Job Posting Title:

Internal Competitions Manager, Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors

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Hiring Department:

Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors

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Position Open To:

All Applicants

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Weekly Scheduled Hours:

40

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FLSA Status:

Exempt

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Earliest Start Date:

Immediately

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Position Duration:

Expected to Continue

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Location:

AUSTIN, TX

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Job Details:

General Notes

The mission of the Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors (OVPR) is to foster the expansion of the scale, quality, and impact of scholarly endeavors at UT Austin. We are committed to building capacity, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration, and lowering the barriers and burden involved in scientific and creative inquiry through the development of an investigator-focused infrastructure that supports the needs of UT Austin's research enterprise.

UT Austin offers a competitive benefits package that includes:  

100% employer-paid basic medical coverage  

Retirement contributions

Paid vacation and sick time

Paid holidays

Eligible for hybrid telework

Please visit our Human Resources (HR) website to learn more about the total benefits offered.

Purpose

Contribute to enhancing UT Austin’s competitiveness in securing competitive external research funding by administering internal competitions and honorific awards nomination processes for select university-wide research opportunities, and by overseeing select OVPR internal funding programs.

Responsibilities

Internal Competitions and Limited Submissions

As a member of the OVPR Research Development portfolio, reporting to the Program Director – OVPR-Administered Competitions, manage internal competitions to select the university’s nominees for research funding opportunities for which the sponsor imposes limits on the number of proposals that the university may submit. Anticipated workload is 60-75 internal competitions per year. Duties include identifying, reviewing, and evaluating federal and non-federal funding opportunities; disseminating calls for internal proposal submissions across the university; consulting on eligibility, and clarifying and resolving issues when necessary. Coordinate faculty peer review of submitted applications, including recruiting and assigning peer reviewers, collecting written feedback, and compiling rankings/feedback to determine competition awardees, using the university’s InfoReady platform. Communicate and track competition outcomes to submitters. Maintain a database of recurring internal competitions for the OVPR website and for internal OVPR use. Create best practices documents, operating procedures, and improve processes to ensure fair and transparent reviews.

Honorific Award Nominations

Manage the process for choosing university nominees for select faculty honorific awards for research.  Duties include identifying, reviewing, and evaluating honorific opportunities; disseminating calls for internal submissions across the university; consulting on eligibility, and clarifying and resolving issues when necessary. Use national benchmarking datasets to identify prospective nominees for these research awards and provide competitive intelligence about the awards to those prospective nominees. Coordinate faculty peer review of submitted applications, including recruiting and assigning peer reviewers, collecting written feedback, and compiling rankings/feedback to determine competition awardees. Assist with editing and compiling nominees’ application materials for submission to the external sponsor. Assist with submission of institutional nominations for said awards as necessary.

Internal Funding Programs

Coordinate the grantmaking process for the OVPR Research and Creative Grants, Special Research Grants, and Subvention Grants programs. The Research and Creative Grants are run annually and involve soliciting applications and reviewers to select a small number of projects to support for the year. Special Research Grants and Subvention Grants are open on a rolling basis until each year’s funding runs out. Additionally, the Internal Competitions Manager will provide backup to the Program Director of Proposal Support to aid non-OVPR UT entities with the use of InfoReady for their own competitions and will backup competitions managed by the Program Director for Collaborative Research Networks. 

Other Duties as Assigned

Contribute to the overall success of the OVPR Research Development portfolio by performing other duties as assigned. 

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in a related field and relevant subject matter knowledge that may include, but is not limited to, knowledge of research funders, research funding opportunities, proposal submissions, pre-award sponsor requirement, and technology platforms.

Strong writing and editing skills, with the ability to provide strategic feedback with the goal of improving materials.

Ability to interpret sponsor funding opportunity announcements and submitted materials to determine how to manage a particular opportunity, and to determine whether a submission is eligible and responsive to the requirements. 

Ability to establish priorities, manage shifting priorities, and handle numerous time sensitive projects with multiple deadlines. Proficiency with standard business software including Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel) as well as Adobe Acrobat, and with the use of various internet search tools/strategies.

Strong interpersonal skills to develop cooperative working relationships with faculty, internal staff and management at all organizational levels, as well as with external constituents.

Commitment to be responsive in a timely manner to inquiries from faculty, staff, and peer departments, and to properly prioritize work to timely notify campus stakeholders about upcoming opportunities and deadlines.

Ability to operate in a service-oriented way, with dedication, follow-through, and team spirit.

Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Preferred Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in a related field and at least two years of experience managing a campus limited submission process or at least three years of experience in other research administration or research development activities.

Documented experience with InfoReady submission platform.

Certified Research Administrator Certification.

Salary Range

$82,000 + depending on qualifications

Working Conditions

May work around standard office conditions. 

Repetitive use of a keyboard at a workstation

Required Materials

Please mark "yes" on the application for required materials. Failure to attach all additional materials listed may affect candidates being considered for the position.

Resume/CV

3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor.

Letter of interest

Important for applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers: You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications. Any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section; you will be able to multi-select additional files. Before submitting your online job application, ensure that ALL Required Materials have been uploaded.  Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes.

Important for Current university employees and contingent workers: As a current university employee or contingent worker, you MUST apply within Workday by searching for Find UT Jobs. If you are a current University employee, log-in to Workday, navigate to your Worker Profile, click the Career link in the left hand navigation menu and then update the sections in your Professional Profile before you apply. This information will be pulled in to your application. The application is one page and you will be prompted to upload your resume. In addition, you must respond to the application questions presented to upload any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) that were noted above.

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Employment Eligibility:

Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers. Staff who are promotion/transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.

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Retirement Plan Eligibility:

The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.

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Background Checks:

A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.

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Equal Opportunity Employer:

The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

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Pay Transparency:

The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.

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Employment Eligibility Verification:

If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form.  You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States.  Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment.  Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.

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E-Verify:

The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015. The university’s company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197. For more information about E-Verify, please see the following:

E-Verify Poster (English and Spanish) [PDF]Right to Work Poster (English) [PDF]Right to Work Poster (Spanish) [PDF]

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Compliance:

Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031.

The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.