Lead Research Advisor, Grant Development Services

Follow us on LinkedIn

Posting Reason:

Job Type:

Anticipated Duration in Months (for contracts and temporary assignments):

Job Family:

# of Open Positions:

Faculty/Service - Department:

Campus:

Union Affiliation:

Date Posted (YYYY/MM/DD):

Applications must be received BEFORE (YYYY/MM/DD):

Hours per week:

Salary Grade:

Salary Range:

Application Details:

*Please submit a cover letter along with your resume.

Position Purpose:

The Grant Development Services team is part of the Office of the VP, Research and Innovation at the University of Ottawa. The team’s mandate is to deliver proposal development support to assist researchers in preparing large-scale, interdisciplinary funding applications. Established 24 months ago, we are currently scaling our operational capacity through a phased, multi-year strategic growth plan, bringing together cross-functional expertise to support high impact research initiatives.

To help drive this work, we are excited to recruit a Lead Research Advisor to join the team with expertise in social sciences and humanities research

Reporting to the Director, Grant Development Services, the Lead Research Advisor, Grant Development Services, develops and implements strategic projects and activities to improve the success of research funding requests and increase the University’s research intensity. The incumbent provides hands-on support to research teams, in collaboration with cross-functional teams, in the development of compelling research funding applications to Tri-Agency and other grant funding agencies.

The Lead Research Advisor brings scientific/scholarly expertise and significant knowledge of Canada’s research funding landscape, including demonstrated familiarity with the mandates of the federal research granting councils and their respective strategic priorities.

In this role, your responsibilities will include:

Advisory Services and Research Support: Leads the coordination of highly complex pre-submission large-scale scientific grant development and review processes to develop compelling proposals and effectively respond to the funding opportunity objectives, priorities, eligibility and selection criteria:

• Project management of full cycle of complex, multidisciplinary grant proposal development including ensuring early preparation, ongoing point-of-contact, expert advice, communication with the research team and key stakeholders and advancing successful proposals to post-award administration;
• Analyzes and interprets granting agencies’ requirements and guidelines;
• Supports the assembly of intra-institutional (across faculties and affiliated institutes) and inter-institutional expert research teams;
• Undertakes outreach to multi-sector partners, including identifying suitable partners aligned to the research goals;
• Manages internal and external review processes;
• Prepares institutional application sections, supports budget development and  generation of schematics;
• Expertly edits complex applications to ensure a convincing proposal suitable for a multi-disciplinary review panel.​

​​Operations: As lead point-of-contact for a given project or grant development process, the incumbent will plan, organize, guide and oversee the project and processes with all stakeholders to ensure priorities and activities are undertaken as effectively and as efficiently as possible. Develops and implements internal project management regulations and procedures in order to improve efficiency and strategic relevance. Analyses and solves complex administrative problems in a timely manner.

Liaison and Guidance: Liaises between researchers and granting agencies to ensure that all parties possess the information they need to optimize their chances of success. Designs and leads workshops and information sessions for researchers on how to prepare high-quality funding requests and on administrative procedures related to research management in order to provide clarity and streamline the process. Cultivate relationships with external partners and collaborators for large research grants and programs. Collaborate closely with internal stakeholders, including faculty research offices, affiliated institutes, researchers, program managers, and finance teams, to gather necessary information and ensure a comprehensive approach to a project or grant proposal development. Consults and provides expert guidance to faculty, staff, and university-wide administrators on complex grant developmental issues. 

Strategic Priorities and Initiatives: In collaboration with Director and team members, supports the development and implementation of a comprehensive strategy and structure of support to increase success in multi-million-dollar research grant opportunities that leverage the University’s priorities and unique research strengths. Supports new approaches to research collaboration, creating a state-of-readiness, establishing priorities for response and creating cross-linkages and collaboration with the research community, faculties and OVPRI units. Follows research activity trends within the University and externally in order to identify priorities and recommend new initiatives.

