Associate Director of Research Development

Position Summary:

Research Development encompasses a set of strategic, catalytic, and capacity-building activities that advance research. At UTHealth Houston, our Research Development program is focused on strategic research advancement, enhancement of team science, professional communications, and proposal development, which works hand in hand with our senior executive leadership and research administrators. The Associate Director of Research Development will serve as a senior member of the research development team and is responsible for managing complex processes and teams of direct reports, interns, and mixed matrix teams, including members from across the campus and outside the university. The Associate Director will have broad knowledge of research development but will be able to develop teams focused on specific research development specialties. This person will have extensive, high-level knowledge focused on large program project and center grants, complex training grants and fellowships, and large-scale clinical trials. The Associate Director will work on strategic initiatives within the EVP/CAO office and requires advanced skills and a proven track record, allowing them the autonomy to make decisions across departmental and college lines that will significantly impact university research processes. They will be required to have extensive experience assessing where an institution or team currently is and how to reach stretch target goals by formulating a plan and managing the resources.

UTHealth Houston is a dynamic, research-intensive academic medical center experiencing rapid growth, with double-digit increases in research funding year over year. We are committed to pushing the boundaries of discovery and have recently launched several new major initiatives. We have an outstanding research development program with strong leadership. With bold, moonshot goals driving our future, we seek candidates ready to prove they have the right stuff. 

This position will work in our Fayez S. and Susan K. Sarofim Research Building, which is located on Pressler in the Texas Medical Center. You will need to be able to come on-site when needed. 

Essential Functions

• Helps clinical faculty, postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows, and residents who are interested in conducting research to become more successful communicators, grant writers, and advocates for their research by helping bring their new ideas to life. This is done through one-on-one training, workshops, and direct mentoring on the grant writing process in conjunction with helping to edit and draft grant proposals.
• Works with the EVP/CAO office to enhance the research portfolio by using strategic, catalytic, and capacity-building activities that advance research. This includes developing highly technical scientific research processes, understanding, editing, suggesting advanced analysis methods, and developing new processes for streamlining highly complex proposals. This person may help negotiate large programmatic grants and contracts scope of work between PIs and performance sites with a value exceeding those of normal single investigator-initiated grants and works in partnership with the appropriate A/VPs to provide the required supporting materials for contracts.
• Implements strategic actions for improving extramural research funding with a focus on large center and program project grants or large clinical studies from the NIH and industry. They will be required to analyze technical documents, legislative bills, and funding appropriations to align projects with faculty expertise and then build teams to address priority areas. Teams will have an impact on multiple departments and colleges, including universities and CROs, nationally and internationally.
• Coordinates the faculty and support team and assists with developing and writing the grant proposals.
• Leads and coordinates the strategic review of faculty-driven proposals or clinical trials, as needed, to improve fit, impact, and competitiveness through technical and scientific expertise.
• Implements strategic processes to improve professional development. Works in partnership with the EVP/CAO and Sponsored Projects Administration to train faculty and Master's/PhD prepared staff on research development processes and techniques, with a focus on clinical research and clinical trials.
• Develops analytics to track the progress of research initiatives and work with the EVP/CAO office to provide specialized and technical expertise that comes with extensive experience in large center or clinical research and multi-site funding mechanisms. This may include leading international teams. Organizes and leads weekly meetings to review funding trends.
• Manages department human resources activities in regard to recruiting and selection, hiring and termination, training, professional development, mentoring, counseling, performance evaluations, and salary planning.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

What we do here changes the world. UTHealth Houston is Texas’ resource for healthcare education, innovation, scientific discovery, and excellence in patient care. That’s where you come in.

Once you join us, you won't want to leave. It’s because we reward our team for the excellent service they provide. Our total rewards package includes the benefits you’d expect from a top healthcare organization (benefits, insurance, etc.), plus:  

• 100% paid medical premiums for our full-time employees  
• Generous time off (holidays, preventative leave days, both vacation and sick time – all of which equates to around 37-38 days per year) 
• The longer you stay, the more vacation you’ll accrue! 
• Longevity Pay (Monthly payments after two years of service) 
• Build your future with our awesome retirement/pension plan! 

We take care of our employees! As a world-renowned institution, our employees’ well-being is important to us. We offer work/life services such as... 

• Free financial and legal counseling 
• Free mental health counseling services 
• Gym membership discounts and access to wellness programs 
• Other employee discounts include entertainment, car rentals, cell phones, etc. 
• Resources for child and elder care 
• Plus many more!