Director of Grants

COTERC (Canadian Organization for Tropical Education and Rainforest Conservation) is a not-for-profit protecting tropical ecosystems by empowering the next generation of conservation scientists.

Tropical ecosystems are under threat from a range of human disturbances — and we still lack the necessary knowledge to intervene and protect biodiversity that is critical to society’s survival.

Over the past 33 years more than 2400 early-stage researchers have visited our biological station in Costa Rica — publishing groundbreaking research on some of the least understood species in the world.

Given our geographical location in one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots and our laser-focus on high quality research and conservation we’re ready to lead the way in the fight against biodiversity loss.

Join us in protecting tropical biodiversity.

Dr Tom Bregman, Chair of COTERC

What we do

COTERC provides immersive learning experiences that deepen comprehension and appreciation of tropical ecosystems. We do this by:

• Training the next generation of conservation scientists: We inspire and empower early-stage researchers to support their development and maximise their contribution to tropical biodiversity conservation.
• Deepening understanding of ecological communities: We baseline and track changes in biodiversity — with a particular focus on the impact of local, international, and global human activities on vulnerable and endangered species.
• Creating awareness of tropical ecosystems: We communicate research findings and stories from the station to influence local ecosystem management and generate interest in protecting biodiversity amongst the broader public.
• We work closely with the local government ministry responsible for protecting the national park and wildlife refuge that we work in — providing them with up-to-date knowledge of the local ecosystems to inform their planning and practices.

The role: overview

COTERC is looking for a highly experienced, senior fundraising professional to join us and lead our grant-development efforts in the wake of a renewed emphasis on organizational growth and impact.

Over the past 12 months we have reviewed our approach to driving change and are in the process of setting a new three-year strategy.

The Director of Grants will oversee all our engagement with grant-making foundations — building relationships and developing opportunities for restricted and unrestricted fundraising.

Reporting to the Chair of the board, the Director of Grants will join the board and empower other board-members and staff to effectively improve our financial position.

This is an exciting time to join COTERC with the opportunity to lead the ongoing transformation and growth of our grant-seeking approach.

Due to our renewed focus on growth and impact, we have created two additional roles — Director of Marketing and Director of Fundraising — who will oversee financial income and broader outreach but be expected to work closely with the Director of Grants.

The role: responsibilities

• Responsible for developing a fundraising strategy focused on grant-making organizations.
• Responsible for developing and achieving agreed fundraising KPIs for restricted grants.
• Responsible for writing and sharing targeted fundraising materials.
• Responsible for engaging foundations and other grant-making organizations to support COTERC financially.
• Responsible for evaluating the success of fundraising activities.
• Input into the development of a long-term organizational strategy.
• Input into the development of a marketing strategy and messaging principles.

About you

The ideal candidate will:

• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to build and articulate COTERC’s position and impact in a persuasive and compelling way.
• Have strong leadership skills, with experience of working at a senior/director level.
• Be self-motivated and a good team player who gets things done.
• Be a natural collaborator, creating buy in through influence and persuasion, with an integrated communications and engagement approach.

Skills and experience:

• Experience engaging and fundraising from foundations and other grant-making organizations (essential).
• Experience of building fundraising strategies and turning them into action (desirable).
• Knowledge of the space that COTERC operates in (desirable).
• Experience working at a not-for-profit, or organization seeking to grow with limited resources (desirable).

Role information

• Location: Flexible (our current board members live in Canada, US, and the UK).
• Salary: N/A (volunteer role).
• Time commitment: 2 to 3 days per month (monthly committee meeting lasting two hours and time to complete tasks).
• The Director of Grants will join for an initial two-year term with an opportunity to renew.

What’s in it for you?

• Contributing to an important cause: Understanding and protecting tropical ecosystems is not just important for preserving biodiversity but is essential in protecting the future of humanity.
• Opportunity to make a difference: As the new Director of Grants for COTERC you will have the opportunity to drive the growth of a highly impactful charity. We have achieved so much without a systematic grant-seeking approach — with the appointment of an excellent candidate we expect to level-up everything we do and create new opportunities to grow and drive impact.