Senior Proposal Development Leader (Pre-Award)

Harvard Central Administration (CADM) Talent Acquisition; Cambridge (MA); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 145,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous paid time off

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Tuition assistance and reimbursement

Retirement plans

Job summary

Harvard University’s Office for Sponsored Programs is seeking a senior leader to guide a central-office proposal development team within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, ensuring compliant, high-quality pre-award support across departments.

You will oversee end-to-end lifecycle, work with PIs and central units, implement policies and metrics, and manage JIT requests, delivering timely, accurate submissions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience required.
• Minimum of 7 years’ relevant work experience.
• Advanced knowledge of sponsored research regulations.
• Supervisory experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide overall leadership and supervision for a central-office based proposal development team embedded within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, including workload planning and professional development.
• Oversee the full pre-award proposal development lifecycle from opportunity identification through final submission and JIT.
• Serve as the primary central-office liaison to Divisionals and Departmental Leadership, PIs, and central units, resolving policy and risk issues.
• Develop, implement, and refine proposal development policies, templates, tools, and metrics; analyze volume, turnaround times and success rates.
• Direct and coordinate the team’s management of JIT actions and time-sensitive sponsor requests for complex proposals.
• Directly engage in proposal development and JIT work for a portfolio of departments.

Skills

Proposal development

Leadership

Stakeholder management

JIT coordination

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

7+ years relevant experience

Job description

Harvard University’s Office for Sponsored Programs is seeking a senior leader to guide a central-office proposal development team within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, ensuring compliant, high-quality pre-award support across departments.

You will oversee end-to-end lifecycle, work with PIs and central units, implement policies and metrics, and manage JIT requests, delivering timely, accurate submissions.