Senior Manager, Grants & Contracts

JFF•Boston, MA

13h•$80,000 - $100,000•Remote

About The Position

Reporting to the Senior Director, Government Business Development, the Senior Manager, Grants & Contracts will support JFF’s pursuit and proposal development for mission-aligned federal, state, and/or local grants and contracts (most notably, the U.S. Departments of Education and Labor, and other agencies) as well as institutional and individual funding opportunities, as needed. To ensure that proposals are accurate, competitive, and ultimately successful, the Senior Manager will work closely with other colleagues on the Development Team as well as JFF staff members in program roles who are responsible for executing on these awards. This role is designed to address critical capacity needs for supporting state and federal contract submissions, including prospecting, opportunity assessment, pre-bid setup and organization, proposal drafting and assembly, and post-award tasks. The work is increasingly proposal operations- and process-heavy, and strong execution capacity in this role will help free senior team leadership to focus on relationships and strategy. This is an exciting opportunity for someone who thrives on being organized, detail oriented, and energized by managing complex, mission-critical projects in a fast-paced government development environment.

Requirements

Previously managed programs/projects within the education, workforce, economic development, and/or other social impact setting.
Familiarity with proposal development work, with a preference and interest in the landscape of government grants and/or contracts.
Value and skilled at developing effective relationships with colleagues and other stakeholders in order to collaborate on projects and make meaningful contributions to the work.
Creative problem-solver who pursues opportunities to improve processes, collect relevant data, leverage feedback, develop skills, and acquire knowledge to better support your team and increase the value of your work.
Developed subject matter expertise within the field and are eager to leverage it within your work.
Demonstrate good judgment, clear analytical thinking, and strong decision-making skills.
Strong time management skills in order to effectively execute multiple workstreams and priorities.
Set ambitious and achievable goals and manage your time effectively to consistently deliver high-quality outputs and fulfill commitments that align with your organization’s strategic goals.
Demonstrate awareness of your performance, impact, and of those around you with respect to the cultural context of your organization.
Active listener who communicates clearly, openly, and respectfully, whether verbally, in writing (reports, memos, briefs, etc.), and/or when facilitating.
Take ownership of work by keeping yourself and others focused and accountable to the work.
Leverage professional development and other learning opportunities to stay current with advances in your field and grow your subject matter expertise.
Possess high energy and passion for JFF’s mission and North Star, and the ability to apply JFF’s core values to all areas of your work.
Energized by stewarding JFF’s inclusion, belonging, and well-being values and practices within your day-to-day work, including embracing and celebrating the differences that each individual brings to JFF.
Value building positive and collaborative relationships with others, including people whose identities and backgrounds differ from your own.
Able and willing to travel up to 10%. This includes traveling to the Boston office up to 3 times per year to meet with the Development Team and participate in both team and organizational retreats, as needed.

Nice To Haves

New hires at the Senior Manager level at JFF typically bring 5-10 years of prior professional experience through a combination of full-time, part-time, internship, and/or freelance positions.

Responsibilities

Develop proposal templates, proposal elements documents, and timelines.
Coordinate proposal team meetings to include multiple JFF teams as well as external partners when appropriate.
Facilitate the request and receipt of resumes and other personnel materials from JFF staff and proposal materials from external partners.
Coordinate with other JFF departments including Finance for the development of budgets, budget narratives, and budget templates.
Project manage state and federal contract proposals that are often complex, run on compressed timelines, and require coordination across proposal team members, partners, and functional teams to produce drafts, budgets, letters of commitment, teaming agreements, supplemental documentation, editing, and submission materials.
Develop and/or improve proposal development processes in consultation with the Senior Director.
Update and create new government proposal templates as needed.
Manage federal and government proposal/award portals and accounts, including grants.gov, G5, JustGrants, etc., in consultation with the Senior Director.
Develop and maintain boilerplate language, past performance, and documentation for proposals.
Assist in monitoring government grant and contract opportunities.
Support institutional and individual funding opportunities, as needed.
Support prospecting, opportunity assessment, and pre-bid setup and organization for state and federal opportunities.
Help build strong operational discipline around proposal execution for RFP-driven submissions that require technical understanding of government regulations and processes.
Contribute to process clarity and execution capacity in a function where the bulk of the work is proposal development and submission.
Partner with internal colleagues and external contributors to ensure proposal components are complete, well-organized, and submitted on time.