Grant Strategist I

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building:
• Salary Range: $90,000 - $100,000

Position Summary

The mission of the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) Office for Research is to facilitate the highest caliber of biomedical research, from basic to translational to clinical, among the VP&S faculty, students, and staff at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. The office works across departments, centers, and institutes to foster interdisciplinary research collaborations and supports efforts to secure funding for such collaborations.

To fulfill this goal, the VP&S Office for Research is seeking a Grant Strategist I who will work closely with grant strategy team leadership to assist faculty in the writing, editing, and strategic planning of individual as well as complex, multi-investigator, and multi-institutional grants. Grant Strategists work one-on-one with faculty as well as in teams to create compelling proposals that will further individual investigator studies and larger, school-wide initiatives. The ideal candidate will have a combined science and writing background as well as extensive experience with writing grant proposals, particularly for NIH. 

Responsibilities

• Deliver Grant Development Support

  • Provide comprehensive grant development support to researchers preparing grant applications-- including simple complex and individual investigator--that align with the goals of the medical school through a combination of project management, strategic guidance, editing support, and content creation.
  • Work with researchers and staff to ensure successful integration of all grant components and compliance with all funding solicitation and sponsor requirements.

  Provide Strategic Grant Guidance

  • Guide and coach teams of faculty preparing large and/or complex grants, as well as individual investigators preparing funding applications to support their research programs.

• Identify Funding Opportunities

  • Proactively ascertain funder priorities, monitor funding opportunities in research areas to promote strategic growth of the medical school, and develop and implement strategies to disseminate opportunities.
  • Help researchers identify relevant funding opportunities through personalized funding searches, and devise strategies to apply for funding.

   Support investigator teaming

  • Assist in identifying expertise needed to support investigator teaming and respond to funder priorities and opportunities.
  • Facilitate teaming activities and promote best practices in team science.

  Write and edit grant components

  • Provide high-level feedback and substantive editing to scientific drafts to ensure the document is clear, concise, and compelling.
  • Write high-quality drafts of non-technical proposal components.
  • Review, edit, and format proposal documents to ensure submitted document meets high-quality standards.

   Design resources to support grant application development

  • Design, create, maintain, and optimize resources that assist investigators in assembling grant applications including grant writing guides, checklists, best practices, template text, and collecting examples.

    Implement grant learning and development resources

  • Support the development of grant writing workshops, info sessions, and seminars relevant to medical school researchers. Participate in teaching and evaluation as needed.

   Contribute to process improvement procedures

  • Assist in tracking and documenting metrics in support of the grant strategy team’s services.
  • Along with grant strategy team leadership, review feedback and contribute to suggestions for service enhancements.

• Participate in research development professional communities

  • Actively participate in local and national research development professional communities to inform practices and improve services.
  • Support outreach activities with partners in the VP&S Office for Research, the medical school, throughout the medical center campus, and across the University to build relationships and  contribute to grant development needs.
   Other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree, or equivalent in education and experience, preferably in the biomedical sciences, plus four years of experience. 
• Experience in scientific writing at a higher education institution and/or in a research setting.
• Ability to successfully prioritize multiple complex projects and meet deadlines.
• Excellent communication (both verbal and written) and interpersonal skills required. 
• Working proficiency of Microsoft Office Suite, especially Microsoft Word.
• A cover letter is required to be considered.
• Applicants may be asked to complete a writing assignment to highlight their writing and editing skills.  

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree, M.D., or Ph.D. in a basic science, translational, or clinical field preferred.  
• At least 1 year of related research development and/or grant writing experience.  

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.