Acumen is looking for a Senior Associate with at least 5 years of work experience to join our Development & Partnerships team with strong writing skills and attention to detail to support the team in grant related processes.This role is based in New York City. The NY office is operating under a hybrid work agreement and we’re in the office on Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Thursdays. About Acumen Acumen’s mission is to solve problems of poverty and build a world based on dignity. We invest patient capital in businesses whose products and services help vulnerable and low-income people transform their own lives. To date, Acumen has positively impacted 500+ million lives by investing $150M in 156 innovative, early-stage companies in Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and the United States. But investment isn’t just about capital; we’ve been investing in leadership for years, supporting emerging leaders in their own countries and engaging them in extended collective dialogue, moral inquiry, and skill building.
About Development and Partnerships We are a small and mighty team where everyone rolls up their sleeves together to bring in the revenue needed to support Acumen’s work. We engage a diverse donor audience, creating funding partnerships with individuals, corporations, foundations, and government institutions. We work cross-functionally, engaging closely with Acumen’s programs, communications function, legal and finance to develop and deliver effective funding partnerships.
About the Role As part of the Development & Partnerships Operations team, the Senior Associate, Grants Management plays a critical role in supporting the team with grants-related accountabilities. This includes supporting the team on crafting and writing grant proposals and reports and working cross-functionally to facilitate key grant processes and knowledge sharing. Specific accountabilities include:
- Support relationship managers and program staff on writing and/or facilitating completion of grant proposals and reports
- Develop and use preexisting tools to monitor upcoming grant reporting deliverables and proposals. Examples may include:
- Maintain and monitor calendar of grant deliverables in Salesforce and collaborate with internal stakeholders for effective, compliant completion.
- Maintain effective storage of grant agreements and records and use Salesforce for tracking compliance terms.
- Lead the due diligence process for potential funders in coordination with program staff, Legal, and Finance
- Lead or support, as appropriate, with the grant agreement negotiation process in coordination with program staff, Legal, and Finance
- Serve as the D&P team’s knowledge holder for grants management process, including best practices, templates, resources, key metrics, data, etc. Examples may include:
- Collaborate with Legal and Finance teams to organize training workshops for streamlined grants management and reporting
- Define best practices and maintain up-to-date resource materials for teams working on grant projects (e.g., internal tools for managing key metrics)
- Knowledge sharing with DP team on key grant reports (e.g., Unrestricted grant report templates and information)
- Organize and lead kick-off calls for awarded grants to ensure key personnel are involved and deliverables are known.
Qualifications and Skills
- The successful candidate will be detail and process-oriented, curious, analytical, and able to juggle multiple projects simultaneously.
- Minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience in fundraising, grant writing and management, and/or operations
- Strong written skills and attention to detail are a must
- Effectively collaborates with and across teams; seeks and provides feedback and maintains positive, trust-based relationships.
- Able to work cross-functionally to pull together necessary resources and data points, and to manage upwards when required.
- Exceptional relationship and interpersonal skills: courtesy, tact, and patience are a requirement.
- Operational skills such as problem-solving and project management, including the ability to work and deliver projects independently, proactively, and within deadlines, is a requirement.
- Ability to create clarity and deliver results despite complex and ambiguous circumstances; ability to be both detail-oriented and see the big picture.
- Strong understanding of Acumen’s work and position in the market and/or the sectors in which Acumen operates.
- Experience building and maintaining funding relationships and/or supporting grants.
- Familiarity with Salesforce is a plus.
- Self-reflective and aligned with Acumen’s values.
- Bachelor’s Degree is required
- Permanent authorization to work in the US
Deadline to apply: Apply as soon as possible as applications will be reviewed and interviews scheduled on a rolling basis.
The salary range for this role is $61,300-$74,900 plus a performance-based bonus. This range represents the present low and high end of pay range for this role. Actual compensation will vary based on various factors including but not limited to experience. Acumen has equal pay, so pay is determined through comparison to a cohort of employees in market at the same level of accountability. A full detail of compensation and benefits will be available through the first screening.
#LI-ACU1
