DIRECTOR OF GRANTS AND FOUNDATIONS

All Hands and Hearts Smart Response, Inc.•Washington, DC

1d•$73,500 - $87,000•Remote

About The Position

A pivotal builder’s role within a dynamic nonprofit that helps communities recover after disasters and gets children back in school. The Director leads All Hands & Hearts’ institutional fundraising function — protecting, growing, and structuring AH&H’s portfolio of foundations, state government, and NGO funders — and opens a deliberate new chapter of growth: unlocking US-based humanitarian aid funding for AH&H’s international program work. This position is based in the U.S.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience.
5+ years of progressive experience in institutional fundraising, grants management, foundation relations, or proposal writing — ideally within the humanitarian, international NGO, disaster response, or broader social impact sector.
Demonstrated experience personally writing and submitting successful five-, six-, and (ideally) seven-figure grant proposals to US foundations.
Hardworking, high-trajectory builder who is ready to take on more ownership than they have held before.
Prior experience standing up systems, processes, or operating cadences in a small or growing team is highly valued.
Must be legally authorized to work in the US.
Excellent written communication skills in US English, with the ability to translate complex program work into clear, compelling, and fundable narratives.
A natural systems thinker who is energized by designing templates, workflows, knowledge libraries, and operating cadences from scratch — not just executing within them.
Highly organized, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent proposal cycles, reporting deadlines, and funder relationships in a fast-paced environment without things falling through the cracks.
Genuinely tech-savvy and curious about new tools — confident working with Salesforce (or equivalent CRM), grants management platforms (e.g., Fluxx, GrantHub, Instrumentl), prospect research platforms (e.g., Instrumentl, Foundation Directory Online, Candid), Notion as a project management tool and shared knowledge library, Microsoft Office, Google Workspace (particularly Google Docs and Google Sheets), and Slack as AH&H’s preferred internal communication tool, and willing to thoughtfully experiment with AI-assisted research, writing, and pipeline tools.
Where direct platform experience is missing, a willingness to complete onboarding training to full working proficiency is required.
Working knowledge of, or willingness to be trained in, donor process and CRM hygiene standards as defined by the Senior Director of Development.
High emotional intelligence and relationship-building acumen, with the ability to cultivate trusted partnerships with institutional funders and internal stakeholders alike.
Sound judgment, professionalism, and humility, with the ambition to grow into a more senior fundraising leader over time as AH&H scales.

Nice To Haves

Previous All Hands & Hearts experience preferred.
Previous experience standing up systems, processes, or operating cadences in a small or growing team is highly valued.
Ideally, demonstrated experience writing and submitting successful seven-figure grant proposals to US foundations.
The right person for this role is a do’er — independent, proactive, structured, and tech-savvy, with a strong appetite to lay the foundations for something that will scale.

Responsibilities

Lead the day-to-day delivery of AH&H’s institutional fundraising plan across the full institutional universe — foundations (private, family, and community), state government funders, and NGO intermediaries and re-granters — and carry direct accountability for the institutional revenue line.
Translate annual revenue targets, set in partnership with the Head of Development and the Chief Engagement Officer, into a prioritized, well-paced cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship calendar.
Lead AH&H’s portfolio work across all three program pillars: (a) protect and grow the existing US-based foundation portfolio that anchors Emergency Response and Recovery & Resilience; (b) open a deliberate new chapter of US-based humanitarian aid funding for AH&H’s international program work, building this pipeline from a near-blank slate; and (c) partner with AH&H’s Education function — including the Back to School fundraising team within Development — to channel education-relevant opportunities between pipelines without duplicating effort.
Personally lead the end-to-end proposal lifecycle — from concept notes and letters of inquiry through full proposals, applications, and post-submission follow-up.
Own the writing across all proposal components: narrative, theory of change and logic models, workplans, budgets, and the supporting materials package (appendices, letters of support, organizational documents).
Lead opportunity assessment and go/no-go conversations with leadership; coordinate concept design with Operations and Finance; and ensure every submission is on time, on quality, and aligned with funder guidelines.
Own the discipline of internal review, approvals, and sign-off on every proposal and reporting submission — including timeline management, budget integrity checks, and any required legal or institutional clearance.
Maintain rigorous compliance, reporting, and stewardship discipline across the portfolio — restricted fund tracking, deadline management, donor reporting, and audit-readiness — partnering with Finance and Operations to ensure every commitment is honored and every reporting cycle strengthens the funder relationship.
Lead relationship management for current and prospective institutional funders through highly personalized engagement strategies — tailored communications, in-person visits, curated impact updates, and bespoke stewardship experiences designed to deepen relationships and drive long-term support.
Maintain accurate records of funder contacts, interactions, opportunities, and engagement plans in Salesforce, and adhere to AH&H donor process and CRM standards as defined and audited by the Senior Director of Development.
Represent All Hands & Hearts externally at funder convenings, sector networks, and peer associations on grant strategy, best practices, and partnership opportunities.
Use these moments to build AH&H’s profile in the institutional fundraising community, gather intelligence on funder trends and emerging opportunities, and bring back insights that sharpen AH&H’s strategy and pipeline.
Build the operational backbone of an institutional fundraising function ready to scale alongside AH&H.
Design and implement the systems, templates, workflows, knowledge libraries, and operating cadences that turn a high-touch, founder-era function into a structured, repeatable, and scalable engine.
Lead institutional pipeline accuracy, forecasting, and reporting.
Identify and adopt the right tools (CRM, grants management platform, prospect research, project management, AI-assisted writing and research) and create the playbooks future team members can plug into.
Over time, evolve the function into the center of a hub model that engages external grant writers and consultants for surge capacity on high-value or specialized opportunities, scoping and piloting this model in partnership with the Head of Development as the portfolio grows.
Manage and develop one direct report (Grant Manager).
Set clear goals, coach for craft, and model collaborative working with peer contributors.
Provide the Head of Development, Chief Engagement Officer, Co-founders, and Board with clean, well-prepared briefings on institutional pipeline health, headline funder relationships, and the humanitarian aid expansion.
Accountable to a balanced scorecard reviewed annually with the Head of Development, covering: (a) institutional revenue against annual target; (b) multi-year secured revenue and pipeline coverage ratio; (c) funder retention and renewal rate across the existing US foundation portfolio; (d) number and value of new funders acquired, with specific tracking of progress against the humanitarian aid funding target; (e) on-time, on-quality reporting compliance; (f) the quality, adoption, and durability of the systems and processes the Director establishes; and (g) team and contributor experience.
Perform other duties as assigned, especially during high-volume periods or disaster activations.