Program Specialist

The Office of Research of the UNM Health Sciences Center invites applications for a Research Development Specialist. This position will play a critical role in supporting executive leadership by developing, managing, and tracking high-impact presentations and visual materials, in addition to managing internal funding opportunities and communications. The ideal candidate is highly organized and detail-oriented, with a strong understanding of executive communication needs. The Research Development Specialist will:

• Provide operational and administrative support for the day-to-day activities of the Research Development Office and identifying opportunities to enhance program operations to efficiently achieve program objectives
• Plan, coordinate, and manage internal funding programs and provide programmatic and technical guidance to HSC faculty. Provide day-to-day problem solving as necessary related to program needs.
• Design and implement systems to assess, collect, maintain, and analyze data; generates interim progress reports, final reports, evaluation and other information related to internal programs.
• Drafts weekly and monthly communications distributed by the Office of Research.
• Creates visually compelling, content-rich presentations for executive leadership, including board meetings, strategic planning sessions, and external stakeholder engagements. Ensure alignment with organizational branding and messaging standards.
• Collaborates with internal teams to gather relevant data and insights, manage timelines, track revisions, and maintain version control for all presentation materials.
• Anticipates leadership needs by proactively preparing materials for recurring and ad hoc meetings, ensuring accuracy and strategic alignment.
• Translates complex data into clear visuals and infographics and maintain an organized archive of past presentations for reference and reuse.
• Perform miscellaneous job-related duties as assigned.

The successful candidate will demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills; have the ability to work independently and collaborate as a member of an interdisciplinary team; be detail oriented; be able to prioritize tasks and manage competing deadlines; be well-versed in standard software and technologies (i.e. Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe, Zoom) and self-motivated to learn new programs as needed (i.e. web content management systems, digital content platforms, Smartsheet, etc.); and have an interest in health sciences research.

See the Position Description for additional information.

• Employees who provide services or work in patient care or clinical areas are required to be in compliance with the University's influenza vaccination requirement.
• If located at the UNM Children's Campus, successful candidate must pass a comprehensive post-offer, pre-employment criminal and New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) fingerprint background check, and a continued successful status will be verified by periodic future background checks.

High school diploma or GED; at least 6 years of experience directly related to the duties and responsibilities specified.

Completed degree(s) from an accredited institution that are above the minimum education requirement may be substituted for experience on a year for year basis.

• Program planning, development, and implementation skills
• Experience with program operations, data management, and data analysis/reporting (i.e. tracking program outcomes)
• Familiarity working within academic research settings
• Experience with grant proposal writing and preparation
• Strong editing and proofreading skills
• Experience with federal funding mechanisms and grant systems and databases for finding and tracking funding opportunities and awards (i.e. grants.gov, Pivot, NIHReporter, etc.)
• Experience with developing professional communications, including presentations and newsletters

Only applications submitted through
the official UNMJobs site will be accepted. If you are viewing this job
advertisement on a 3rd party site, please
visit UNMJobs to submit an application.

Positions posted with a Staff Type of Regular or Term are eligible for the Veteran Preference Program. See the Veteran Preference Program webpage for additional details.

The University of New Mexico is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer, making decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, or any other protected class.

The University of New Mexico requires all regular staff positions successfully pass a pre-employment background check. This may include, but is not limited to, a criminal history background check, New Mexico Department of Health fingerprint screening, New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department fingerprint screening, verification of education credentials, and/or verification of prior employment. For more information about background checks, visit https://policy.unm.edu/university-policies/3000/3280.html. Refer to https://policy.unm.edu/university-policies/3000/3200.html for a definition of Regular Staff.