Director of Grants

Flexible Learning Options & Online Degrees•Columbia, MO

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Grant Writer is responsible for identifying, developing, writing, and submitting competitive grant proposals in support of Columbia College’s institutional priorities. This position works closely with the Vice President for Advancement, college leadership, faculty, staff, and external partners to secure funding from private foundations, corporations, government agencies, and other grant-making organizations. Experience with NSF and NIH grants is preferred. The Grant Writer will help translate Columbia College’s strategic goals, academic programs, student success initiatives, capital needs, workforce development priorities, and community partnerships into compelling proposals that align with funder interests. This position is responsible for researching funding opportunities, coordinating proposal development, gathering institutional data, drafting narratives, developing supporting materials, tracking deadlines, assisting with grant budgets, and supporting reporting and stewardship requirements for awarded grants.

Requirements

Ability to fluently read, write, and understand the English language.
Exceptional writing, editing, proofreading, and storytelling skills.
Ability to develop clear, persuasive, and well-organized grant proposals for a variety of funders.
Strong research skills and ability to identify funding opportunities aligned with institutional priorities.
Ability to synthesize complex information from multiple sources into compelling written materials.
Strong project-management skills, including the ability to manage multiple deadlines, proposals, and reporting requirements at the same time.
Excellent attention to detail and accuracy in preparing proposals, budgets, reports, and supporting documents.
Ability to work collaboratively with faculty, staff, administrators, finance personnel, institutional research staff, and external partners.
Ability to gather, interpret, and present institutional data, program outcomes, community needs, and student impact information.
Understanding of grant proposal development, funder research, grant calendars, reporting requirements, and stewardship practices.
Ability to work independently and exercise sound judgment with limited supervision.
Excellent communication, interpersonal, customer service, and organizational skills with all constituents.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office products, database systems, web-based grant portals, and related technology.
Ability to use online funder databases, government grant portals, and other research tools.
Ability to prepare for, lead, and effectively follow up on meetings.
Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive institutional, financial, donor, and student information with discretion.
Ability to work under deadline pressure while maintaining a high level of quality and professionalism.
Ability to negotiate agreeable solutions while maintaining positive working relationships.
Strategic, polished, and professional communication style.
Decorum and respect for authority, protocol, and institutional review processes.
Bachelor’s degree required.

Nice To Haves

Experience with NSF and NIH grants is preferred.
Experience writing grants in a higher education, nonprofit, healthcare, workforce development, public agency, or foundation-related setting.
Experience developing proposals for private foundations, corporations, state agencies, federal agencies, or public-private partnerships.
Experience working with faculty, academic leaders, finance staff, and program directors on grant proposals.
Experience preparing grant budgets, logic models, evaluation plans, or outcome reports.
Familiarity with advancement, sponsored programs, institutional research, or grant compliance functions in higher education.
Master’s degree preferred.
Occasional evening or weekend work may be required.
Occasional travel may be required for funder meetings, conferences, site visits, or grant-related events.

Responsibilities

Perform job duties in accordance with Columbia College’s vision, mission, and values.
Establish and maintain a collegiate, creative, and productive work environment.
Support a culture of Advancement and institutional philanthropy.
Foster strong working relationships with faculty, staff, administrators, community partners, and external funders.
Partner with the Vice President for Advancement and other college leaders to identify grant opportunities that support Columbia College priorities.
Represent the Advancement Division in a professional, collaborative, and service-oriented manner.
Support the College’s strategic goals through effective written communication, project coordination, and funder engagement.
Research and identify grant opportunities from private foundations, corporations, government agencies, and other funding sources that align with Columbia College’s mission and strategic priorities including NSF and NIH grants.
Develop, write, edit, and submit grant proposals, letters of inquiry, concept papers, applications, reports, and related funding materials.
Coordinate the full proposal-development process, including gathering information from faculty, staff, program directors, finance staff, institutional research, and other campus partners.
Translate programmatic needs, institutional priorities, student outcomes, and community impact into clear, persuasive, and fundable grant narratives.
Prepare compelling cases for support for academic programs, student scholarships, capital projects, workforce development initiatives, student success programs, technology needs, community partnerships, and other college priorities.
Work with campus partners to develop project goals, measurable objectives, timelines, outcomes, evaluation plans, sustainability plans, and implementation strategies.
Assist with the development of grant budgets and budget narratives in partnership with Advancement, Finance, academic leadership, and project directors.
Ensure proposals are complete, accurate, well-written, properly formatted, and submitted by deadlines.
Maintain a grant calendar that tracks proposal opportunities, submission deadlines, award notifications, reporting deadlines, and stewardship requirements.
Monitor grant-making trends in higher education, workforce development, healthcare, nursing, military-connected education, online learning, student success, community engagement, and other areas relevant to Columbia College.
Build and maintain a library of commonly used institutional language, data points, proposal templates, program descriptions, boilerplate materials, letters of support, and funder profiles.
Prepare briefing materials for college leaders involved in grant cultivation, proposal development, and funder meetings.
Coordinate with faculty and staff to ensure grant proposals accurately reflect program goals, staffing needs, budget realities, and institutional capacity.
Support the development of multi-partner proposals involving community organizations, school districts, healthcare providers, employers, government entities, and other external partners.
Assist in preparing presentations, talking points, and written materials for funder visits, site visits, and grant-related meetings.
Maintain accurate records of submitted proposals, pending requests, awarded grants, declined proposals, reporting requirements, and funder communications.
Work with Advancement Services to ensure grant-related activity is properly documented in the College’s database system.
Coordinate with project directors and Finance staff to support timely grant reports, updates, expenditure documentation, and outcome summaries.
Assist with post-award stewardship by preparing impact reports, acknowledgment language, success stories, and updates for grant funders.
Track grant deliverables and reporting deadlines to support institutional compliance with funder requirements.
Help ensure that grant-funded projects are implemented in a manner consistent with proposal commitments, approved budgets, funder guidelines, and college policies.
Support internal communication regarding grant awards, project expectations, and reporting responsibilities.
Maintain confidentiality and accuracy when working with institutional data, student information, financial information, and donor/funder records.
Adhere to the highest ethical standards in all grant-seeking, proposal-writing, reporting, and stewardship activities.
Work closely with the Vice President for Advancement to prioritize grant opportunities based on institutional need, funder alignment, potential impact, and likelihood of success.
Collaborate with academic affairs, student affairs, finance, institutional research, athletics, marketing, and other departments as needed to develop strong grant proposals.
Support Advancement’s broader fundraising goals by identifying grant opportunities that complement individual, corporate, foundation, and planned giving strategies.
Participate in prospect strategy discussions involving foundations, corporations, and institutional funders.
Help prepare college leaders, faculty, and staff for funder conversations, site visits, and proposal presentations.
Maintain professional relationships with foundation contacts, corporate giving officers, public grant administrators, and other funding representatives as appropriate.
Support a campus-wide understanding of grant opportunities, proposal timelines, and funder expectations.
Follow established division-wide standard operating procedures, including review and approval processes before submission or distribution of external materials.
Submit timely and accurate reports, project updates, and expense reports as required.
Support the College’s fundraising and stewardship goals in day-to-day work and communication efforts.
Work in partnership with the Vice President for Advancement to manage grant-related priorities within the Advancement Division’s annual budget.
Perform other duties as assigned.