Grant Writer

Position Overview:

The Earl E. Bakken Medical Devices Center (BMDC) facilitates moving healthcare technology from idea to commercialization. Stakeholders from around the University including M Health Fairview clinicians, research faculty, research staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students come to BMDC for guidance and resources on solving healthcare needs. Some ideas are vague, some are well-formed, some are advanced, and some are in the early stages of development.

Leads and coordinates grant writing efforts across entrepreneurs, BMDC, and partners, managing the full lifecycle from strategy and proposal development to submission and execution. Provides training and hands-on support, develops pitch decks and funding strategies, and identifies relevant grant opportunities (e.g., ARPA-H, DOD, NIH, NSF). Establishes scalable templates, processes, and a library of successful materials, while tracking progress and delivering reports and presentations for stakeholders.

This position is a hybrid working format. Per UMN policy, work may be done remotely when appropriate and approved by your manager. All UMN employees are expected to follow applicable public health and safety procedures.

Job Duties/Responsibilities:

100%: Grant Writing and Support

• Serve as the key person to coordinate the grant writing, submission and execution processes with the entrepreneurs and/or BMDC, along with training and educational support for them, including managing relationships, documents, budgets, and tasks across entities within the university and necessary outside partners.
• Work with the entrepreneurs and/or BMDC to develop pitch decks, strategies, critical tasks and milestones for also pursuing dilutive funding and other types of sources of funds or revenues.
• Identify other non-dilutive technology or business grants (e.g., through ARPA-H, DOD, NIH, NSF) that can support entrepreneurs and/or BMDC and contribute detailed writing of those grants together with entrepreneurs to advance their technology and success towards commercialization.
• Develop templates and processes for scaling up the grant writing support capabilities for multiple companies and/or BMDC in parallel.
• Develop a library of templates, awarded proposals and strategy documents for successfully seeking non-dilutive funding through various federal, state, and local grant and foundation opportunities.
• Present progress reports and develop presentations for supervisor and stakeholders.

Required Qualifications:

• BA/BS or a combination of related education and work experience to equal four years in the areas of mechanical engineering or electrical engineering
• Experience serving on SBIR/STTR and other technology grant review panels is helpful for this position.
• Extensive experience writing, submitting and managing different types of technology and commercialization grants (e.g., SBIR, STTR) submitted to NIH, DoD, NSF, ARPA-H, industry, and/or foundations
• Must be available to work 40 hours per week on an agreed upon schedule
• Mature judgment and demonstrated ability to work independently or with a team, exercise discretion, and manage multiple priorities at once
• Strong leadership, communication and interpersonal skills
• Project management experience with grant proposals, publications, and/or complex documents/series of documents
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, and critical thinking skills; adaptability to meet changing demands.
• Ability to identify, analyze, and address a wide variety of issues and problems in a high-intensity environment.
• Collegiality, approachability, and diplomacy at all levels of an organization.

Preferred Qualifications:

• HIPAA Training (can be performed after hire date)
• Familiar with U of MN policies and procedures
• Experience functioning at a senior research level within an academic institution, and also have some business experience with start-up companies.

The Bakken Medical Devices Center (BMDC), a unit of the Institute for Engineering in Medicine and part of the College of Science and Engineering and the Medical School, facilitates moving novel medical technologies from ideas to commercialization. BMDC research and development projects originate from clinical faculty with ideas for a new medical device, or from engineering faculty with a new technology, or both.

Pay Range: $100 per hour; depending on education/qualifications/experience.

Work Location: Hybrid

Retirement plan options are available for Civil Service, Faculty, Labor-Represented, Professional & Administrative, and Temp Casual classifications. Learn more about retirement plans.

Applications must be submitted online. To be considered for this position, please click the Apply button and follow the instructions. You will be given the opportunity to complete an online application for the position and attach a cover letter and resume.

Additional documents may be attached after application by accessing your "My Job Applications" page and uploading documents in the "My Cover Letters and Attachments" section.

To request an accommodation during the application process, please e-mail employ@umn.edu or call (612) 624-8647.

The University recognizes and values the importance of diversity and inclusion in enriching the employment experience of its employees and in supporting the academic mission. The University is committed to attracting and retaining employees with varying identities and backgrounds.

The University of Minnesota provides equal access to and opportunity in its programs, facilities, and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, gender, age, marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. To learn more about diversity at the U: http://diversity.umn.edu

Any offer of employment is contingent upon the successful completion of a background check. Our presumption is that prospective employees are eligible to work here. Criminal convictions do not automatically disqualify finalists from employment.

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (UMTC)

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (UMTC), is among the largest public research universities in the country, offering undergraduate, graduate, and professional students a multitude of opportunities for study and research. Located at the heart of one of the nation's most vibrant, diverse metropolitan communities, students on the campuses in Minneapolis and St. Paul benefit from extensive partnerships with world-renowned health centers, international corporations, government agencies, and arts, nonprofit, and public service organizations.

At the University of Minnesota, we are proud to be recognized by Forbes as a Best Employer for Company Culture (2026), Best Employer for Women (2023), and Best Employer by State (2022-2026). In 2026, we also received Culture Excellence & Industry Awards recognition for employee appreciation and work-life flexibility.