Senior Development Associate: Grants & Strategy

Center For Employment Opportunities, Inc.; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 63,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Center for Employment Opportunities is seeking a Senior Associate, Development to co-lead high-stakes fundraising initiatives and support strategic planning with leadership. You will mentor staff, guide grant strategies, and drive timely submissions for foundation, corporate, government, and individual funders.

The role partners across Program, Investment, and Finance teams to align fundraising with organizational impact and to sustain donor engagement on regional or national portfolios.

Qualifications

• 3+ years of professional fundraising and grant writing experience.
• Experience managing cross-functional projects across geographically dispersed teams.
• Proven track record partnering with executives on high-stakes funding opportunities.
• Experience delivering presentations and pitches to institutional funders and donors.
• Strong leadership, mentorship, and staff development skills.
• Excellent written and verbal storytelling with data to support cases for support.

Responsibilities

• Drafts and submits foundation, corporate, and government funding proposals.
• Coordinates grant reports and donor communications.
• Researches funders and develops strategy memos for funding priorities.
• Manages site visits and follow‑up correspondence with funders.
• Collaborates with programs, investment, finance, and grants teams to ensure timely deliverables.
• Tracks fundraising activity in Salesforce and maintains data integrity.
• Leads regional or national revenue opportunities and coordinates with leadership.
• Prepares strategic memos and presentations for institutional stakeholders.
• Mentors Development Associates and leads training sessions.
• Runs portfolio review meetings and donor stewardship activities.

Skills

Grant writing

Fundraising

Project management

Stakeholder engagement

Storytelling

Salesforce / CRM

Tools

Salesforce CRM

Google Workspace

Job description

Center for Employment Opportunities is seeking a Senior Associate, Development to co-lead high-stakes fundraising initiatives and support strategic planning with leadership. You will mentor staff, guide grant strategies, and drive timely submissions for foundation, corporate, government, and individual funders.

The role partners across Program, Investment, and Finance teams to align fundraising with organizational impact and to sustain donor engagement on regional or national portfolios.