Essential Functions and Responsibilities

Strategy Development

• With Ceres’ Leadership Team and program staff, facilitates regular discussions to develop the strategic direction of the organization alongside available funding opportunities.
• Stays abreast of agency and program developments and collaborates with program leaders to strategically align program growth with available funding opportunities.
• Maintains a working knowledge of agency priorities and funding needs and provides leadership to the program team on identifying creative strategies and opportunities for supporting program development.
• Develops an annual foundation and government grant strategy that includes cultivation of new funders and development/scaling of existing funder relationships.
• Works with key staff leaders to create metrics and outcomes that effectively demonstrate the challenges and successes of Ceres’ work

Grant Research, Proposal Development and Grant Writing

• Identifies strategic funding opportunities that align with Ceres overall organizational direction, and proposes possible program designs, community partnerships, and other creative ideas for how to best utilize the opportunities.
• Acts as project manager on major grant submissions to coordinate staff members across departments, manage Grant Coordinator and contractors, and ensures the entire process is completed in a timely and effective manner.
• Assists with the design of new programs and project implementation plans for grant narratives, including identification of project goals/objectives, key outcomes, workplans/timelines, and multi-year budgets.
• Writes, prepares and submits effective government and foundation grant proposals for unrestricted and restricted funding, meeting deadlines for a robust grant schedule.
• Supervises Grant Coordinator in writing, submitting and reporting for small foundations grants.

Grant Administration, Reporting & Internal Processes

• Reviews contract award documents and communicates compliance and award conditions to key project staff.
• Coordinates submission of timely and accurate grant reporting (progress report/interim reports, year-end, financial reporting, program data and special reports) as needed.
• Collaborates with Ceres’ communications team to ensure appropriate recognition of funders.
• Supervises the Grant Coordinator to ensure proper and timely acknowledgment and reporting of all grant funding and accurate maintenance of all funder contact information.
   
• Other duties as assigned.

Manager Responsibilities 

As a manager, this role is responsible for modeling Ceres’ Operating Principles and Operating Agreements for staff and team development among those staff members reporting directly to this role. This includes giving meaningful ongoing feedback and completing required reviews in a meaningful way and on time. In addition, as a manager, this role is responsible for accurate approvals of timesheets, expense reports, and PTO requests for direct reports. 

• Consistently models Ceres’ Operating Principles and Operating Agreements.
• Provides a minimum of monthly one-on-one check ins with direct reports. 
• Completes thoughtful and timely annual reviews, including 30, 60, 90-day reviews for new staff or staff in new roles. Ensures timely submission of annual reviews for all direct reports.
• Ensures effective and meaningful onboarding and training for new staff or staff in new roles; oversees timely completion of any required training.
• Ensures ongoing training and staff development, including coaching staff who have performance issues, and documenting and escalating when appropriate to a direct supervisor and/or HR.
• As needed, ensures role-specific training and familiarity with using Salesforce and other technology platforms.
• Carefully reviews all timesheets and PTO requests in BambooHR for accuracy and available balances; submits requests in a timely manner.
• Follows appropriate protocols for expense reimbursement and credit card receipts (where applicable) for both self and direct reports.

Qualifications

• Commitment to Ceres Community Project’s mission and programs.
• 3 or more years of grant writing, management, fundraising and/or relevant experience.
• Skilled at building relationships and collaborating across the organization and with business/foundation partners.
• Excellent writing and editing skills; ability to write clear, structured, articulate, and compelling proposals; ability to seek and synthesize information and communicate succinctly.
• Big picture thinker with the ability to plan strategically for Ceres’ growth.
• Self-directed and able to set priorities and manage multiple concurrent deadlines with a positive and energetic attitude.
• Experience with reporting and dashboard management for program tracking and fund tracking systems; experience with Salesforce a plus.
• Proficient in MS Office Suite, especially Excel.
• Comfortable with a dynamic and innovative work environment that values working as a team, relationships, and giving and receiving feedback.
• BA Degree preferred.

Physical Demands / Work Environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a staff member to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand or sit at a workstation; use hands and fingers to operate a computer keyboard and mouse; talk and hear to communicate with coworkers.
• Light to moderate lifting of up to 20 pounds, bending, stooping and climbing a ladder is occasionally required.
• The work environment is primarily indoors with the majority of time spent sitting at a desk, on the phone or a computer, with moderate noise (office equipment, conversation from adjacent coworkers and commercial kitchen equipment) in the background.
• Must be able to sit or stand at a computer terminal for an extended period of time.