Senior Pre-Award Proposal Lead

SmartRecruiters, Inc.; Cambridge (MA); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous paid time off

Health insurance

Retirement plans

Tuition assistance

Commuter benefits

Job summary

Harvard University’s Office for Sponsored Programs (OSP) within Financial Administration seeks an experienced pre-award manager to oversee high-complexity, multi-PI proposals. You will ensure compliance with sponsor and university regulations, manage budgets, and coordinate stakeholders to deliver timely submissions.

Working primarily remote with periodic onsite attendance, you will mentor junior staff, develop processes, and serve as the senior liaison to OSP and central units to mitigate risk

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience.
• Minimum of 5 years’ relevant work experience.
• Advanced knowledge of sponsored research regulations.
• Experience coordinating with central units (compliance, finance, legal) and senior leadership.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic guidance for proposal development and long-range planning.
• Lead multi-PI, multi-site proposals with budgets, subawards, and compliance plans; coordinate contributions for high-quality, on-time submissions.
• Interpret complex funding announcements and sponsor policies; translate requirements into clear workflows.
• Serve as the senior departmental liaison to the Office for Sponsored Programs and other central units, resolving policy and risk issues.
• Provide oversight of proposal data integrity and workflow in institutional systems; design dashboards to improve volume, quality and success rates.
• Direct and prioritize Just-in-Time (JIT) responses for complex and high-risk proposals, advising on disclosures and coordinating with compliance offices to mitigate risk.
• Oversee the end-to-end JIT workflow for the department’s complex awards; train others and monitor performance to ensure timely, policy-compliant submissions.

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience

Job description

Harvard University’s Office for Sponsored Programs (OSP) within Financial Administration seeks an experienced pre-award manager to oversee high-complexity, multi-PI proposals. You will ensure compliance with sponsor and university regulations, manage budgets, and coordinate stakeholders to deliver timely submissions.

Working primarily remote with periodic onsite attendance, you will mentor junior staff, develop processes, and serve as the senior liaison to OSP and central units to mitigate risk