Director of Grants

Overview

The Director of Grants leads the institutional giving programs at UTEC, overseeing grant and contract income that make up a majority of the agency revenues. The Director is responsible for drafting and oversight of proposals that solicit support for the work of UTEC and provide funding for current and future initiatives.  Reports to the Chief Development Officer and works closely with other Leadership staff on internal systems and program planning to sustain the $13.1M+ operating budget, and to address capital fundraising as needed. The Director of Grants supervises Senior Grant Writer and a Grant Writer Consultant, and works in partnership with other organizational staff.

Background on UTEC, INC.:

UTEC’s promise is to ignite and nurture the ambition of our most disengaged youth to trade violence and poverty for social and economic success. UTEC’s outcomes-focused model begins with intensive street outreach, reaching proven high-risk youth “where they’re at.” UTEC engages youth in workforce development and educational programs and provides intensive case management. Social justice and civic engagement are embedded in all programming. For more info, please visit www.utecinc.org.

Serving young adults throughout Merrimack Valley (Lowell, Lawrence and Haverhill), UTEC was founded in 1999 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping young adults (ages 17-25) overcome the very real challenges of poverty, gang involvement, unemployment. UTEC reaches 500+ youth annually through an evidence-based model aimed at reducing recidivism while increasing education and employment attainment

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Provide direct supervision to a Senior Grant Writer and Grant Writer Consultant
• Ensure effective time management of all direct reports
• Review and approve all timesheets and requests for time off
• Provide regular supervision and feedback through individual meetings with direct reports
• Perform an annual written performance review with all direct reports by documenting any exceptional performance as well as any concerning behavior shared with HR
• Identify areas for professional growth for all direct reports and align with any available resources at UTEC
• Ensure that all staff can identify the impact of their role on agency-wide goals and metrics for success

Duties/Responsibilities

• Work with Chief Development Officer and Chief Financial Officer to set and meet institutional fundraising goals
• Maintain and track pertinent foundations outreach-including cultivations, solicitations, and other activities
• Coordinate with the Chief Program Officer on key data metrics to share with funders
• Provide review and editing support to the rest of the development team on materials to be shared with external audiences
• Coordinate with the development team around system improvements and updates to Salesforce and other tracking systems
• Revisit, update, and document key processes of the grants team, in conjunction with the Senior Grant Writer and Grant Writer Consultant
• Develop and maintain a strategic funding strategy to determine which funding sources to apply to and prioritize in the pipeline
• Regularly review and assess the grants pipeline, in conjunction with the grant writers, to determine individual tasks and priorities
• Work with Leadership staff to identify funding needs and alignment with funder requests
• Coordinate with program leadership around project management for grants and contracts, including communicating key deliverables, and ensuring that we are tracking and meeting these deliverables
• Maintain communication and relationships with selected funders, in conjunction with other leadership staff, including providing periodic programming updates, requesting input in developing proposals, and seeking feedback on rejected proposals
• Work closely with the Finance team to best integrate grant and contract reconciliation
• Oversee grant and contract reporting in partnership with program, evaluation, and finance staff
• Communicate contract reporting requirements to the Contracts Manager, and support with reporting as needed
• Write, edit and review grant proposals and other materials, particularly focused on large funders (e.g., federal contracts and national foundations) and the creation of new content
• Coordinate with the finance team around budgets to be included in proposals
• Send acknowledgment letters to funders when funds are received
• Provide input and feedback on updates to our boilerplate language used in proposals
• Identify and research new sources of funding, in conjunction with the grant writers

Required Skills/Abilities

• Proven experience with project management and reporting
• Experience developing and managing productive working relationships with funders and coworkers at all levels
• Capacity to work effectively in a fast-paced environment with evolving priorities
• Ability to work as a leader and as part of a team
• Track record of successful grant writing experience
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• A healthy sense of humor, and an ability to have fun while working hard
• Attention to detail is a must!
• Commitment to social justice is essential; youth-serving experience is ideal
• Excellent management skills
• Excellent organizational and time management skills, especially the ability to deal with tight deadlines and rapidly shifting priorities
• Experience with Salesforce a plus
• Demonstrate a commitment to UTEC’s principles of social change, diversity, and community building
• An ability to think critically and creatively, participate in strategic discussions, and develop new systems as UTEC’s size and structure grows and shifts
• Capacity to work with staff and partners at all levels, with comfort “managing up”
• Ability to identify and manage work plans, multi-task and adapt to a changing environment.
• Strong computer and online literacy skills

Education & Experience

• A minimum of 5 years fundraising experience, with staff supervision responsibilities, preferred
• Bachelor’s degree or higher preferred

Physical Requirements

• Prolonged periods sitting and working on a computer

 

Salary range of $65,000-$90,000, commensurate with experience. Benefits include retirement 401K plan, health and dental (50-85% subsidized), 3 weeks paid vacation, holiday and paid sick/personal time, the opportunity for a paid sabbatical after 3 years, first-time homebuyers funding, free counseling for all staff, and unlimited free coffee courtesy of Café UTEC! Please see www.utecinc.org/jobs for more details.