About the Opportunity

This is an excellent opportunity for a detail-oriented and highly organized grants professional with strong writing skills. The ideal candidate brings substantial experience managing federal grants, a commitment to professional excellence, and an interest in working within a dynamic and high-performing mission-driven organization.

This position is responsible for managing Building Futures’ grants, including performing subrecipient monitoring and engaging in compliance and outcome reporting. The Grants Manager will also engage in development activities, including researching and applying for grants. This is a key position on Building Futures’ management team reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, with a starting salary range of $70,000-85,000 (commensurate with experience) and opportunities to advance.

About Building Futures

Building Futures was founded in 2007 as a construction industry partnership focused on leveraging the registered apprenticeship model of workforce development. For over 100 years, unions and employers have jointly operated quality registered apprenticeships in construction occupations to train individuals as highly skilled tradespeople. Our work spans three distinct but highly aligned areas.

For the benefit of low-income Rhode Islanders, Building Futures developed and operates a comprehensive pre-apprenticeship program to prepare diverse, low-income men and women for success in employment as registered apprentices in the building trades. In addition, we work in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure construction projects provide employment opportunities for apprentices at the appropriate level to meet future demand for skilled labor through our Apprentice Utilization Program. Together, our pre-apprenticeship and apprentice utilization programs provide an effective system for workforce development in Rhode Island’s construction sector.

From this foundation, we have established Apprenticeship Rhode Island, an initiative to expand the use of Registered Apprenticeship beyond the construction sector. Now, we are helping develop new registered apprenticeship programs in multiple sectors, including healthcare, information technology, advanced manufacturing, and marine trades. Working with employers, industry partnerships, government, and community-based organizations, we are spreading the proven Registered Apprenticeship model to benefit the state’s workforce and economy.

Building Futures has an annual budget of $4.4 million and a staff of 23, and is slated to expand in the coming year.

Position Details

As part of Building Futures’ administrative team, the Grants Manager plays a critical role, liaising with grantors, managing specific grants post-award, engaging in compliance and outcome reporting, and supporting new proposal development to address organizational needs. Duties include tracking overall grant efforts, optimizing the grant administration process, preparing progress reports, ensuring compliance with grant regulations, supporting development of grant proposals, and preparing other grant-related reports. This position requires strong writing, data analysis, budgeting, and project management skills, emphasizing outcome measurement.

Responsibilities

1. Grants Management

a. Work with program and finance staff to monitor and ensure compliance with grant terms and conditions; manage, track, and report on organizational and programmatic goals and outcomes; and recommend grant modifications as needed.

b. Monitor funder reporting requirements and manage a reporting schedule for all grants and contracts. 

c. Serve as lead on report narratives and assemble all necessary report-related materials, including outcome measurements, success stories, etc., for submission to funders.

d. Research and compile statistics and trend data from internal and external sources to support the development of grant proposals, stakeholder presentations, and community advocacy efforts.

e. Support the monitoring of grant sub-awards and subrecipient agreements.

f. Assist with grant budget analysis and modification recommendations as needed.

g. Identify grants management issues requiring attention.

h. Develop strategies to improve grant administration processes in coordination with the Chief Operating Officer.

2. Grant Development

a. Support grant development by:

• Researching new government and private funding opportunities;
• Maintaining a master calendar of funder prospects, deadlines, and submission requirements;
• Maintaining current files of all supporting documentation needed for grant submissions; and,
• Tracking grant award announcement timelines and results.

b. In collaboration with program and finance staff, draft letters of intent, proposal narratives, and project budgets and complete various submission processes in coordination with the Chief Operating Officer and President/CEO.

c. Coordinate appropriate grant/gift acknowledgments with the External Relations department, including but not limited to formal letters, print, and social media recognition.

3. Staff Coordination  

a. Serve as primary contact for project staff related to grant reporting and outcome documentation;

b. Communicate regularly with project directors and staff related to grant progress, outcomes reporting, and workplan modifications as needed;

c. With other staff, ensure that services delivered are efficiently and effectively documented for grant reporting; and,

d. Perform other duties as required.

Qualifications

Alignment and commitment to our organizational mission are essential: Our mission is to meet employer and industry need for skilled workers through the Registered Apprenticeship system while creating family-sustaining careers for people experiencing poverty. Additionally, successful applicants will have:

• A minimum of 5 years of work experience in nonprofit administration, grants management, and grant writing
• Strong analytical and persuasive writing and editing skills, including ability to convey complex information clearly to a diverse audience
• Government grants management experience required
• Ability to set priorities and manage multiple tasks with minimal supervision in effective and efficient manner
• Strong critical thinking, organizational, and communication (oral and written) skills
• Ability to pay close and accurate attention to detail, work under pressure, and respond to deadlines without sacrificing quality
• Self-motivated and committed to personal and organizational excellence
• Ability to collaborate in a team environment
• Skilled in Microsoft Office Suite, as well as donor development/CRM software

Additional Information

Building Futures is located in the Valley neighborhood of Providence, RI. This role may require local and statewide travel. A valid driver’s license is required.

Building Futures is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. People of color, women, LGBTQ and gender non-conforming candidates, people with disabilities, and people of other diverse backgrounds and experiences are strongly encouraged to apply.

Building Futures offers excellent health and dental benefits, life insurance, 401k match, and a competitive paid time off package.

Apply today!

Please submit your cover letter and resume to Shelby Mack, Chief of Staff, at smack@bfri.org.