to foster growth in capabilities across the university in other critical technology areas important to the Department of Defense/War.

Essential Duties

• Understand sponsor’s funding announcement; communicate sponsor’s guidelines and roles and responsibilities to the proposal team

• Attend or facilitate proposal team meetings (kick-off, weekly status, post-submission retrospective)

• Maintain proposal tracking documents, timelines, and team calendars

• Collaborate with faculty, subcontractors, graphic artists, finance representatives, and project support staff to submit an accurate and compliant proposal

• Collaborate with other research development staff across the university

• Coordinate with Principal Investigator (PI) on document repository, team communication modality, proposal component versions, etc.

• Coordinate red team review of proposal final drafts

• Use existing knowledge of common workplace applications (e.g., Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe products, Zoom)Translate industry best-practices (e.g., Association of Proposal Management Professionals, APMP) into the academic environment and serve as a resource across campus for these practices

• Contribute to strategic pre-award goals set by ACNSI leadership

• Team lead for ACNSI pre-award team’s continuous process improvement

• Mentor ACNSI pre-award team’s other Proposal Managers

• Act as a subject matter expert for other ACNSI staff on pre-award topics, such as IRB, ROM budgeting, CUI compliance

Desired Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in science, business or related field and seven (7) years’ experience in research, information analysis or program evaluation, three (3) of which are in proposal production or capture related experience with increasing responsibility; OR any equivalent combination of education and/or experience from which comparable knowledge, skills, and abilities have been achieved.

• Flexible and can quickly shift tasks to meet urgent deadlines

• Comfortable using Microsoft Office products (e.g., Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

• Ability to influence without authority

• Self-starter; set personal workload priorities; know when to ask questions of peers and supervisors

• Knowledge of project management techniques, including developing realistic timelines for project completion and communicating expectations to stakeholders

• Previous experience contributing to proposal teams or complex projects; especially for the federal government; knowledge of federal funding procedures

• Familiarity with the Department of Defense/War

• Comfortable with problem-solving and conflict resolution

• Association of Proposal Management (APMP) accreditation

• Knowledge of Shipley Proposal Best Practices

• Interest in learning project/proposal management software as needed

• Experience tracking and parsing data to produce informative analytics

• Graphic design experience (slide presentations, marketing materials, etc.)

• Deep understanding of federal and philanthropic sponsor guidelines generally, with expertise in multiple sponsor agencies, implicit and explicit requirements

• Ability to convey these requirements to stakeholders; adapt extracted submission requirements as needed to complex proposals; experience serving as an external reviewer

• Ability to create and maintain an internal resource that serves to streamline process and procedures for other proposal professionals (e.g., boilerplate, graphics library, etc.); use an extensive network of colleagues and consultants when necessary

• Ability to document team performance and assess team function upon completion of a proposal; deep knowledge of university pre-award infrastructure, process and procedures

• Demonstrate best practice in composition and editing of persuasive text, messaging, and narrative construction, including the drafting and organization of all relevant text across all required documents; able to conduct business in a professional manner across multiple platforms (e.g., email, phone, video) across multiple schools and units within the university

• Demonstrate ability to work with a proposal team from inception to document delivery to determine, articulate and implement a competitive proposal strategy; able to complete a gap analysis and draw upon a wide network to close gaps in team function or approach, including internal support personnel

• Demonstrate familiarity with sponsor contracting methods and budgeting processes to ensure accurate budgets and justifications are included in proposal submissions

• Able to quickly identify potential team, sponsor, or infrastructure issues that could compromise the quality or timeliness of a proposal submission; able to answer complex questions cogently using experience or appropriate resources

• Work expertly within the university system to secure and use appropriate programs and platforms in support of teaming, document coordination, and submission (e.g., ERA) adept and extracting information from federal sponsor awards databases

• Foster partnerships; develops understanding of needs, issues, problems; works to develop win/win relationship; serves as a mentor to aspiring proposal managers

• Apply good knowledge and understanding of the principles, methods and techniques of process/quality improvement for proposal management

• Demonstrate experience in the principles of proposal management and adaptation to complex proposals; regular internal and external workshops and presentations on proposal management practices

Working Environment

• Climate-controlled office setting subject to extended periods of being in a stationary position.
• Constantly detects and operates a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as a calculator, copy machine and computer printer.

Department Statement:

Each year since 2016, ASU has been named the most innovative school in the nation, recognizing the university’s culture of groundbreaking research and partnerships, as well as its commitment to helping students thrive in college and beyond. U.S. News and World Report has named ASU as the most innovative university all eleven years the category has existed.

ASU Knowledge Enterprise advances research, innovation, strategic partnerships, entrepreneurship, and international development. Our success arises from solutions-focused, interdisciplinary research; an entrepreneurial approach that is embedded in every school and department; and a commitment to transform society in a positive way. To learn more about how Knowledge Enterprise is a place for your career to grow, visit https://research.asu.edu/about-us/careers.

AtAdvanced Capabilities for National Security Institute, we are dedicated to building an inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly, we encourage you to apply anyway. We value your unique background and perspective, and you may be just the right candidate for this position or other roles on our team.

Working at ASU has additional perks and outstanding benefits, which include health, dental, and vision insurance plans; life insurance and disability programs; sick leave and holidays; ASU/UA/NAU tuition reduction for the employee and qualified family members; state and optional retirement plans; access to ASU recreation and cultural activities; and more. To estimate the value of your total compensation, please visit https://cfo.asu.edu/compensation-estimator.

Driving Requirement

Driving is not required for this position.

Location

Campus: Tempe

Funding

No Federal Funding

Notice of Availability of the ASU Annual Security and Fire Safety Report:

In compliance with federal law, ASU prepares an annual report on campus security and fire safety programs and resources. ASU’s Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is available online at https://www.asu.edu/police/PDFs/ASU-Clery-Report.pdf. You may request a hard copy of the report by contacting the ASU Police Department at 480-965-3456.

Relocation Assistance – For information about schools, housing child resources, neighborhoods, hospitals, community events, and taxes, visit https://cfo.asu.edu/az-resources.

Employment Verification Statement

ASU conducts pre-employment screening which may include verification of work history, academic credentials, licenses, and certifications.

Background Check Statement

ASU conducts pre-employment screening for all positions which includes a criminal background check, verification of work history, academic credentials, licenses, and certifications. Employment is contingent upon successful passing of the background check.

Fingerprint Check Statement

A fingerprint check is not required for this position.