Director of Sponsored Programs

The Director of Sponsored Programs provides strategic leadership and oversight of the university’s sponsored programs enterprise, with primary responsibility for pre-award administration, regulatory compliance, and non-financial post-award management. Reporting to the Chief Research Officer, this role ensures that all sponsored activity aligns with federal, state, sponsor, and institutional requirements while supporting faculty success and institutional research growth.
The Director serves as the institutional authority on sponsored programs compliance, policy, and sponsor engagement and provides leadership to the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP).

Responsibilities Include:

• Provide strategic leadership for all sponsored programs administration, establish policies, procedures, and internal controls governing research administration, and collaborate with senior leadership to advance institutional research goals.
• Oversee proposal development, review, and submission processes, ensure accuracy, completeness, and compliance of proposals before submission, and provide guidance to faculty on sponsor requirements, funding opportunities, and proposal strategy.
• Serve as the institutional expert on Uniform Guidance and sponsor regulations, interpret sponsor requirements and ensure consistent institutional compliance, and act as primary liaison with external funding agencies. Complete requirements associated with SACSCOC.
• Oversee administration of award terms and conditions (non-financial), ensure appropriate management of prior approvals, modifications, and compliance obligations, and coordinate with the Director of Sponsored Research Finance on financial matters.
• Oversee the administration of research compliance areas related to grant management (COI, IRB, IACUC, IBC, Controlled Substances, Hazardous Chemicals, Research Compliance Training and Export Control) as well as oversee the administration of Intellectual Property and licensing activities. Serve as the Institutional Official on the IRB and the IACUC, and serve in an ex officio capacity on the Research Council and Patent committee.
• Work with the Associate Director of OSP to analyze research metric reports to share with leadership, and to help inform strategic decisions.
• Supervise OSP staff and ensure high-quality service delivery, and foster a culture of compliance, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Requirements Include:

• Bachelor's degree preferred (or equivalent knowledge obtained through a combination of education, training and experience)
• Minimum of 3 years of experience in sponsored programs or research administration preferred
• Experience in higher education or complex research environments preferred
• Strong knowledge of Uniform Guidance, federal regulations, and sponsor compliance requirements
• Demonstrated experience supporting proposal development and award administration
• Experience supervising staff and leading a functional unit

Equal Opportunity

Florida Institute of Technology does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, disability, age, genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, veteran status, and other legally protected characteristics in its activities and programs. In accordance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Florida Tech does not discriminate on the basis of sex.  Inquiries concerning the application of the Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment policy may be directed to the Equal Opportunity Director and Investigator at 150 West University Blvd, Melbourne, FL 32901, or email equalopp@fit.edu, or +1 321-674-7153; or to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

Americans with Disabilities Act

Please notify us at least five days in advance if a reasonable accommodation for a disability is needed by calling the Office of Human Resources at 321-674-8100.

Annual Security & Fire Safety Report

The federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act) requires colleges and universities, both public and private, participating in federal student aid programs to disclose campus safety information, and imposes certain basic requirements for handling incidents of sexual violence and emergency situations.

Florida Tech’s 2025 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report includes statistics for the previous three years concerning reported crimes that occurred on campus; in certain off-campus buildings or property owned or controlled by Florida Tech; and on public property within, or immediately adjacent to and accessible from, the campus.

The numbers provided incl