Research Project Manager - NSF STAIR Project (The Huck Institutes)

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JOB DESCRIPTION AND POSITION REQUIREMENTS:

Penn State is a world-class national research university home to numerous National Academy of Science members, one of the top 30 national research universities with over 1.3 billion dollar research expenditure, and one of three institutions in the nation accorded Land Grant, Sea Grant, Sun Grant, and Space Grant status.

The Huck Institutes of The Life Sciences (The Huck) is one of Penn State's largest institutes, fostering collaborative research and exceptional graduate education in the life sciences. With an annual expenditure of over $20M and support from a large endowment, Huck cultivates university-wide excellence in interdisciplinary life sciences at Penn State.

The Huck seeks a highly motivated, organized, collaborative, and creative Research Project Manager to play a pivotal role in a recently awarded National Science Foundation grant, the Skilled Training in Administration and Institutional Research (STAIR) program, focused on improving the national research administration infrastructure.

The position will commence in Spring 2025. Reporting to the Huck Associate Director for Strategic Initiatives, this position includes managing curriculum development projects and teams of subject matter experts from Penn State and nationwide. It offers a unique opportunity to contribute to a groundbreaking initiative that aims to enhance research administration capabilities across the nation.

This is a full-time, annually renewable position based on performance, with funding available for 4 years (with a possible extension to a 5th year).

Work Arrangement: The successful candidate will work on the University Park main campus on a hybrid schedule (3 days in the office per week).

Duties and Responsibilities

• Organizes STAIR events such as the annual conference, training, workshops, and coordinates on-site visits to/from the partner MSIs/PUIs.
• Leads the writing and preparation of STAIR-related reports, publications, and complementary grant applications in collaboration with the STAIR leadership.
• Manages STAIR-related grant budget in collaboration with the Huck Institutes' accounting department.
• Organizes internal and external meetings and keeps the STAIR leadership team on track with all the grant activities.
• Oversees communication of STAIR outcomes to the public via website, social media, emails, and other promotional materials in collaboration with the Huck Marketing and Communications team.
• Coordinates and advises 5-8 consulting teams/year formed of faculty, research administrators, and one part-time graphic designer. These teams support geographically spread groups of faculty and staff focused on putting together competitive grant proposals.
• Manages two instructional designers (years 1-2) leading curriculum development.
• Coordinates (remunerated) research administrators from Emerging Research Institutions (ERIs), primarily Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) and Predominantly Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) to contribute their expertise to the new curriculum.
• Manages two graduate assistants/year (20 hours per week) who will collect assessment data, surveys, research policies, and procedures and do grant literature review searches and editing in support of the grant proposals.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Minimum of a Master's degree and 1+ years of experience in higher ed and/ or research administration, or an equivalent combination of education and experience is required. An advanced degree (Master's, Ph.D.) in any field from an accredited institution is preferred.
• Excellent communication (both written and oral), interpersonal, and teamwork skills, demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with various stakeholders.
• Excellent time-management, organizational, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to exercise discretion, confidentiality, sound judgment, and attention to detail.
• Self-motivated and able to work independently on multiple projects concurrently.
• Consistent demonstration of initiative and a "can-do" attitude, able to rapidly adapt and respond to changes in environment and priorities, when necessary.
• Knowledge of standard software packages (working knowledge of project management software preferred).
• Highly desired: Professional experience with running structured, multi-disciplinary programs and/or in research administration.
• Preferred: Experience with grant writing and research publications in any field.

Application: Please submit in a single pdf with the following (i) Curriculum Vitae or Resume (ii) Statement about your career interests, leadership and/or management experiences in education/training/curriculum development, and efforts related to organization of teams, execution of group projects, and/or use of web, video, and social media (iii) Full-length copy of one authored paper (scientific or news), report, poster, or research slide deck. System limitations allow for a total of 5 documents (5mb per document) as part of your application. Please combine materials to meet the 5 document limit.

At Penn State, diversity, inclusion, and equity are fundamental to the campus values and mission to support of all members of the Commonwealth and beyond. We assertively incorporate these values into our research, teaching, learning, outreach, assessment, operations, and decision making at all levels of the University. We celebrate differences and let individuality thrive. As part of this commitment, the diverse voices of Penn State represent an invaluable resource for the University in its efforts to fulfill its mission and strive to be an example of excellence in higher education. Please see more information at: https://www.psu.edu/this-is-penn-state/equity-and-inclusion/

Why Join Us?

This role offers the chance to directly impact the democratization of research administration, empowering institutions with limited resources to thrive in the competitive research landscape. As part of the STAIR team, you will collaborate with faculty and RA subject matter experts from multiple units and institutions and contribute to a program that has the potential for great impact at the national level.

If you are passionate about managing and bringing your creativity and expertise into innovative projects and are excited to contribute to a transformative national initiative, we encourage you to apply.

The salary range for this position, including all possible grades is:

Salary Structure - additional information on Penn State's job and salary structure.

CAMPUS SECURITY CRIME STATISTICS: