Manager, Grant & Corporate Partners & Investments

DEPARTMENT: Development

REPORTS TO: Director of Development & Community Affairs

LOCATION: Ceres HQ and remote

FLSA STATUS: Regular, Full-Time, Exempt

Position Summary

The Manager, Grant and Corporate Partners & Investments will support Ceres Community Project’s funding goals by managing all aspects of the foundation and government grant process, including: collaborative strategic planning and program design; prospect research and vetting; effectiveness of the grant process; timeline and team management; proposal, report and materials development; funder cultivation; grant submission; and grant compliance. Specifically, this role will manage the grants calendar, develop grant strategies, and research, write and prepare foundation and government grant applications and funder reports. The role provides oversight and direction for seeking and maintaining robust corporate partnerships and sponsorships.

Reporting to the Director of Development & Community Affairs, this role will work closely with the CEO and Chief Program Officer to strategically develop funding partnerships to support and scale Ceres’ impact. This position supervises a Grants & Corporate Engagement Coordinator.

As a manager, this role is responsible for modeling Ceres’ culture and for supporting the well-being, development and retention of the staff members that report to them.  This includes meeting regularly with staff to understand their successes and challenges, helping them grow and develop as team members, providing consistent feedback, and ensuring that they stay engaged in and informed about the overall work of Ceres.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

Strategy Development

• With Ceres’ Leadership Team and program staff, facilitates regular discussions to develop the strategic direction of the organization alongside available funding opportunities.
• Provides strategic and practical support and direction to the Grants & Corporate Engagement Coordinator in prospecting for corporate partners, developing sponsorship packages and volunteer opportunities, and stewarding partners for long-term commitment.
• Stays abreast of agency and program developments and collaborates with program leaders to strategically align program growth with available funding opportunities.
• Maintains a working knowledge of agency priorities and funding needs and provides leadership to the program team on identifying creative strategies and opportunities for supporting program development.
• Develops an annual foundation and government grant strategy that includes cultivation of new funders and development/scaling of existing funder relationships.
• Works with key staff leaders to create metrics and outcomes that effectively demonstrate the challenges and successes of Ceres’ work.

Grant Research, Proposal Development and Grant Writing

• Identifies strategic funding opportunities that align with Ceres overall organizational direction, and proposes possible program designs, community partnerships, and other creative ideas for how to best utilize the opportunities.
•  Acts as project manager on major grant submissions to coordinate staff members across departments, manage Grant Coordinator and contractors, and ensures the entire process is completed in a timely and effective manner.
• Assists with the design of new programs and project implementation plans for grant narratives, including identification of project goals/objectives, key outcomes, workplans/timelines, and multi-year budgets.
•  Writes, prepares and submits effective government and foundation grant proposals for unrestricted and restricted funding, meeting deadlines for a robust grant schedule.
• Supervises Grant Coordinator in writing, submitting and reporting for small foundations grants.

Grant Administration, Reporting & Internal Processes

• Reviews contract award documents and communicates compliance and award conditions to key project staff.
• Coordinates submission of timely and accurate grant reporting (progress report/interim reports, year-end, financial reporting, program data and special reports) as needed.
• Collaborates with Ceres’ communications team to ensure appropriate recognition of funders.
• Supervises the Grant Coordinator to ensure proper and timely acknowledgment and reporting of all grant funding and accurate maintenance of all funder contact information.

Manager Responsibilities

• Consistently models Ceres’ Culture as specified in the Culture statement, Operating Principles and Operating Agreements.
• Conducts weekly one-on-one check-ins with direct reports to provide ongoing support of employees’ well-being and professional development, to keep projects and goals on track, and to troubleshoot problems.
•  Ensures responsive communication (responds to emails and requests in a timely manner), communicates clear priorities and deadlines, and provides context when making requests (the why’s); models this communication in own work, models and reinforces this communication style for team members.
• Completes thoughtful and timely annual reviews, as well as 30-, 60-, 90-day reviews for new staff or staff in new roles; keeps agreed-upon goals surfaced and front and center in weekly check-ins and feedback conversations.
• Ensures job descriptions are accurate and complete; develops and maintains detailed onboarding and training plans for new staff or staff promoted into new roles.
• Understands, monitors and enforces mandated break requirements and time off policies; carefully reviews timesheets and expense reports for accuracy and compliance; ensures credit card receipts are submitted on time; provides approvals in a timely manner.   
• Addresses performance issues and any conflicts among staff promptly, equitably and effectively; documents all performance conversations and escalates when appropriate to a direct supervisor and/or HR.
• Oversees timely completion of required training throughout the year.
•  Attends regularly scheduled manager meetings

