Director, Engineering Research Partnerships

Provide leadership and direction in strategic planning activities to increase research, with a focus on highlighting its relevance to industry, and to advance innovation and entrepreneurship in the Faculty of Engineering in the short- and long-term. Work closely with the Associate Dean, Research and External Partnerships (ADR) and the Office of Research to define and advance faculty research goals; in this capacity, the director monitors and evaluates progress against proposed objectives, identifies gaps in performance and capacity, and develops strategies to align Faculty priorities and exceed Faculty targets.

Develop and oversee implementation of faculty- and department-level strategic recommendations, including communicating the Faculty’s strategies to encourage increased research funding, external research collaborations, and access to the entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Work closely with the ADR to identify and develop opportunities to establish new research initiatives and grow existing programs. This includes increasing, strengthening and diversifying research funding sources, developing strategies to improve success rates in major federal and provincial award programs, and maintaining a working knowledge of significant developments and trends related to national and global economics, innovation, and technological development to ensure research programs are strategically positioned to respond to emerging issues. Work with the ADR to understand and connect the Engineering Faculty to University and local technology association initiatives to support entrepreneurship, including Conrad School of Business and Entrepreneurship, WatCo, Velocity, the Accelerator Centre and Communitech.

Solicit and orchestrate direct funding opportunities from government ministries at both the provincial and federal levels.

Manage relationships within the research community on campus, as well as interactions with external financial partners, industry, academia, and alumni.

Leading business and financial planning to establish viable strategic, tactical, and operational targets in close collaboration with the ADR.

Work closely with the development and communications teams to develop and maintain a clear and integrated strategic communications plan to increase visibility of research within the Faculty of Engineering and influence stakeholders.

Work with the development and communications teams to identify Engineering research success stories, organize funding announcements and media events, develop and produce materials to promote research programs and activities, and grow the Faculty of Engineering research ‘brand’.

Communicate potential research opportunities to departments and individual faculty researchers and assessing their viability for possible follow-up.

Provide leadership to individual researchers, support development and ongoing success of major research proposals, including but not limited to:

Identify opportunities for major research projects, including sources of funding, potential internal team members (taking interdisciplinary collaboration initiatives into account), and external industry partners who might sponsor or use the research, as well as non-industry partners and stakeholders.

Provide guidance and direction in preparation, coordination, implementation and reporting on major funding proposals. This may involve acting as a de-facto member of the research team to ensure the development of a high-quality proposal.

Provide guidance and coordinate efforts related to financial and technical reporting on major projects, assisting with internal and external audits.

Establish and communicate internal deadlines for submission and review of research proposals to department chairs, faculty, and centres/institutes.

Develop and distribute reference material to aid proposal development.

Organize and chair in-house workshops, information sessions, and panel discussions on upcoming government/industries funding opportunities. This includes securing relevant agency and industry speakers to instruct faculty researchers on program guidelines and proposal development.

Conduct final reviews of applications to ensure compliance with agency evaluation criteria and university guidelines, including budgets. This includes advising the ADR on proposal quality and likelihood of success.

Coach and mentor faculty researchers in approaching, securing and extending industry partnerships.

Provide leadership and strategic oversight for high-profile and mission-critical funding programs within the Faculty, including the Ontario Research Fund, Canada Foundation for Innovation

programs, and other major federal and provincial initiatives. Serve as a trusted advisor to faculty members and staff on strategic funding opportunities, institutional competitiveness, and the effective communication of research impact to sponsors and stakeholders.

Encourage researchers to be aware of, and apply for, awards administered by the ADR and external awards.