Senior Grants Manager

Inside Philanthropy; Miami (FL); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

MWK is seeking a Senior Grants Manager to lead the organization’s grants program in Florida. The role emphasizes advanced grant writing, editing, and managing the full grant lifecycle from prospect research to final reporting, ensuring alignment with MWK’s mission and program priorities.

Responsibilities include crafting competitive proposals, managing budgets, ensuring compliance, and cultivating funder relationships across foundations, corporations, and government sources.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent; 5+ years grant writing experience in nonprofit sector.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and storytelling skills translating complex programs into compelling narratives.
• Strong nonprofit financial management and grant budgeting knowledge.
• Excellent project management with ability to juggle multiple deadlines and priorities.
• Collaborative, detail‑oriented with strong interpersonal and communication skills.
• Proficiency in grant management software, Google Workspace, and CRM/database systems.

Responsibilities

• Lead the full grants lifecycle from prospect research to proposal and report development.
• Prepare LOIs, grant proposals, and renewal requests with budgets and supporting docs.
• Write high‑quality grant reports highlighting funder impact and outcomes.
• Coordinate with program, marketing, and finance teams to gather content and budgets for proposals.
• Ensure compliance with funder requirements and timely submissions.
• Maintain records of submissions, awards, and upcoming opportunities.

Skills

Grant writing

Project management

Communication

Editing/writing

Nonprofit fundraising

Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher in English, writing, nonprofit management, or related field

Master’s degree (preferred)

Tools

CRM/database systems

Google Workspace

Job description

The Senior Grants Manager is an advanced role responsible for leading MWK’s grants program, with a primary focus on grant proposal and report writing. The Manager will oversee the full grants lifecycle—from prospect research to proposal writing, reporting, compliance, and funder relationship management—ensures alignment between funding opportunities and MWK’s mission and programmatic priorities. This position combines exceptional grant‑writing and editing skills, a high attention to detail, the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines, strong financial acumen, and deep collaboration across departments to maximize MWK’s impact and long‑term sustainability.

Essential Responsibilities

Grant Proposal and Report Development (50%)

• Prepare, write, and submit competitive LOIs, grant proposals and renewal requests, including narratives, budgets, and supporting documentation.
• Prepare, write, and submit high-quality grant reports — including narratives, expense reports, and supporting documentation — that highlight the impact a funder had.
• Collaborate with program staff to understand program funding needs, gather necessary information and data for grant proposals, co‑developing programming and projects as needed to align proposals with funder priorities while maintaining focus on the organizational mission.
• Coordinate with program, marketing, and finance teams to collect content, data, and budgets for proposals.
• Collaborate with finance to understand grant budgets, ensuring budgets align with allowable expenses, and draft budget justifications that are aligned with proposal narratives and goals.
• Ensure proposals reflect MWK’s mission, values, and programmatic impact while meeting all funder requirements.
• Ensure all grant applications and reports are submitted in a timely manner and comply with the requirements of each funding source.

Compliance and Management (30%)

• Oversee the full lifecycle of awarded grants, including tracking deliverables, milestones, deadlines, and compliance requirements.
• Lead post-award grant kickoff meetings to streamline understanding of grant requirements across the organization.
• Monitor implementation of grant‑funded projects and assist teams as needed in tracking progress against goals and outputs, ensuring timely completion of grant‑funded activities and reporting metrics.
• Work with finance staff to monitor expenditures, reconcile budgets, and ensure compliance with grant terms.
• Maintain detailed records of grant proposal submissions, awards/declines, contracts, reporting deadlines and submissions, and a pipeline of upcoming opportunities.
• Streamline and maintain systems for tracking grant deadlines, reporting schedules, and deliverables, as well as grant performance, renewals, and multi‑year funding opportunities.
• Ensure compliance with all grant agreements and reporting requirements.
• Monitor grant reviewer feedback for proposals that are not awarded and incorporate lessons learned into resubmissions and new proposals.
• Maintain the shared Grants folder with up‑to‑date organizational documentation, including, but not limited to, IRS Letter of Determination, Form 990s, organizational audited financials, board lists, organizational charts, etc.

Research and Qualification (10%)

• Identify, research, and qualify new potential grant sources and opportunities for diversifying funding streams across government agencies, foundations, corporations, and other sources.
• Stay informed on current environmental issues, policy developments, scientific research, and funding trends relevant to MWK’s campaigns and mission areas, ensuring alignment with emerging opportunities and challenges.

Relationship Building (10%)

• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with existing and prospective funders, including foundations, corporations, and government agencies.
• Collaborate with program and executive teams to cultivate funder relationships and alignment of priorities.
• Ensure alignment between funding opportunities and program needs through communication with foundation program managers and MWK program managers, as needed.
• Represent MWK in meetings, site visits, and presentations with funders and partners.

Additional Responsibilities

• Participate, support, and contribute to organization-wide initiatives and events, including State of the Water, staff and team retreats, and collaborative fundraising efforts.
• Participate actively in internal meetings, cross‑functional planning sessions, and collaborative team building.
• Support miscellaneous administrative and troubleshooting tasks as needed to ensure seamless grant operations.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in English, writing, environmental science, nonprofit management, communications, public administration, or a related field, or equivalent work experience that demonstrates the necessary knowledge and skills.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in grant writing, management, and institutional fundraising within the nonprofit sector. Proven track record of securing and managing multi‑year five- and six-figure grants from foundations, corporations, and/or government sources.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and storytelling skills with a strong ability to translate complex programs into compelling narratives.
• Demonstrated understanding of nonprofit financial management and grant budgeting.
• Excellent project management skills with the ability to manage multiple deadlines and priorities.
• Collaborative and detail‑oriented, with excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Proficiency in grant management and project management software, Google Workspace, and CRM/database systems.

Preferred

• Master’s degree in a relevant field.
• Experience managing government grants and contracts, including compliance and reporting.
• Familiarity with South Florida’s environmental landscape, water quality issues, and community‑based environmental advocacy.