Director, Grant Implementation

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

7d•Remote

About The Position

The Director, Grant Implementation is a key member of the grant implementation group within the Program and Impact department of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA). The primary role of the Grants Implementation group is driving results through focused execution. In this role, the group helps the organization and network show impact through implementation of a robust grant portfolio. As a leader in the Program and Impact department, the Director, Grant Implementation, works as a collaborative partner to ensure successful grant management and reporting. The Director provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for a team responsible for the effective implementation of grant-funded programs. This role has ultimate accountability for operational excellence in grant implementation, program scalability, and long-term grant impact. In doing so, the Director ensures alignment with organizational priorities and collaborates with other key departments, particularly the Grants Administration and Resource Development teams, to deliver seamless, impactful outcomes. The position is primarily operational in nature, requiring someone who is action-oriented, decisive, and highly skilled at critical thinking. The Director is pivotal to ensuring that programs funded by corporate and private foundation partners deliver on promised outcomes and scale effectively. This position also showcases impact through both data and stories to foster stronger partnerships and secure additional investments. This position emphasizes team leadership, project management excellence, programmatic coaching, and data-driven decision-making, while fostering collaborative relationships.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in nonprofit management, youth development, grant or foundation management, account management, or related fields.
Minimum of 5+ years of experience as a manager in grant-funded initiatives or a related field, including implementation, project management, account management, and reporting.
Demonstrated experience leading teams, with at least 3 years of direct people management responsibility, and working collaboratively across diverse stakeholders.
Expertise in designing and implementing grant-funded programs, including scaling initiatives across multiple sites.
Advanced project management skills, with proficiency in tools such as MS Project, Asana, or similar platforms.
Excellent interpersonal communication, customer service and relationship-building skills to build and sustain relationships with a wide range of clients and stakeholders.
Proficiency in data reporting, visualization, and analysis to inform decision-making.
Ability to mentor and guide experienced staff to achieve program and professional growth goals in a remote team environment.
Advanced proficiency in MS Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).
Advanced organizational and problem-solving skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Must be results-oriented, displaying accountability and achievement orientation in meeting goals.
Advanced analytical skills including the ability to comprehend and make inferences from technical, statistical, and written materials.
Excellent problem-solving.
Advanced technical skills; maintaining state-of-the-art knowledge of advances in the field.

Nice To Haves

An MBA or graduate degree in nonprofit management, public administration, youth development, a plus.
Knowledge of youth development programs and their implementation at the local level, desired, but not required.

Responsibilities

Leads grant implementation operations, oversees the team, and is accountable for team execution and deliverables.
Evaluates diverse inputs and ideas in real-time, summarizing key takeaways and translating them into clear, prioritized action steps for the team.
Assesses complex scenarios, identifies critical elements, and operates against priorities set by organizational leadership.
Guides team-level execution and decision-making, ensuring clarity and focus.
Develops clear, concise action plans that align with organizational goals and effectively delegate tasks to the team.
Uses advanced analytical and critical thinking skills to evaluate the feasibility, potential challenges, and impact of proposed initiatives.
Leverages technology to monitor grant portfolio at a high level, recognizing critical actions, gaps, and overall impact.
Provides strategic oversight and guidance to the Grant Implementation team to ensure grant deliverables align with both funder expectations and BBBSA’s strategic priorities.
Fosters a high-performing team culture through regular feedback, professional development opportunities, and goal setting.
Implements and makes recommendations for strategic team priorities, establishing and refining processes that respond to organizational needs, funder requirements, and lessons learned from implementation.
Oversees the implementation of multiple grant-funded programs, ensuring alignment with funder expectations and organizational goals.
Designs and manages project management processes that facilitate timely and impactful delivery of grant initiatives.
Provides hands-on oversight to address challenges, identify opportunities for innovation, and improve program delivery.
Collaborates with cross-functional teams (e.g., Resource Development, Finance, and other Program & Impact staff) to ensure seamless execution of grant deliverables.
Works closely with the Senior Director, Grants Administration to ensure seamless collaboration between the implementation and administration teams.
Partners with internal teams, including Resource Development, Communications and Agency Growth to support cross-functional alignment and support efforts to increase investments to the network.
Fosters strong relationships with Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) agencies, funders, and other stakeholders to ensure clarity and alignment on expectations.
Represents BBBSA’s grant implementation efforts at conferences, workshops, and other forums to share best practices.
Ensures that all grants maintain accurate and relevant documentation that supports collaborative grants management and excellent customer relationship management.
Oversees the development of reports and other deliverables to communicate successes, challenges, lessons learned and overall impact to funders and other key stakeholders.
Collaborates with evaluation staff to incorporate data into grant reports and assessments.
Recruits, trains, retains, and cultivates professional development of direct reports.
Develops job aids, tools, and processes to create consistency across multiple roles with similar function to build overall team capacity.
Creates a dynamic, supportive, and effective team that is impactful across the BBBSA and the Big Brothers Big Sisters Network.
Leads and manages resources (people and capital) that retains and cultivates positive, measurable success. Monitors progress against performance targets; implements countermeasures as needed.
Demonstrates a commitment to BBBSA’s shared leadership competencies and organizational values.
Provides consistent follow-up regarding assigned projects and after meetings.
Cultivates an environment where all team members feel valued, included, and empowered to achieve their potential.
Manages related and other duties as assigned in support of department and business needs.