Grants Manager

Summary

The Alliance for the Great Lakes raises funds from a diverse array of sources to support our advocacy, research and engagement work. Approximately half of our annual revenue comes from institutional foundations, making them a vital source of support for our mission. More recently, the Alliance has taken on several large commitments of government support in keeping with our overall strategy, underscoring the importance of excellence in grant administration and stewardship for the future.

The Grants Manager position is a new role on the Operations team that will assume the operational grant management responsibilities from our Senior Foundation & Corporate Giving Manager. They will be tasked with building on our existing grants management processes to formalize administration of complex grant requirements.

A large initial portion of the manager’s time will be managing a $5.5M Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant to implement the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in environmental justice communities in the southern Lake Michigan watershed. This project is expected to run through October 2030 contingent on federal appropriations and other federal actions. The manager will be involved in the planning and implementation of funded activities, programs, and a sub-award granting process, and responsible for full compliance with all terms of the EPA grant.

The duties in the first year of this newly created position will include prioritization of and focus on managing the EPA grant. Within the first year, the manager will:

• Develop documented grant management and compliance policies and procedures and ensure the “Stakeholders” listed below are trained and supported on all pertinent parts.
• Utilize Asana (or similar tool) to detail tasks and subtasks with owners and deadlines.
• Ensure all contracts and other documentation are accurate and fully executed.
• Accurately complete all required reporting and invoicing on time.
• Identify any gaps in tools, controls, or other areas critical to successfully managing the grant and recommend solutions to be implemented.

This position will also be responsible for taking over management of our grants administration structure for the entire organization. Within the first year, the manager will:

• Work closely with colleagues to fully learn their roles in the grants management process, from proposal development through final reports, and complete transition of relevant duties to this role by year end.
• Meet with all lead program staff for current grants to understand the deliverables, budgets, relationships, and any other key information about the grants.
• Establish a monthly meeting to review details of grant expenditures with the Finance Manager and ensure detailed tracking and forecasting of grant expenditures.
• Work with the Director of Communications to develop strategies to generate language that can be used in proposals and reports with the intention of having initial drafting start with this role once that language is available.

This position reports to the Vice President of Finance & Operations. This position works closely with:

• Alliance program, development, finance and operations staff
• Program/project managers and finance staff at external organizations
• Contractors or consultants assisting with the work outlined in the grant
• Auditors

Specific to the EPA grant, this position works with all the above and:

• Organizations serving as co-administrators of this grant
• Environmental justice and community organizations
• All applicants and recipients of the sub-grants of this EPA funding
• EPA officials

This group collectively will be referred to as the “Stakeholders” throughout this document.

Working with the Stakeholders, this position will draft all contracts related to the grants and ensure execution, monitor progress against financial and programmatic metrics and deadlines, ensure compliance with governmental and funder requirements, ensure the timely submittal of invoices and reports on grant activities, and evaluate if program/project goals are achieved.

Specific to the EPA grant, this position prepares feasibility studies, cost-effectiveness analyses, and determines regulatory conformance of proposed projects/programs. The position has primary responsibility for developing policies and procedures for programmatic and financial reporting, and a compliance and monitoring plan for the portfolio of EPA-funded activities including, but not limited to EPA requirements and single audit requirements. They will partner with the Local Partnerships program team to work on related planning and community development issues as needed.

A typical day at the Alliance is often self-directed and is based on balancing immediate tasks – tracking the status of documentation from a sub-awardee – and longer-term projects like positioning the grants management process to be adaptable in supporting the Alliance’s expanding needs or developing a federally compliant subaward granting system with the Director of Planning. These short-term and longer-ranging projects and tasks are developed in close coordination with various staff including program staff, development staff, operations staff and others. Our work is highly collaborative, and the manager should feel comfortable engaging independently with staff and facilitating regular meetings with stakeholders and partners.

Responsibilities

General Administration & Compliance

• Maintain accurate grants calendar utilizing existing tools like Office 365, Asana and Salesforce to track projects and help maintain organizational records, while also identifying tools or process improvements to build the Alliance’s grant management capacity.
• Project-manage proposal development, assembly and submission, ensuring key staff are involved and informed throughout.
• Schedule and conduct meetings as necessary to ensure all relevant staff are aware of grant requirements, updated on progress, and included in assessing any issues/barriers to completing the terms of the grant.
• Using Alliance tools and in collaboration with Finance staff, monitor grant expenditures and expenditure forecasts to ensure compliance, and flag potential issues of meeting deliverables or financial expenditure requirements within the grant period to relevant staff.
• Work with Alliance Finance Manager to ensure that expenditures are assigned correctly in the Alliance’s chart of accounts, that all expenses posted to an incorrect general ledger line are moved by Finance Manager, and adequate documentation of the change request is maintained.
• Manage all contractor and sub-awardee contracts, ensuring compliance with terms, receipt of required documentation, and deadline management.
• Complete and submit all required project and expenditure reports via grant-specified reporting methods and frequency as stipulated in grant terms.
• Support Development and Finance staff in developing financial forecasts and budgets.
• Attend trainings to stay current on grant management best practices and changes to federal regulations.
• Actively manage all work throughout the year to be prepared for annual audit and single audit, focusing on thorough grant and GAAP compliance, documentation, and reporting.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Relationships

