Grants & Operations Assistant

FWD.us; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 60,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Life insurance

401k matching

Paid time off

Holiday schedules

Gym reimbursement

Student loan repayment

Professional development

Job summary

FWD.us is seeking a Grants & Operations Assistant to support grant-funded work under the COO. You’ll help with administration, data entry, and compliance across proposals, budgets, and reporting.

In this role you’ll assist finance and operations, keep audit-ready files, and coordinate vendor contracts, expenses, and monthly reconciliations. They value organization, independence, and proactive problem solving.

Qualifications

• Experience with a CRM and spreadsheets (Excel/Sheets).
• Organized, detail oriented with quality outcomes.
• Able to work independently and with a team, communicating clearly.

Responsibilities

• Support grant administration, including paperwork, W-9s and compliance docs.
• Maintain audit-ready grant files from proposal to final report.
• Manage data in funder portals and grant management systems.
• Support monthly financial reconciliations and expense coding.
• Coordinate vendor paperwork and contract administration.

Skills

CRM experience

Attention to detail

Independent & collaborative

Strong communication

Fast learner

Proactive problem solving

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Google Sheets

CRM systems

Job description

FWD.us is a bipartisan political organization that believes America’s families, communities, and economy thrive when everyone has the opportunity to achieve their full potential. For too long, our broken immigration and criminal justice systems have locked too many people out from the American dream. Founded by leaders in the technology and business communities, we seek to grow and galvanize political support to break through partisan gridlock and achieve meaningful reforms. Together, we can move America forward.

Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, the Grants & Operations Assistant provides the day-to-day administrative and data support that keeps FWD.us’s grant-funded work running. The Assistant works closely with the larger program and grants team who own proposal writing, funder narrative, and reporting strategy. The Associate supports this work with record keeping, documentation, deadline and compliance paperwork. The role also provides broad finance and operations administrative support on contract managements, expenses and annual audit preparation.

This is an excellent opportunity for an early-career professional who is organized, eager to learn how a mission-driven organization operates, and motivated by building effective systems. The Grants & Operations Assistant appreciates the essential role that operations and administration play in advancing FWD’s ambitious mission. They excel at problem-solving in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, work effectively both independently and collaboratively, and can successfully manage multiple moving parts. Additionally, the ideal candidate thrives in a bipartisan framework and brings a strong work ethic to this vital role.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Working with the operations and program teams, the Grants & Operations Assistant will support a variety of operations functions of FWD, with a focus on the following areas:

Grant & Funder Administration

• Support the administration of grants including completing and submitting the paperwork and compliance documentation, including W-9s, banking and ACH/wire instructions, vendor and payee setup forms, IRS determination letters, board and staff rosters, organizational budgets, audited financial statements, Forms 990, certificates of insurance, and due diligence questionnaires.
• Register and maintain FWD.us profiles and credentials across funder portals and grant management systems; track log-in ownership so access is never tied to a single individual. Record grant agreements, award letters, and funder-required certifications for review and signature.
• Support the program team through the proposal and reporting cycle by assembling and formatting attachments, budgets, and supporting schedules, proofreading submissions, uploading materials to funder portals, and confirming receipt.
• Maintain accurate, audit-ready grant files so that any award can be traced from proposal through agreement, payment, and final report.

Data & Systems Management

• Serve as a primary steward of FWD.us’s central operations and funder database, ensuring that every proposal, award, payment, contract, and reporting obligation is entered accurately, completely, and on time.

  • Upload and organize source documents — proposals, award letters and agreements, budgets, reports, correspondence, and amendments — and link them to the correct records.
  • Apply and enforce consistent naming conventions, field definitions, and file structures across the database and shared drives.
  • Perform regular data hygiene: audit records for missing fields, duplicates, stale statuses, and broken links, and correct them.

Operations and Finance Support

• Provide support to the finance and operations team related to compliance such as assisting with routine financial processes, including scanning and depositing checks, recording receipts, entering data, and preparing documentation for processing.
• Assist with the annual independent financial statement audits of FWD and affiliated entities by gathering grant agreements, award documentation, and supporting schedules requested by the external auditors.
• Support contract and vendor administration, by collecting and filing all necessary vendor paperwork including recording and tracking in the operations and funder database.
• Assist with monthly financial reconciliations including credit card management and vendor payments.
• Maintain finance and operations team calendar and assist with scheduling as needed.
• Support the finance and operations team with gathering, organizing, and coding expenses for the monthly credit card reconciliation reports.
• Provide general operations and administrative support, and other duties as assigned.

Skills & Requirements

• Preferred Experience working with a CRM and familiarity with spreadsheets (Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets)
• Organized and detail oriented, demonstrating accuracy and quality of work products
• Self motivated to work independently as well as collaboratively as part of a team
• Effective communication skills to liaise with internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to quickly learn new processes and systems and provide input on improvement where needed.
• Proactive and intellectually curious about areas of growth

Salary Range: $60,000-$65,000 annually. Offered salary will be commensurate with relevant experience. This position is based in our Washington, D.C. Headquarters Office. We offer competitive health, dental, and vision insurance benefits, employer paid life insurance, matching 401k, PTO, sick leave, holiday schedules, gym reimbursement, federal student loan payment reimbursement, professional development, and other support for our staff.

Equal Opportunity Employment/Diversity

We are an organization committed to making the world a better place for all people. Diversity is a source of our strength, and allows us to make better decisions, be more impactful, and be better at our jobs day to day. We see our internal commitment to diversity to be reflective of how we view the world and the changes we want to see become reality.

This organization is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against employees or applicants for employment on the basis of an individual’s race, color, religion, creed, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status or any other status protected by applicable law. This policy applies to all terms, conditions and privileges of employment, including recruitment, hiring, placement, compensation, promotion, discipline and termination.

The organization understands that too often what are viewed as the traditional credentials are subjective criteria that exclude historically marginalized communities and act as barriers to hiring and recruiting the best candidates.

As part of FWD’s best hiring practices, we do not have educational requirements for any of our jobs. Many of our jobs do require specific interpersonal, skill-based, technical, policy or other requirements and applicants for those jobs will be evaluated based on their level of expertise, to include lived experience and work experience - which could have taken place at an educational institution or elsewhere.

FWD.us believes in fair chances and employment opportunities that benefit everyone. Ensuring that people who have had contact with the criminal justice system–including incarceration for serious offenses and substantial periods of time–have the opportunities upon their release to fully succeed and contribute to this country is central to our work and is a value to which we are absolutely committed to uphold in how we operate and who we hire. We do not conduct criminal background checks on applicants, unless required by state or federal law for specific roles.

The company makes reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities to the extent required by law.