Philadelphia, PA

The Organization
The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that promotes lasting peace with justice, as a practical expression of faith in action. Drawing on continuing spiritual insights and working with people of many backgrounds, we nurture the seeds of change and respect for human life that transform social relations and systems.

Position Overview
Summary of Principal Responsibilities

The Director of Grants is responsible for the management of a comprehensive program of institutional fundraising.  The Director develops an annual strategic plan for raising grant funds for AFSC’s worldwide programs. She/he leads the grant officers in carrying out this plan, ensuring that all staff in the unit works cohesively and in partnership with administrative and program staff. The Director will help to advance AFSC’s interests by providing oversight of prospect research, proactively seeking opportunities to generate new proposals, and keeping abreast of trends and opportunities in grant making. The Director serves as liaison with other departments and units concerning grants development and stewardship. She/he oversees the grants solicitation pipeline and ensures good tracking and coordination of efforts. In coordination with the Grant Process Team, she/he ensures grants are managed according to funders’ requirements. She/he oversees the unit’s budget and supervises grants officers and support staff, currently 4.5 FT Employees.

Essential Functions/Responsibilities

The key responsibilities of the Director of Grants include the following:

• Develop an annual grant resource development plan with revenue goals, in consultation with grant officers, the Associate General Secretaries for Program(s), and the Director of Development.
• Oversee that unit goals are met.Manage the cultivation and solicitation for a small portfolio of major grants as needed.
• Assign funders to grant officers. Oversee the grant unit’s interpretation and promotion of AFSC programs.
• Supervise Grant Officers and support staff. Manage a cohesive team and work to ensure that systems are in place to maximize the unit’s ability to raise funds.
• In coordination with Support, Planning and Evaluation, help to translate institutional fundraising requirements for quantifiable objectives, indicators, etc. in program planning processes.
• Steward process for identifying and fostering grant readiness.
• Oversee grant prospect research.
• Ensure systems are in place to acknowledge gifts and maintain and manage all grant records.Assure that grants meet AFSC budget and program needs and funders’ requirements.
• Provide or arrange for training for program and administrative partners in research, proposal writing and grants management.
• Oversee grants unit budget.
• Provide analyses that show organization-based trends in revenue, areas of strength, challenges, and opportunities for further grant development.
• Provide analyses that show trends in grant making by foundations, governments, bi- and –multilateral institutions, and corporations.
• Keep abreast of AFSC programs and the issues they seek to address.
• Other duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:  Bachelor’s degree in liberal arts or a related area.

Experience:  Demonstrated managerial skills and fundraising skills of eight years or more required, including:

• Four or more years’ experience in grants fundraising, including successful cultivation and solicitation of major grants from foundations, governments, corporations, and multi-lateral organizations.
• Four or more years’ experience in a fundraising management position that included supervision, interaction with colleagues in a variety of functions, and navigating competing institutional priorities.
• Experience in grants management, including reporting, negotiation, communications with partners, and finance-related functions including audits.
• Demonstrated ability to initiate contact with funders to communicate with them professionally and persuasively both orally and in writing.
• Demonstrated ability to interpret the programs of a multi-issue organization to a wide range of funders.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze, investigate, and submit proposals to satisfy funders’ interests within organizational guidelines.

Other Required Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to establish objectives, determines priorities, set and enforce deadlines.
• Experience in taking initiative and solving problems in a changing environment.
• Ability to make and support difficult decisions and to cope with pressure.
• Highly developed interpersonal skills with the ability to give clear, direct, caring feedback; skillful coach/mentor; ability to delegate tasks effectively.
• Ability to set clear individual performance expectations and see they are met.
• Highly developed administrative skills, including budgeting; creating policies and procedures, ensuring data integrity and good record-keeping.
• Understanding of accounting principles, restricted funds, and requirements of various government and foundation funders.
• Ability to organize personal time well; to give attention to detail and provide careful follow-through, and to work independently and imaginatively.
• Willingness to work in an organization characterized by a high level of consultation,where consensus is frequently the formal process for reaching decisions.
• Willingness and ability to travel (by air, train or auto) internationally and in the U.S. on trips of a few days to a few weeks, and to work some evenings and weekends.
• Commitment to Quaker values and testimonies.
• Understanding of and compatibility with the principles and philosophy of the American Friends Service Committee including non-violence and the belief in the intrinsic worth of every individual.
• Understanding of and commitment to the principles, concerns, and considerations, of AFSC in regard to issues of race, class, nationality, religion, age, gender and sexual orientation, and disabilities.
• Demonstrated ability to work and communicate with diverse staff.

Compensation:  Salary Range 18 – Exempt – Comprehensive medical and hospitalization plan; term life, accident and salary continuation insurances, defined benefit pension plan, plus fringe benefits; participation in unemployment and worker’s compensation and social security.

The American Friends Service Committee is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.  Qualified persons are encouraged to apply regardless of their religious affiliation, race, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or disability.

AFSC’s Central Office and some of its offices in the U.S. are unionized workplaces. This position is not represented.The American Friends Service Committee is a smoke-free workplace.