Manager, Donor Communications

Room to Read•New York, NY

4d•$86,000 - $97,000•Remote

About The Position

The Manager, Donor Communications is a senior proposal writer and project lead responsible for developing high-quality proposals and reports for institutional, corporate, foundation, government, and high-net-worth donors. This role plays a critical part in securing large, complex, multi-year funding opportunities that support Room to Read’s Literacy and Gender Equality programs globally. The position leads proposal development processes from strategy through submission, working closely with cross-functional global teams to develop compelling, donor-ready narratives that align with organizational priorities and donor requirements. The Manager, Donor Communications, also helps strengthen proposal systems, tools, and organizational capacity across the organization.

Requirements

Minimum 7 years of experience in grant writing, donor communications, or proposal development within an NGO, INGO, or international development organization.
Demonstrated success leading and securing complex 6- and 7-figure grants from institutional, bilateral, multilateral, corporate, and foundation donors, with preferred experience developing proposals for institutions such as U.S. Government, FCDO, GAC, World Bank, or similar.
Proven experience managing complex proposal development processes involving cross-functional global teams, multiple stakeholders, and competing deadlines.
Strong writing skills, with the ability to translate complex education and development concepts into compelling narratives for a wide range of donors
Strong understanding of donor compliance requirements for major grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements.
Experience mentoring, coaching, or managing the work of colleagues, consultants, or external writers.
Strong project management, organizational, and stakeholder management skills.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, Salesforce or similar CRM systems, digital workflow tools, and AI-assisted writing tools used to improve productivity and quality.
Strong communication and intercultural collaboration skills.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree or higher in international development, communications, journalism, public policy, or a related field.
Familiarity with education, literacy, and/or gender equality programming.
Experience working with teams and programs across Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and/or the Middle East.

Responsibilities

Lead the writing and project management of complex, high-value proposals and donor reports for institutional, corporate, foundation, government, and high-net-worth individual donors.
Manage proposal development processes from kickoff through submission, including timelines, workflows, responsibilities, and review cycles.
Develop compelling donor narratives, including program approaches, theories of change, implementation plans, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) components.
Coordinate proposal development across Programs, Finance, Research/MEL, Operations, and Development teams to ensure cohesive, donor-ready submissions.
Facilitate review processes with senior leadership, technical experts, and country teams; incorporate feedback into final deliverables.
Ensure all submissions comply with donor requirements, formatting guidelines, and internal quality standards.
Manage external grant writers, editors, and consultants as needed to support proposal and report deliverables.
Build and maintain proposal templates, boilerplate language, technical content libraries, and donor-facing resources.
Develop and improve systems, tools, and workflows that streamline proposal and reporting processes across global teams.
Contribute to internal guidance materials, trainings, and documentation related to proposal development.
Provide coaching, mentorship, and quality assurance support to colleagues contributing to donor communications.
Review funding opportunities (RFPs) to assess strategic fit, eligibility, competitiveness, and compliance requirements.
Provide recommendations and go/no-go input to leadership on major funding opportunities.
Advise relationship managers and internal teams on proposal strategy, positioning, and win themes for major bids.
Support development of competitive funding strategies for complex donor opportunities.
Partner closely with relationship managers, technical teams, finance staff, and leadership throughout the proposal development process.
Collaborate effectively with geographically dispersed teams across multiple regions and time zones.
Maintain strong communication and coordination with internal and external stakeholders to support successful submissions.