Senior Grants Writer

Child Care Aware® of America, our nation’s leading voice for child care, works with more than 450 state and local Child Care Resource and Referral agencies to ensure that families in every local community have access to quality, affordable child care.

Child Care Aware of America is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce. Our mission is to advance a child care system that effectively serves all children and families. Joining our efforts provides a powerful opportunity to make a difference in the lives of families and to advocate for the approximately 1.5 million child care providers in the United States. The child care workforce is 94% women; 40% people of color; and 22% foreign-born. And despite the invaluable service they provide, 36.7% of them live below 200% of the federal poverty line. Join CCAoA to help us realize our vision that every family in the United States has access to a high-quality, affordable child care system.

Summary of Position: The Senior Grant Specialist is an integral member of the Development Department contributing to the success of the team by securing financial support for Child Care Aware® of America. In collaboration with the Sr. Director, Development, this individual will identify and execute on funding opportunities to support existing and planned program activities. The role is responsible for the technical writing necessary to generate impactful grant proposals, letters of inquiry, reports and other communications to trusts,  donors, foundations, government entities and partners.

The Senior Grant Specialist will ensure that project deliverables and milestones are met, funding opportunities and risks are identified, and that development strategies are planned and supported. This role coordinates with project Directors, subject matter experts and Chiefs across the organization to ensure CCAoA delivers upon its strategic priorities, taking responsibility for a full range of federal and foundation grant applications, partnerships and programmatic activities.

Position Duties and Responsibilities:

• Coordinate prospecting research and assessment of potential government, foundation, donor, and sponsorship funding opportunities. Familiarity with industry tools and databases a must (e.g. SAM, FLUXX, GrantSolutions, Candid, etc.).

• Serve as writer and proposal coordinator for grant opportunities, ensuring high-quality concepts, development assets, and timely response efforts, serving as the main point of contact and coordinating technical, cost, staffing, partnering, and operational stakeholders.

• Propose opportunities and implement strategies to successfully secure new and maintain funding that supports our guiding principles and advance our strategic priorities.

• Contribute to achieving annual revenue goals across foundation and government grants.

• Manage partnership and grant pipeline by maintaining data related to grant timelines, partnerships, reports and other organizational records using shared resources, such as HubSpot (current CRM at CCAoA), Asana and SharePoint.

• Run point on Coordinating grant reporting.

• Examine supporting financial, organizational and programmatic documents for grant submissions and work with project leads to resolve issues and ensure grant guidelines are met.

• Support programmatic initiatives with project management and organizational support.

• Develop presentations, conduct relevant programmatic research, note-taking and related tasks.

• Support post submission and lessons learned processes.

• Support other grant, development and partnership-related activities in coordination with the Director, Development.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree with 3-5 years of professional experience in communication, journalism, project management, or a related field.
• Considerable knowledge of federal and foundation grantmaking and proven record of implementing effective fundraising practices for successful organizational outcome.
• Understanding of, and experience in, successful prospect identification, proposal management, proposal writing and fundraising.
• Understanding and experience executing elements of a successful grant proposal, including articulating objectives, SMART goals, outcomes, evaluation, logic models.
• Excellent technical written and verbal communication skills including a high degree of professionalism and personal presence.
• Willing to take initiative and sound judgement sufficient to ensure the integrity of operations.
• Team player who excels at open communication and can successfully manage the expectations of multiple stakeholders.
• Organized with good time management skills and the ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines.
• The position requires a detail-oriented, collaborative, and self-directed team member with strong project management skills. Experience with agile project management tools a plus.
• Resourceful with strong problem-solving skills and ability to react and adapt to change.
• Discreet with the ability to handle confidential information.
• Must be computer proficient (Outlook, Excel, Word, and Teams) and have experience with project management applications and CRMs such as HubSpot.

Child Care Aware® of America is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Drug-Free Workplace