Operations / Administration Grant Partnerships Manager
Job Description
OVERVIEW OF THE POSITION
The Grant Partnerships Manager plays a critical role in tracking how SCORE’s work is advancing the organization’s mission to catalyze transformative change in Tennessee education so that all students can achieve success in college, career, and life. This individual is responsible for leading the day-to-day management of SCORE’s grants as well as a portfolio of strategic investments, inclusive of both fiscal sponsorship projects and sub-grants, to support the work of mission-aligned external partners. The Grant Partnerships Manager maintains an understanding of SCORE’s grant commitments and can make connections to the organization’s strategic goals and programmatic initiatives. This team member develops grant proposals and reports, grant agreements, and vendor contracts and plays a leading role in communicating the impact of SCORE’s work for students.
The Grant Partnerships Manager reports to the Director of Impact and is part of SCORE’s finance and operations team. The Grant Partnerships Manager engages regularly with internal programmatic teams as well as external partners to monitor and effectively communicate progress on work across the organization’s strategy.
This role will be a good fit for someone who is energized by making connections across initiatives, thinking about how various initiatives work as a system to create change, attending to details, and ensuring the necessary infrastructure and resources are available to those who directly manage programs. The successful candidate will spend an average day capturing complex and abstract ideas in writing while at the same time executing thorough processes and meeting deadlines. To be successful in this role, the Grant Partnerships Manager will need to be able to press in and ask hard questions of their colleagues to gather necessary information and ensure adherence to funder guidelines. An interest in identifying and implementing process improvements will also be key to success. While it is not necessary that the successful candidate has experience in an education-related field, it is critical that they bring a learning mindset and a personal commitment to student-focused education policy and driving success for all students across Tennessee.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
The Grant Partnerships Manager is responsible for three interconnected sets of activities:
Strategic Writing (approximately 45%)
• Develop concept memos and grant proposals for funders in partnership with the Director of Impact.
• Lead grant reporting processes, including writing and/or advising consultants on grant reports.
• Lead the development of SCORE’s annual Impact Report.
• Develop regular updates on SCORE’s work and impact across programmatic initiatives for funders and the organization’s Board of Directors.
Process Development & Implementation (approximately 40%)
• Build and execute a process for tracking all grant deliverables and support the Director of Impact to ensure alignment between deliverables and SCORE’s strategy and initiatives.
• Build and execute a process for monitoring and complying with all grant terms and deadlines.
• Manage strong strategic investment procedures, including due diligence, proposals, reporting, and amendments for all fiscal sponsorship projects and sub-grants.
• Lead development and review of the organization’s vendor contracts, grant agreements, and sub-grant agreements.
• Monitor strategic investment budgets and review invoices in partnership with the Finance Manager.
• Develop and update policies, processes, workflows, and templates to streamline grant and strategic investment management.
• Maintain a database of all contract, grant, and strategic investment documents.
Internal & External Partnerships (approximately 15%)
• Serve as the primary point of contact for external strategic investment partners, responding to inquiries, providing guidance, vetting projects, and monitoring progress.
• Engage with programmatic team members to understand all the work being conducted across the organization and to track evidences of the impact of that work.
• Maintain an understanding of current and prospective funder priorities and identify real-time updates for specific funders based on their interests.
• Engage with programmatic team members and the Director of Impact to develop grant outputs and outcomes aligned with SCORE’s organizational goals.
• Support the Director of Impact to develop and monitor Key Performance Indicators aligned with SCORE’s strategy across all of the organization’s initiatives.
