Senior Farm Grants Manager

The Senior Farm Grants Manager is responsible for the oversight and day-to-day management of Zero Foodprint’s farm-facing grant programs, including the Restore Program, Supply Chain Regeneration, and outgoing farm grants operations for Compost Connector. This role reports to the Director of Grants and works in close coordination with the broader grants team to ensure that ZFP’s farm grant programs are administered with integrity and achieve measurable climate and soil health outcomes.

A key responsibility of this role is building and maintaining the operational systems, databases, and workflows that underpin ZFP’s farm grantmaking — from application and contract management through funds disbursement, compliance tracking, and reporting. The Senior Farm Grants Manager brings together expertise in grantmaking, contract management, agricultural programs, and data systems to create scalable, well-documented processes that support program growth.

The Senior Farm Grants Manager directly supervises the Restore Program Manager and will grow to up to three direct reports, providing strategic direction and operational support to ensure timely delivery of program milestones, compliance with funder requirements, and effective partner relationships.

This position requires a highly organized and dynamic individual who is equally comfortable designing systems, managing day-to-day program operations, and supporting the program managers. Must be both strategic (big picture) and detail oriented.

Essential Responsibilities:

Systems Design & Program Infrastructure:

• Design, build, and maintain the operational systems and workflows that support ZFP’s farm grant programs, including application management, award tracking, contract administration, funds disbursement, and compliance documentation.
• Develop and maintain program databases (e.g., Airtable, Monday.com) to track grant recipients, project milestones, deliverables, budgets, and reporting deadlines across all active farm grant programs.
• Create and maintain standardized templates, process documentation, and SOPs for farm grant administration to ensure consistency and scalability as programs grow.
• Evaluate and implement tools and platforms that improve reporting transparency, workflow efficiency, and data integrity across the farm grants team.

Grant & Contract Management:

• Oversee the full lifecycle of farm grant programs, including solicitation, application review and scoring, award notification, contracting, funds disbursement, and closeout reporting.
• Manage the preparation, execution, and tracking of contracts and subawards with grant recipients, partners, and Technical Assistance Providers, ensuring all agreements are properly documented and executed in a timely manner.
• Ensure all farm grant programs comply with applicable federal, state, and local regulations as well as ZFP’s internal controls, procurement policies, and GAAP accounting standards.
• Track and verify that expenses claimed for reimbursement are within program and agency guidelines and are properly documented and approved.

Team Management:

• Directly supervise farm grant program managers.
• Provide strategic direction, mentorship, and day-to-day operational support to direct reports.
• Coordinate workload distribution across the farm grants team to ensure timely delivery of all program milestones.

Partner & Funder Relations:

• Serve as a primary point of contact for grant program partners, and a supportive point of contact for subcontractors, Technical Assistance Providers, and grant recipients.
• Collaborate with the Director of Grants and broader grants team on shared reporting, cross-program compliance, and funder relationships.

Financial Oversight:

• Oversee program budgets for farm grants, including tracking expenditures against allocations for on-farm grants, Technical Assistance Providers, and administrative costs.
• Prepare financial and progress reports for funders in coordination with program staff and the Director of Grants.
• Ensure that expenses claimed for reimbursement are within program and agency guidelines and are properly documented and approved.

Cross-Organizational Collaboration:

• Work closely with the Director of Grants and government grants team to ensure alignment and coordination across all ZFP grant programs.
• Collaborate with program and communications staff to document farm project outcomes and support impact reporting and storytelling.
• Contribute to organizational learning by documenting program processes and best practices.

Experience, Knowledge, and Skills

Required:

• Minimum 7 years of relevant experience in grant management, program management, or a related field with a demonstrated track record of meeting deadlines and managing budgets.
• Proven experience designing and managing program systems, databases, and operational workflows, ideally in a grant-funded nonprofit environment.
• Strong knowledge of grantmaking processes, including application management, award administration, contract management, subawards, and compliance documentation.
• Experience with contract management, including drafting, executing, and tracking agreements with partners, subcontractors, and grant recipients.
• Proficiency with database and project management tools such as Airtable, Monday.com, Asana, or similar platforms; comfort building out new systems from scratch.
• Proven experience managing or supervising a team in a remote environment.
• Excellent organizational, problem-solving, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Excellent writing, editing, and proofreading skills, including grant and progress report writing.
• Fluency in Google Suite.
• Experience working with federal and/or state grant funding is strongly preferred.

Preferred:

• Knowledge of regenerative agriculture, climate-smart farming, conservation programs, or on-farm practice implementation.
• Familiarity with USDA programs, NRCS conservation practices, or similar federal agricultural grant frameworks.
• Experience working with Technical Assistance Providers or agricultural service providers.
• Spanish language proficiency.

Physical Requirements:

Zero Foodprint is committed to creating an inclusive environment, including providing reasonable accommodations to allow all employees to thrive in their role.

Essential functions of this role include:

Extensive use of computers and cellphones.

Zero Foodprint hours are 9am–5pm Pacific time, Monday through Friday. While work hours may be flexible depending on time-zone, the majority of expected work hours shall occur during normal Zero Foodprint office hours.

• 10 days PTO (15 days after 2 years employment)
• Paid Sick Leave
• 13 Days Paid Holidays
• Medical, Dental, Vision benefits.
• 401(k) retirement plan

English Proficiency required. Spanish or other language is a plus!