• Build respectful and authentic working relationships with all Stakeholders and Alliance staff.
• Serve as a trusted resource for Stakeholders on advancing grant deliverables.
• Builds collaborative relationships with external community Stakeholders rooted in a comprehensive understanding of culture and goals.
• Works with Advancement team to identify and take advantage of opportunities to communicate to the media and Alliance supporters about the Alliance’s work.
• Exemplifies a spirit of optimism and advances solutions at the practical, day-to-day scale of work.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

EPA Administration & Compliance

In addition to the above bullet points:

• Analyze proposals, environmental remediation & resiliency plans, education and capacity building plans, and other financial planning documents for feasibility.
• Verify that all funds are obligated by written agreement/contract by required grant deadlines, and all expenditures are incurred during the grant performance period estimated to be July 2024 to October 2030.
• Monitor the use of funds and internal policies and procedures for compliance with all federal regulations and local requirements, as applicable; ensures compliance with 2 CFR Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, and relevant OMB Compliance Supplements.
• Actively supports sub-awardees and other contractors to ensure timely and detailed compliance, including 200.332 Requirements for pass-through entities.
• Ensure that appropriate grant or subrecipient agreements are executed for funded programs and projects, including timelines, budgets, payment schedules, reporting requirements, and that recipients have Universal Entity Identifiers when required.
• Supervise, direct, and coordinate the work of Stakeholders.
• Develop and maintain risk-based due diligence analyses, as well as subrecipient and contractor eligibility for federal fund awards using SAM.gov.
• Maintain regular communication with all Alliance staff, partners, and external organizations receiving funding to track progress; provide technical assistance on a wide range of compliance issues; review and approve request for payments and source documents from external recipients of funds.
• Ensure that procurement methods provide full and open competition, and written standards of conduct and prohibitions on dealing with suspended or debarred parties are maintained.
• Determine eligibility of programs/projects, and documents.
• Prepare, schedule and manage virtual and in-person meetings; develop agendas and meeting packets, and record minutes; present projects and programs proposed for EPA funding and periodic progress updates on the EPA grant to the Stakeholders, Alliance Leadership & Board, and others as needed.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Knowledge/Skills

• At least five years of increasingly responsible professional experience in grants management experience at non-profits, state or local governments, colleges or universities, or other industries that receive federal funding directly.
• Experience managing large and/or multi-year federal grants (EPA experience preferred), major private foundations, and fund accounting.
• Managerial experience of grant administration, administrative requirements, cost principles and state and federal regulation compliance.
• Knowledge of and experience applying Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and best practices of financial management.
• Strength at writing and editing complex technical narrative information to fit within the needs of funders.
• Experienced in reading, preparing and presenting comprehensive, concise, clear oral and written reports to diverse audiences.
• Ability to apply principles of logical or scientific thinking to define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions; interpret a variety of federal statutes and regulations, and technical instructions; and deal with multiple abstract and concrete variables.
• Experience in developing and maintaining authentic, reciprocal partnerships, especially with partners working with less capacity than the granting organization.
• Deep commitment to and understanding of environmental justice, climate justice, and the intersection with community resiliency and ecological restoration
• Unwavering commitment to diversity, equity inclusion and justice. Adhere to and exemplify these principles in addition to our values of community, relationships, courage, integrity, and optimism in everyday practice.
• Innovative, creative, resourceful and independent thinker.
• Exceptional organizational and project management skills.
• Self-motivated, disciplined, and reliable.

About the Alliance for the Great Lakes

The Alliance for the Great Lakes is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The search process will reinforce the Alliance’s belief that achieving diversity requires an enduring commitment to inclusion that must find full expression in our organizational culture, values, norms, and behaviors.

Our vision is a thriving Great Lakes and healthy water that all life can rely on, today and far into the future. We aspire to be a voice for the lakes, and to support the voices of the communities that depend on the lakes and their waters.

The mission of the Alliance for the Great Lakes is to protect, conserve and restore the Great Lakes ensuring healthy water in the lakes and in our communities for all generations of people and wildlife. We advance our mission as advocates for policies that support the lakes and communities, by building the research, analysis and partnerships that motivate action, and by educating and uniting people as a voice for the Great Lakes.

To achieve our vision and mission, everyone in our organization will live our values of Community, Relationships, Courage, Integrity and Optimism, and weave the principles of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion into all our work. Each value and principle is backed by measurable goals and expectations for our Board of Directors and staff.

For more information about the Alliance’s programs and work, please visit us online at www.greatlakes.org.

Job Parameters

This position is full-time and consistent with Alliance employment policy. The Alliance has defined salary ranges that are evaluated annually, and it is customary for candidates to join at the lower half of the range to leave room for learning and development in the role. It is uncommon for starting salaries to fall above the mid-point. This position is considered a senior level manager, and the salary range for this position begins at $80,000. A final salary will be based on the candidate’s experience in similar roles and expertise related to the qualifications.

Benefits include medical, dental, short- and long-term disability, life insurance, FSA, 11 paid holidays plus the business days between 12/26 and 12/30 (staff who must work on any holidays may take those holidays at another time subject to the employee handbook). Employees start with 3 weeks' vacation annually + 5 sick days; Fidelity 401(k) with match of up to 6% of salary after one month of employment.

This position can work remotely from anywhere in the Great Lakes region, with a preference for the Chicagoland area. If located in the Chicagoland area, applicants can work from and host meetings at the Alliance’s downtown Chicago office. This position must have ability to attend evening and weekend meetings when necessary. Applicants must also be able to travel within the greater Chicagoland region regularly to meet with Stakeholders up to 6 times per year.