Quality Control Manager / Senior NSF Peer Reviewer 2026P-0536
Ascension is seeking an experienced Quality Control Manager / Senior NSF Peer Reviewer to support a university-based National Science Foundation (NSF) grant development initiative designed to improve faculty competitiveness in NSF proposal development and submission.
The ideal candidate is a highly experienced research administration professional, NSF grant reviewer, university research leader, or quality assurance specialist who understands the importance of precision, compliance, and continuous improvement in the grant development lifecycle. This individual will ensure that NSF-related proposal materials, faculty feedback, administrative submissions, and supporting documentation are complete, accurate, compliant, and aligned with customer expectations before submission.
The successful candidate will bring demonstrated experience establishing or managing quality control processes, reviewing complex professional documents, providing constructive feedback, and improving workflows that support successful grant development outcomes.
This role is ideal for a detail-oriented professional who enjoys working with faculty researchers, research administrators, and consulting teams to strengthen proposal quality and improve institutional research competitiveness.
Summary of Contractor Role
The Quality Control Manager / Senior NSF Peer Reviewer will establish and execute a contract-specific quality control framework supporting NSF grant consulting services for Morgan State University. The consultant will develop QC processes, review checklists, acceptance criteria, and quality review procedures to ensure that faculty proposal materials, grant development products, reports, presentations, and administrative submissions meet established standards.
The consultant will support Ascension’s delivery team by independently reviewing deliverables, identifying deficiencies, recommending corrective actions, and validating that corrections have been successfully incorporated prior to submission.
This position requires an individual who can operate independently, manage multiple review activities, communicate effectively with consultants and university stakeholders, and maintain a high level of attention to detail while working within an academic research environment.
Key Responsibilities / Anticipated Activities
- Develop and maintain a contract-specific Quality Control Plan aligned with client requirements, quality standards, and delivery expectations.
- Establish quality review checklists, acceptance criteria, templates, and review procedures to support consistent evaluation of deliverables.
- Review NSF grant proposal materials, faculty feedback documents, workshop materials, reports, presentations, and administrative submissions for accuracy, completeness, formatting, and compliance.
- Perform independent quality reviews of deliverables prior to submission to Morgan State University.
- Evaluate proposal documentation against NSF requirements, client expectations, and established review criteria.
- Identify document deficiencies, inconsistencies, missing information, and potential compliance risks.
- Provide actionable recommendations and corrective feedback to improve deliverable quality.
- Track quality review activities, findings, corrective actions, and resolution status through documented review logs.
- Validate that corrective actions have been completed prior to final submission.
- Maintain version control and documentation management practices for reviewed materials.
- Support continuous improvement activities by recommending enhancements to templates, workflows, and review processes.
- Collaborate with NSF grant consultants, faculty support personnel, and Ascension project leadership to improve overall service quality.
- Prepare quality status updates and communicate emerging issues, risks, or improvement opportunities.
How to Apply
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| Job Category | Consulting, Research and Analysis |
| MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS | Bachelor’s degree in quality management, business administration, research administration, technical communications, higher education administration, or related discipline. |
| REQUIRED SKILLS | Minimum of five (5) years of experience overseeing or managing a quality control program | Strong written and verbal communication skills | Ability to work independently with minimal supervision while managing multiple review activities. |
| TECHNICAL SKILLS | Experience reviewing professional documents, reports, proposals, training materials, research products, or grant-related documentation | Demonstrated experience developing and implementing quality review processes, checklists, acceptance criteria, or quality assurance procedures | Strong editing, proofreading, documentation control, and compliance review skills | Ability to identify errors, inconsistencies, gaps, and opportunities for improvement. |
| DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS | Master’s degree or advanced degree in research administration, higher education administration, science, engineering, or related discipline | Experience supporting NSF-funded research activities | Prior experience as an NSF program officer, NSF proposal reviewer, principal investigator, research administrator, or university research office professional | Experience supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) or minority-serving institutions | Familiarity with NSF proposal submission systems such as Research.gov or Fastlane | Experience with ISO 9001 quality management principles. |
| SUITABILITY/SECURITY REQUIREMENTS | No security clearance required. |