Other Responsibilities

• Represents Ceres at events such as grant award receptions, Ceres’ Harvest of the Heart fundraiser and other functions
• Host partners for site visits at our gardens or kitchens
• Able to occasionally work nights and weekends, and to travel in our region for events and site visits
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• Commitment to Ceres Community Project’s mission and programs.
• 3 or more years of grant writing, management, fundraising and/or relevant experience.
• Skilled at building relationships and collaborating across the organization and with business/foundation partners.
• Excellent writing and editing skills; ability to write clear, structured, articulate, and compelling proposals; ability to seek and synthesize information and communicate succinctly.
• Comfortable working with financial information to craft targeted grant budgets that meet funder needs.
• Big picture thinker with the ability to plan strategically for Ceres’ growth.
• Self-directed and able to set priorities and manage multiple concurrent deadlines with a positive and energetic attitude.
• Experience with reporting and dashboard management for program tracking and fund tracking systems; experience with Salesforce a plus.
• Proficient in MS Office Suite, especially Excel.
• Comfortable with a dynamic and innovative work environment that values working as a team, relationships, and giving and receiving feedback.
• BA Degree preferred.

Physical Demands/Work Environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a staff member to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand or sit at a workstation; use hands and fingers to operate a computer keyboard and mouse; talk and hear to communicate with coworkers.
• Light to moderate lifting of up to 20 pounds, bending, stooping and climbing a ladder is occasionally required.
• The work environment is primarily indoors with the majority of time spent sitting at a desk, on the phone or a computer, with moderate noise (office equipment, conversation from adjacent coworkers and commercial kitchen equipment) in the background. 
• Must be able to sit or stand at a computer terminal for an extended period of time.

COVID-19

Ceres is following the guidance and requirements of the health departments of Sonoma and Marin counties and the state of California. We have protocols in place for prevention of and response to COVID-19 and all new staff will be briefed on these in their onboarding. We need a commitment from all staff that they will abide by these protocols.

Operating Principles

• Heart Centered & Love Guided - We are committed to expressing love, trust, respect and integrity in our lives, work, and organization.
• Everything Matters - Nothing is left out. We work to have every action and choice lead to the greatest positive impact.
• Young People are the Future - Young People are intelligent, responsible, capable, creative, and caring, and must be central participants in shaping our collective future.
• Equitable, Diverse, and Inclusive - We commit to championing policies and practices of social equity that build a diverse, inclusive, and healthy workplace and food system.

Ceres Organization

Founded in 2007, Ceres Community Project works to build healthy communities by restoring whole, organic and locally grown food to its place as the foundation of health, empowering youth, and connecting people in heart-centered ways to others and the earth.

Ceres Community Project's main program, Healing Meals for Healthy Communities, provides free and low-cost nourishing organic meals, nutrition education and caring support to people facing serious illness. All of the meals are prepared by teens that learn about growing, cooking and eating healthy whole foods and the connection between diet and health, develop life and work-ready skills, and discover their power to make a difference. The Healing Meals Program improves healthy eating behaviors among clients, teens and adult volunteers and educates the whole community about the link between healthy eating and the health of both people and planet. It also strengthens the social fabric of the community, another factor that is at the root of health. In times of disaster, Ceres is an emergency nutrition provider for our community.

In addition to operating three program sites in Marin and Sonoma counties, Ceres has trained 13 communities nationally to replicate our model. We are also active at the state and national level in advocating for policies that support equitable access to healthy food and health care, including reimbursement for medically tailored meals by insurers. For more information, please visit www.ceresproject.org.

Ceres Community Project is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All employment decisions at Ceres are made without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin/ancestry, age, disability, marital & veteran status or any other status protected by laws or regulations.

Salary : $75,000 - $80,000