Research Program Manager - Information Trust Institute

Laseagrant; Urbana (IL); On-site; USD 60,000 - 73,000; Full time

Job summary

Information Trust Institute, part of the Grainger College of Engineering, seeks a Research Program Manager to support multiple initiatives from ideation through completion. You will coordinate across ITI leadership, researchers, and external sponsors to ensure deliverables align with objectives, timeframes, and budgets.

The role requires strong communication, organization, and analytical skills, with responsibility for planning, resourcing, reporting, and maintaining program documentation to

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required with strong coordination skills.
• Experience coordinating projects in academic, research, or government settings preferred.
• Proven ability to communicate with sponsors, researchers, and stake holders.
• Ability to manage multiple projects, timelines, and deliverables.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day operations for assigned research projects and ensure timely deliverables.
• Monitor action items and coordinate with ITI leadership and research teams.
• Schedule, facilitate, and attend meetings; finalize agendas and follow up with outcomes.
• Develop project plans to monitor progress and track milestones.
• Draft and publish progress reports and project status reviews for stakeholders.
• Maintain project documents, records, and archives; ensure data quality and accessibility.
• Track budgets, resourcing, and workflow; report risks and mitigation strategies.
• Collaborate with program managers and senior staff to address program needs.

Skills

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Analytical thinking

Project management

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Job description

Research Program Manager - Information Trust Institute

The Information Trust Institute is a world-leading institution with a focus on creating more trustworthy critical infrastructure. It has been a central part of over $200Mof innovation in cyber-physical research over the past decade and continues to advance the state of understanding in this field. Beyond academic publication,ITI researchers work on putting their solutions into practice and working toget them deployed in the real world.

The Information Trust Institute in The Grainger College of Engineering seeks applicants for a Research Program Manager position. Thisposition works closely with ITIleadership and staff to support research and program management activities that require a high level of detailedprogram management, communication and organization skills, and is responsiblefor planning, overseeing, resourcing, supporting and leading multiple projectsfrom ideation through timely completion. This role requires continuousinteraction with a range of internal and external stakeholders occurring throughout a process that demands simultaneous management of variousmoving parts while also balancing disparate interests and priorities all toensure identified objectives are met and specific deliverables are completed timely and on budget. In concert with the above, this role will create, maintain and make available status reports as neededto communicate ongoing progress and metrics through use of available tools andprograms while assessing efficiency and effectiveness of workflow.

Duties and Responsibilities

ProgramManagement

• Manage day-to-day operations for assigned research projects, including execution of short- and long-term goals that maximize timely deliverables.
• Monitor and respond to action items and stakeholder requests to ensure appropriate progress while coordinating with research teams and ITI leadership.
• Schedule, facilitate, and attend meetings, including finalizing agendas and communicating and coordinating deliverables.
• Assist in development of project plans to monitor and track progress of varying projects.
• Participate in establishing goals, maintaining timelines, and ensuring resources are directed efficiently toward achieving objectives.
• Draft and publish progress reports and project status reviews with project stakeholders for assigned projects.
• Maintain and organize project documents, records, data, and archives.
• Utilize tracking, analysis, assessment tools, or other resources to evaluate effectiveness of processes, programs, and activities associated with assigned projects.
• Support program office and planning activities such as development of program plans, development of statements of work and basic ordering agreement task orders.
• Support assigned education and training programs for new and existing initiatives.
• Track and report on fund expenditures for projects being managed
• Track progress of program deliverables, tasks, and milestone achievement to meet program deadlines and to ensure efficiency and success, including budgets, resourcing and workflow.
• Serve as a liaison between project staff and other stakeholders, including those at other institutions, to facilitate the accomplishments of goals, objectives and milestones for projects.
• Communicate changes to the project scope, project schedule and project costs using appropriate verification techniques.
• Collaborate with and support other program managers and senior program managers as needed to meet the overall needs of ITI and CIRI.
• Report and elevate to management as needed to address program risk management.
• Perform other program and project management tasks as needed.

Client and Communication Management

• Support Communication efforts and drive communication management via written or verbal communication of project goals, project status, issues, actions, and risks to internal and external stakeholders.
• Communicate with funding sponsors, industrial advisory board members, research faculty, students, and staff as need to support active research and program management.
• Assist with identifying, promoting, supporting industry collaboration and mutually beneficial strategic partnerships and opportunities.
• Respond to sponsor contacts as needed to meet program objectives.
• Assist with event management and coordination activities in support of sponsor programs.

Business and Educational Program Management

• Assist with the creation and support of educational and business activities.
• Identify best practices or changes that facilitate improvement in meeting objectives and outcomes.
• Ensure educational programs operate in alignment with sponsor requirements.

NewOpportunity Identification

• Proactively review federal sponsor opportunities and postings, identify and track appropriate fits and communicate and track progress toward response compliance.
• Assist with business office coordination in support of opportunity response activities
• Track ITI and CIRI engagement activities.
• Provide updates to leadership and staff on pursued and active opportunities.
• Document ITI activities related to sponsor engagement efforts.
• Provide support for responses to grant opportunities and other funding source submissions.

Other Dutiesas Assigned

Other Dutiesas Assigned

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree.
• A total of two (2) years (24 months) in education, training, and/or work experience in professional program management and/or project management.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating projects within a business, academic, research, or government environment.
• Demonstrated experience working with sponsor-facing, client-facing, or internal stakeholder communication environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree.
• Experience working on multiple projects with deadlines and deliverable requirements.
• Experience working as a research program manager or other related project management role.
• Experience with Higher Education and or State Government operations, processes and protocols, working in a role with responsibility for project outcomes and success.
• Experience with one or more project or program management tools or software programs.
• Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), Program Management Professional (PgMP) or Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP), or other relevant project management certification.
• Experience with relevant technical concepts or managing projects with technical content or subject matter focus.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Excellent communication, organizational, analytical and problem-solving skills. Ability to be self-motivated, exercise good judgment, and prioritize.
• Ability to analyze information, evaluate results, and problem solve.
• Ability to work directly with researchers, government representatives, industry representatives, publishers, vendors, and others in this area.
• Ability to work independently and see projects through to completion. Project management and organizational skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively and respondappropriately to customer needs.

Appointment Information

This is a full-time Civil Service Program Coordinator position appointed on a12-month service basis. The expected start date is as soon as possible afterthe closing date. Thebudgeted salary range for this position is $60,000- $72,500. Salary is competitive and commensurate withqualifications and experience, while also considering internal equity. This position is primarily on-site, with the potential todo some hybrid work as needed per the University’s Workplace Flexibility policy.This position is not eligible for anytype of sponsorship for work authorization.

Requisition ID: 1037865
Job Category: Professional and Administrative
Apply at: https://jobs.illinois.edu