Director of Grants Management (DF)

Democracy Fund; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Democracy Fund is seeking a Director of Grants Management to lead the grants program, overseeing the administration of over $35M in grants annually and transforming the function to emphasize data, coaching, and professional development for program staff.

The role oversees the Grants Management Associate, reports to the Managing Director, Operations, and requires strong systems improvement, customer service, and knowledge of Fluxx and federal/state requirements.

Qualifications

• 7–10 years grants management experience with foundation processes and compliance.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; ability to synthesize complex information.
• Direct management experience and ability to develop staff.
• Collaborative work across departments to ensure compliance and efficiency.
• Experience with grants management software (Fluxx) is preferred.
• Familiarity with IRS rules for private foundation grantmaking including lobbying and expenditure responsibility.

Responsibilities

• Oversee and improve the end-to-end grants process from sourcing to grant closing; ensure excellent customer service to staff and grantees.
• Partner with Senior Counsel to ensure policies, procedures and compliance with legal and tax requirements.
• Build coaching and training programs for program staff on grantmaking best practices.
• Create and maintain a data and analytics program; report metrics to stakeholders and coach analytics best practices.
• Lead major improvements to systems, templates, and governance related to grants management.

Skills

Grants management

Leadership

Data analytics

Communication

Fluxx

IRS rules

Microsoft Office

Tools

Fluxx

Microsoft Office

Job description

Democracy Fund is seeking a Director of Grants Management to lead the Fund’s grants management team, including overseeing the administration of more than $35M in grants each year, improving all aspects of the grants process, and providing support and trainings to program staff on best practices in philanthropy. As Democracy Fund continues to grow, it is looking for a passionate grants management expert who can transform how grants management is positioned at the Fund from being highly centralized to focused on using data, coaching, and professional development in supporting our program staff to be the best grantmakers they can be.

The Director of Grants Management will also support Democracy Fund Voice, a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The Director will manage a Grants Management Associate and report to the Managing Director, Operations. The ideal candidate will be passionate about systems improvement, customer service, analytics and learning, process documentation, thrive with change management efforts and working collaboratively across teams, understand the intracies of funding work in the advocacy and public policy space, as well as have prior experience with Fluxx.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Oversee and seek to improve the process and workflow by which grants are made, from how grants are sourced, through the application process, to due diligence review, approval, grant agreement generation, payment, grant reporting, and grant closing. Ensure Grants Management team provides excellent customer service to program staff and grantees as they navigate the process.
• Partner with the Grants Management Associate and Senior Counsel to ensure that policies and procedures are followed and all grants adhere to federal and state legal and tax requirements as well as organization-defined best practices for proposal development, due dilligence, and grantee reporting.
• Work with the Managing Director to create a robust coaching and training program that empowers program staff to be excellent grantmakers, including a curriculum for new program staff who join the Fund, ongoing trainings on different aspects of due diligence and grantee support, and a staffing support model that connects in-house and external nonprofit management expertise with program staff.
• Create and maintain a robust data and analytics program that provides timely and relevant data to stakeholders across the organization to promote learning, improve grant processing time, and systemize internal communications. Be the organization’s expert on data reporting out of Fluxx and coach Grants Management Associate on analytics best practices.
• Lead major projects to improve existing systems, including overhauling the grant application, creating a policies and procedures guide, creating new grant reporting templates, creating a board portal for grant review, instituting a more formal amendment process, and other projects as identified.
• Work closely with the Grants Management Associate to manage the ongoing use and improvement of our grants management system, Fluxx. Partner with Operations and Communications staff on how to use Fluxx to manage other processes, such as contracts, invoice processing, and sponsorships.
• Serve as a member of the organization’s Investment Committee, reviewing all major grant opportunities and giving feedback to program staff. Work with the Grants Management Associate to oversee the management of the Investment Committee.
• Continually stay abreast of new developments in grant management best practices and technologies and their applicability to the needs of the Fund. Identify opportunities and develop partnerships both internally and externally to build innovative, sustainable tools, and services that benefit the Fund.
• Serve as a leader of the Operations team, shaping the team’s goals, and actively work to support the success of other members of the entire Democracy Fund team and cultivate an organizational culture that is highly collaborative, positive, and productive.

EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND SKILLS REQUIREMENTS

• Passion for strengthening American democracy
• 7-10 years grants management experience with a deep understanding of private foundation grantmaking processes and related financial and compliance issues.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Ability to synthesize large amounts of information (technical, legal, financial, and anecdotal) and communicate clearly the key information. Meticulous attention to detail and accuracy in documentation and data integrity.
• Prior direct management experience and proven ability to provide feedback and develop staff.
• Works collaboratively with staff at all levels to execute duties. Proven talent in ensuring positive, proactive, responsive relationships within and across departments for compliance, efficiency, and effectiveness.
• Proven ability to evaluate, improve, manage and maintain systems and processes, including grants and/or contracts management software and processes. Passionate about continuous improvement.
• Success in creating and facilitating trainings and materials, whether internally or in managing outside consultants, as well as coaching program staff on grantmaking best practices.
• Experience with Fluxx or similar grants management databases preferred.
• Experience with the IRS rules applicable to private foundation grantmaking, including familiarity with IRS-defined lobbying and “project grant rule” grants and making expenditure responsibility grants.
• Exceptional customer service, problem-solving, analytical and conceptual skills, including a proven ability to create and manage organizational change.
• Demonstrated ability to multi-task and support multiple grant making functions simultaneously while exhibiting excellent time-management skills; ability to meet deadlines.
• Experience with Microsoft Office suite in Mac environment preferred.

The Democracy Fund is committed to a diverse workplace, seeking voices and expertise from people from across the political spectrum. Our board, staff, advisors, and grantees include Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. The Democracy Fund is an Equal Opportunity Employer, where we encourage candidates of all ages, color, ethnic background, country of origin,