Research Promotion: Effectively communicates strategic research funding opportunities, developmental support available and administrative processes. Implements processes for internal support and early targeting of researchers and outreach to advise on eligibility criteria, deadlines and other important details. Develops training modules and undertakes outreach activities such as workshops, test-your concept-sessions and training sessions to better prepare researchers and teams to compete for large-scale, strategic, interdisciplinary peer-reviewed grants and contract research. Identifies possible funding sources for interdisciplinary research projects.

Reports: Conducts research and surveys, and compiles data, statistics and other information related to research trends, interdisciplinary research activities, and research funding. Uses this information to provide management with advice and recommendations and to help with long-term strategic planning.

Special Project Management: Plans and manages assigned special projects as needed. Defines special project scopes, determines steps, monitors relevant progress, makes adjustments throughout the process and ensures efficient communication between participants.

Supervision: Provides required supervision for administrative support work performed by employees and ensures that tasks are completed in accordance with stated norms and instructions.

What you will bring: 

• Master’s degree in a relevant field or a combination of equivalent training and experience, involving extensive research training in a health research, science and engineering or social sciences and humanities field. A PhD is an asset.
• A minimum of 7 years of demonstrated experience within a research-intensive university or similar complex research environment.
• Scientific/scholarly knowledge and experience in 1) science and engineering and 2) social sciences and humanities. Experience with all aspects of the undertaking of research including publications, presentations, grant writing, training programs and knowledge mobilization.
• Substantial knowledge of Canada’s research funding landscape, including demonstrated familiarity with the mandates of the federal research granting councils and their respective strategic priorities. Knowledge of current trends in research funding. Knowledge of research environments in Ottawa and Canada, including knowledge of key interest holders, researchers, networks and multi-sector partners.
• Experience supporting large-scale, interdisciplinary grant applications/strategic initiatives.

- Examples of large-scale grant applications/strategic initiatives for illustrative purposes: multi-institutional projects, multi-million dollar budgets, or initiatives bridging multiple faculties/sectors.

- Interdisciplinary initiatives, in the context of Grant Development Services’ mandate, refer to projects that integrate research that is relevant to the mandate areas of more than one Tri-Agency funding organizations.

• Keen knowledge of university research administration processes, the life-cycle of research grants and awards, and working in a complex de-centralized university environment.
• Knowledge and experience in the development of business plans, planning documents and advising management and senior leadership.
• Demonstrated experience in liaising and maintaining relationships with external funding sponsors.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills, with the ability to work with researchers, administrators, faculties, staff, students, and administrators from other institutions and sponsors.
• Excellent communication skills including writing, reviewing and editing in both official languages.
• Demonstrated tact, diplomacy and judgment.
• Strong project and time management, attention to detail and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated experience in using computer systems and software such as, Windows, PowerPoint, word processing, spreadsheets, databases, financial systems, e-mail and internet. 
• Bilingualism – English and French (spoken and written)

A Note on Our Interview Process:

We want you to succeed! During the interview, the selection committee will be looking for concrete examples of how your previous experience maps directly to the core requirements of the Lead Research Advisor role, including knowledge of the Canada’s federal grant councils, their mandates and strategic priorities. We encourage you to review this job posting closely and come prepared to explicitly articulate how your professional background is the direct equivalent of supporting large-scale, interdisciplinary grant applications/strategic initiatives.

#LI

Key Competencies at uOttawa:
Here are the required competencies for all or our employees at uOttawa: 
Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.
Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.
Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.
Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.
The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect, teamwork and inclusion, where collaboration, innovation, and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence. While all qualified persons are invited to apply, we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQIA2S+ persons. The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, barrier-free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes. Applicants with disabilities may contact [email protected] to communicate the accommodation need. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.
Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above; you can click here to find out more.
If this is a front-line position with responsibilities to interact with students, selected candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.

Prior to May 1, 2022, the University required all students, faculty, staff, and visitors (including contractors) to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as defined in Policy 129 – Covid-19 Vaccination. This policy was suspended effective May 1, 2022 but may be reinstated at any point in the future depending on public health guidelines and the recommendations of experts.