Job Details

The Director, Pre-Award provides strategic, operational, and compliance leadership for all pre-award services supporting sponsored research proposals across the institution. This role oversees the full lifecycle of proposal development, review, and submission, ensuring alignment with sponsor requirements, regulatory standards, and institutional policies while delivering high-quality, customer-focused service to the research community. The Director leads and develops pre-award teams, drives process improvements, and optimizes systems and workflows to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and scalability. Partnering closely with cross-functional stakeholders, this position ensures seamless coordination across the research administration lifecycle and serves as a senior subject matter expert for complex, high-risk, and high-value proposals.

Job Description

• Provide strategic oversight of the full lifecycle of sponsored research proposal development, including intake, budget development, review, and submission, ensuring compliance with sponsor requirements, federal regulations, and institutional policies.
• Lead, develop, and manage pre-award teams, establishing performance expectations, supporting professional growth, and ensuring appropriate staffing and workload distribution to meet institutional needs.
• Establish and continuously improve pre-award policies, procedures, and workflows to enhance operational efficiency, service quality, and compliance.
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners to ensure seamless coordination across the research administration lifecycle and effective transition from proposal to award.
• Monitor regulatory and sponsor requirement changes, implement internal controls and risk mitigation strategies, and serve as a subject matter expert for complex, high-risk, and high-value proposals.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree Business Administration, Management or a related field required or
• 7 years Progressively responsible experience in research administration, including both federal and non-federal funding and
• ​3 years People leadership experience, including supervising staff and/or managing through subordinate leaders
• Research Administration Expertise: Demonstrates deep knowledge of pre-award research administration, sponsor regulations, and institutional policies.
• Communication: Communicates clearly and effectively with faculty, staff, leadership, and external sponsors.
• Analytical Thinking: Applies strong analytical and problem-solving skills to complex proposals and budgets, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
• Collaboration: Builds effective partnerships across departments to resolve challenges and advance institutional goals.
• Leadership & Talent Development: Leads through others, setting clear expectations, driving accountability, and developing high-performing teams.
• Project & Change Management: Leads process improvements, policy implementation, and system enhancements with minimal disruption.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Uses metrics and performance data to manage workload, improve cycle times, and enhance quality.
• Professionalism & Integrity: Models ethical behavior, accountability, and commitment to the institution’s mission

Work Shift

Workday Day (United States of America)

Worker Sub Type

Regular

Employee Entity

Thomas Jefferson University

Primary Location Address

833 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Nationally ranked, Jefferson, which is principally located in the greater Philadelphia region, Lehigh Valley and Northeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey, is reimagining health care and higher education to create unparalleled value. Jefferson is more than 65,000 people strong, dedicated to providing the highest-quality, compassionate clinical care for patients; making our communities healthier and stronger; preparing tomorrow's professional leaders for 21st-century careers; and creating new knowledge through basic/programmatic, clinical and applied research. Thomas Jefferson University, home of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Jefferson College of Nursing, and the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce, dates back to 1824 and today comprises 10 colleges and three schools offering 200+ undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 8,300 students. Jefferson Health, nationally ranked as one of the top 15 not-for-profit health care systems in the country and the largest provider in the Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley areas, serves patients through millions of encounters each year at 32 hospitals campuses and more than 700 outpatient and urgent care locations throughout the region. Jefferson Health Plans is a not-for-profit managed health care organization providing a broad range of health coverage options in Pennsylvania and New Jersey for more than 35 years.    

Jefferson is committed to providing equal educa­tional and employment opportunities for all persons without regard to age, race, color, religion, creed, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, military status, veteran status, handicap or disability or any other protected group or status. 

Benefits

Jefferson offers a comprehensive package of benefits for full-time and part-time colleagues, including medical (including prescription), supplemental insurance, dental, vision, life and AD&D insurance, short- and long-term disability, flexible spending accounts, retirement plans, tuition assistance, as well as voluntary benefits, which provide colleagues with access to group rates on insurance and discounts. Colleagues have access to tuition discounts at Thomas Jefferson University after one year of full time service or two years of part time service. All colleagues, including those who work less than part-time (including per diem colleagues, adjunct faculty, and Jeff Temps), have access to medical (including prescription) insurance.

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