Grants Manager

Summary of Position:

The Grants Manager is responsible for ensuring Global Greengrants’ grantmaking program is legally compliant, efficient, and not overly burdensome on our advisory network. The Grants Manager is responsible for leading on grants management strategy, optimization, and collaboration across the organization – including within our shared grantmaking program with Global Greengrants Fund UK.

The Grants Manager will maintain and update policies, procedures, and processes to ensure compliance with US and UK regulations as well as local regulations for our grantees. They will be the lead administrator for our grants management system, SmartSimple, providing oversight to ensure data integrity, strengthening system processes, and building understanding and use of information across other departments in the organization. The Grants Manager will be a resource for the Grants Associates by addressing acute issues with particular grants, providing guidance on approaching challenges, and identifying common issues to address for the entire team.

In the present accountability structures, the Grants Manager is line-managed by the Director of Grants Management and Operations. The Grants Manager will be part of the Grants Management team, leading the grants management function, which comprises several Grants Managers and Grants Associates. The Grants Managers will each hold leadership roles within the Global Grants Management Team at the same time as holding distinct portfolios of work with a deeper focus to meet the needs of the team, the organization, and the wider Global Greengrants community.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Compliance and Due Diligence in Grantmaking

• Lead efforts to ensure compliance with IRS regulations under the US and HMRC and Charity Commission regulations in the UK, including coordination with external compliance experts. 
• Serve as a continual resource for addressing compliance questions in grantmaking and identifying solutions to challenges as they arise. 
• Provide guidance to Grants Associates and other departments on grants' due diligence and compliance mechanisms. 

Departmental Liaison

• Collaborate with Programs, Finance, and Fundraising teams to develop and maintain efficient processes for tracking grantmaking data. 
• Manage relationships with Advisory Board Administrators, including leading on needs for training, overall relationship support, and contractual elements. 
• Lead in grantmaking analysis, research, and reporting, acting as a team member with organizational efforts in learning.
• Lead efforts to improve communication and connections with the Advisory Network, including with grantees, Administrators, Coordinators, and representatives from allied organizations. 
• Act as lead contact with members of the fundraising and finance teams to address specific and ongoing concerns related to the grantmaking process and tracking of funds. 
• Serve as a first point of contact on questions related to tracking of grantmaking against donor contributions, including restricted and staff-designated funds. 

Grants Management Operations

• Lead the development and implementation of a training schedule to support continual learning for Grants Management team members, including leading the onboarding training of new team members and continual updates for the Grants Management Team. 
• Manage the architecture, design, optimization, and control of the grants management database, SmartSimple.
• Lead on improving grantmaking policies and procedures. 
• Support the development of the Grants Management Strategy and Vision in collaboration with the Director of Operations and with input from other departmental leads. 
• Manage a portfolio of grantmaking for organizational critical boards.
• Serve as an organizational lead on grant data, including tracking key metrics and organizing information for the annual audit process. 
• Manage departmental resources, including the database, staffing, and others, to ensure an efficient distribution to meet the needs of the Grants Management function, particularly during times of transition and high volume. 
• Provide guidance to Grants Management team members in addressing procedural and other questions on individual grants. 

Team mentoring, development, and support.

• Mentor and provide day-to-day direction to the grants management team, who may be working remotely in multiple locations across multiple time zones.
• Contribute to ensuring the grants management team can meet their day-to-day needs to reach their goals in alignment with the organizational vision.
• Provide supervisory support to direct reports in meeting their day-to-day needs to reach their goals in alignment with the organizational strategies and work plans.
• Mentor the team and individual members and aid in setting goals and milestones for success, professional evaluation, accountability, and growth.
• Provide ongoing coaching, mentoring, and day-to-day line management support to one’s direct reports in creating the team practices and collaborations to meet their performance goals, reach program goals, and ensure program strategies are implemented.
• Create and ensure meeting goals and metrics for success are reflective of how we define progress within our strategic plan.
• Lead and integrate steps towards more collaboration and ensure the team has the tools, resources, support, guidance, and information they need to reach team goals and maintain a collaborative and trust-based environment.
• Contribute to the development of a high-quality team in the organization through participation in recruitment, evaluation, and career development.

Position Specifications

Essential Values and Competencies

• Commitment to the guiding principles, mission, and values of the Global Greengrants Fund.
• Commitment to a value-based intersectional framework and its implications for organizational practices and principles of anti-oppression.
• Transparency and accountability.
• Critical thinking and analysis.
• Strategic risk management.
• Build strong interpersonal relations from the role – across both organizations (up, down, across, and externally).
• Influencing and resolving differences across boundaries.
• Self-awareness and insight.
• Collaborative, proactive, and solution-oriented approach towards team members and the wider organization. 

Essential Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Experience

• Significant relevant experience in similar roles in grants management for environmental justice, feminist, gender, Indigenous, human rights organizations, and/or funding organizations.
• Demonstrated experience in grants management, ensuring timely grant decisions, efficient processes, and clear procedures. 
• Demonstrated experience in international grants compliance, with a focus on due diligence processes under IRS regulations in the US and HMRC & Charity Commission regulations in the UK. 
• Experience managing a grants management database, or a similar database. 
• Demonstrated capacity to think strategically, innovatively, and analytically, with expertise in complex problem solving, decision-making, and critical thinking skills, displays good judgment.
• Excellent interpersonal understanding, relationship building, and interpersonal skills to build strong alliances with diverse constituencies and manage complex politics, positioning, and relationships.
• Strong financial management acumen; knowledge of accounting procedures and protocols, budgeting, and financial analysis.
• Experience working with diverse communities from multiple identities across the globe, in a virtual environment.
• Fluency in English; proficiency in other languages preferred.
• Strong expertise in the use of various software and a high level of computer literacy (MS Office Suite, Google Apps, instant messaging, and virtual team collaboration software such as Trello, Zoom, Slack, Asana, Raiser’s Edge, Smart Simple, or other donor management systems).

Personal Characteristics

• A transparent and adaptive leader with a commitment to lifelong learning and a drive to mentor, coach, and share leadership. 
• Experience and skills to give, receive, and work with feedback constructively, with the intellectual and emotional resilience necessary to take up critical responsibilities for an international global organization. 
• Experience in complex human resource management; ability to work with a diverse and virtual team and engage team members, build consensus, and build high-performance teams.
• Able to innovate and navigate uncertainty and thrive in seeing and taking up opportunities in the context of the ongoing organizational transformative journey.

Desirable Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Experience

• Relevant lived experiences related to GGF’s work and community.
• Deep understanding and experience with some of the following: grassroots social movements, environmental issues, capacity building for civil society organizations, and/or the role of community-led grantmaking.