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Inside Higher Ed · 1 month ago

Director, Research Administration Pre-Award Services

Palo Alto, CA

Full-time

Onsite

Director/Executive

$203K/yr - $238K/yr

10+ years exp

Inside Higher Ed is seeking a Director for Research Administration Pre-Award Services at Stanford Medicine. This senior leadership role is responsible for overseeing the pre-award organization, ensuring compliance and enhancing proposal development processes within a complex research environment.

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Responsibilities

Provide strategic leadership for the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of pre-award operations across Stanford Medicine

Lead and mentor a team of pre-award professionals, overseeing and modernizing all aspects of proposal development

Drive institutional readiness at the enterprise level by shaping and overseeing scalable, transparent, and audit-resilient policies, procedures, and systems

Spearhead institution-wide collaboration with faculty, departmental leaders, research finance, and administrative units to align pre-award services with organizational priorities and ensure high-trust, high-impact support

Lead the end-to-end management of the pre-award process, using data-driven metrics to track efficiency, identify bottlenecks, and deploy resources strategically to maintain optimal timelines and outcomes

Establish and advance a cohesive, enterprise-level service model that supports over a billion dollars in sponsored research annually through seamless, compliant, and faculty-centered proposal development

Coordinate pre-award strategy across the Research Support Office (RSO), Sponsored Proposal Office (SPO), and department-embedded staff, fostering alignment through a clear vision, standardized processes, open communication, and strong cross-functional partnerships

Other duties may also be assigned

Qualification

Research administrationProposal developmentFederal research complianceLeadership experienceProfessional certificationAnalytical skillsProject managementChange managementInterpersonal skillsNegotiation skillsCommunication skillsProblem-solving skillsCollaboration skillsAttention to detail

Required

Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline

10+ years of progressively responsible experience in research administration, including leadership and direct oversight of pre-award operations

Proven track record of leading organizational transformation or system redesign in an academic or biomedical setting

Deep working knowledge of federal research compliance (e.g., Uniform Guidance, NIH/NSF policies), institutional routing, and sponsor systems

Strong interpersonal and negotiation skills, with demonstrated faculty-facing experience

Leadership, supervisory, planning and change management skills

Advanced, excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills to clearly and effectively communicate information to internal and external audiences, client groups and all levels of management

Ability to collaborate effectively with a wide range of faculty, staff, and university leaders; Ability to maintain rapport with employees at all levels

Ability to exercise influence, solve problems, think creatively and resolve conflicts

Expert analytical and problem-solving skills to review and analyze complex information; excellent judgement and common sense required

Advanced expertise in research administration practices and regulatory environments, the university research environment and policies

Expert proficiency in internal and external business systems applications

Proven ability to perform with a high degree of accuracy under tight deadlines while managing multiple projects

Advanced project management skills

Advanced understanding and experience in contracts and grants administration, agreement negotiation and regulatory issues pertaining to sponsored programs, including extensive experience successfully negotiating complex issues pertaining to sponsored and research-related agreements with all sponsor types including industry, non-profit, government and higher education

Ability to work efficiently and effectively in a complex university administration; understanding of the structure, purpose, functions and objectives of research and sponsored projects administration at Stanford

Preferred

Master's degree in a relevant discipline

Professional certification (e.g., CRA, CPRA, CFRA)

Experience managing hybrid central-decentral service models

Familiarity with Stanford systems and structures (Cayuse, SeRA, ORA)

Benefits

Stanford University provides pay ranges representing its good faith estimate of what the university reasonably expects to pay for a position.

The Cardinal at Work website (https://cardinalatwork.stanford.edu/benefits-rewards) provides detailed information on Stanford’s extensive range of benefits and rewards offered to employees.