University of Illinois at Chicago
Director, ORSS
The College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (CUPPA) at the University of Illinois at Chicago invites nominations and applications for the position of Director of Office of Research Support Services (ORSS). The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is the largest institution of higher learning in the Chicago area and is classified as a Research University/Very High Research Activity by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Organized in 1995, CUPPA is one of very few free-standing colleges of urban planning and public affairs, with the mission of providing innovative urban planning and public management education that puts engaged research to purposeful use at home and abroad. CUPPA collaborates internally among two academic departments, one undergraduate program, and eight research centers and institutes. CUPPA faculty and principal investigators, including CUPPA students, have generated over $90M in grants and contracts expenditures since 1996. For more information, visithttp://www.uic.edu/cuppa http://www.uic.edu/cuppa.
Office of Research Support Services. The goal of the ORSS is to increase and support sponsored research by providing exceptional service, expertise, and education while maintaining a collaborative model of stewardship shared among University faculty and staff. The new ORSS will handle pre-award and designated post-award activities. Pre-award activities include activities from the pre-proposal stage to the receipt and processing of the award, up to the point of funding activation and expenditure. ORSS will assist faculty and staff in grant identification and proposal development, in review and endorsement of proposals, in submission of electronic proposals, in negotiation and execution of contracts, in reporting, receipt and processing of the Notice of Awards (NOA), in interpretation of sponsor guidelines, and in ensuring compliance with both agency and University policies. ORSS also will develop and communicate CUPPA-wide policies specific to sponsored programs upon CUPPA approval.
Position. The Director, ORSS is expected to creatively manage an efficient and effective research grant-finding, grant-getting, and grant administrative/ shared-service college office. The Director will be responsible for developing, implementing and overseeing a multi-year, self-sustaining funding strategy for the ORSS. The Director will identify and pursue major grant opportunities in partnership with CUPPA faculty, research centers, institutes and labs through 1-2 annual CUPPA research "think-tanks" with researchers and ORSS committees. The Director will generate procedural and office protocols using business process tools for continuous improvement in customer service to faculty, to principal and co-investigators (PIs), and to unit heads in order to increase efficiency and research grant productivity in CUPPA.
The Director will also be expected, in collaboration with faculty and PIs, (1) to conceptualize, write and prepare grant proposals and to develop project budgets; (2) to activate, develop and maintain relationships with funding agencies and stakeholders within CUPPA, across the UIC campus, and outside the University; (3) to produce an inventory of research interest/expertise and assess research support capacity of the office; (4) to cooperate with designated faculty committees and administrators assigned to identify and assess potential college efficiencies through changes in staffing and resources within the research units through a process of regular and annual assessments; (5) to develop CUPPA-relevant research concepts that are independent of funding sources (i.e. not grant or contract driven); (6) to match faculty and PI interests to available grant opportunities; (7) to hire, train, develop and manage staff to ensure that a qualified staff exists to meet group objectives; (8) and to perform other related duties and participate in special projects as assigned by the Dean of CUPPA or designate.
Professional qualifications. The ideal candidate should be an accomplished grants professional and manager who understands CUPPA unit and faculty research areas and who can also write creatively in collaboration with faculty and principal investigators to advance their research agendas. Applicants must have a master's degree in the social sciences, public policy or other relevant field. A doctorate in the social sciences, urban planning or public administration is preferred. Applicants must also have a minimum of five years experience in grant opportunity identification, grant writing and post-award management, public policy or social science research. Interfacing and negotiating with public (e.g. NSF, federal agencies) and/or private funders is required. Experience in administering research support within a university shared-service environment is preferred. Applicants must have experience in grant identification in urban planning, public administration or public policy. Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills are required, along with knowledge of pertinent grant and administrative software. A general working knowledge of urban issues relevant to the mission and work of CUPPA is also required. The person appointed to this position should be authorized and available to work in Chicago, IL beginning 6/1/12.
Application procedure. For full consideration, please upload all application documents (minimally, a letter of application and resume) to
https://jobs.uic.edu/default.cfm?page=job&jobID=17637 https://jobs.uic.edu/default.cfm?page=job&jobID=17637. Also, please ask your references to upload three confidential letters of recommendation addressed to Professor Nik Theodore, Chair, CUPPA ORSS Search committee, via the jobs.uic.edu system, following instructions they will receive. Questions pertaining to this search can be sent to
cuppa@uic.edu
The search will remain open until the position is filled, but for best response , nominations or applications should be submitted and completed by 3/30/12.
The University of Illinois at Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.