Director, Grants Initiatives

Reporting to the Vice President, Community Impact, the Director, Grants Initiatives will lead United Way of Greater Los Angeles’ (UWGLA) grantseeking and grantmaking efforts in the areas of homelessness, education, and economic mobility. The Director will lead innovation and growth in UWGLA’s grantmaking and grantseeking operations to ensure a comprehensive and integrated approach to grantseeking and grantmaking that allows the organization to deepen its community impact across Los Angeles County. The Director will oversee a newly configured team within the Community Impact Department and will be responsible for leading:

1. the development and implementation of a comprehensive strategy to secure, diversify and grow new and existing funding from private, community, and corporate foundations, as well as government sources, and
2. UWGLA’s grantmaking strategy and operations across all impact work.

The Director, Grants Initiatives will play a critical role in building a grants function within the organization that includes strong internal coordination and alignment across the organization. This position will also have a key role in sharing and promoting UWGLA’s mission and impact efforts with the funding community, grantees and other key stakeholders.

As a member of UWGLA’s leadership team, the Director will provide strategic input and participate in efforts to promote the organization’s values and participate in the design and implementation of organizational strategy and initiatives. The ideal candidate will demonstrate a deep passion for ending homelessness and poverty, possess a strong work ethic, enjoy dynamic problem-solving, operate with a mission-first mindset, and exhibit a track record of cultivating meaningful and productive relationships internally and externally.

Essential Functions

Grantseeking

• Plan, organize and direct all of the organization’s grantseeking efforts, including restricted and unrestricted grant funding to support the organization’s impact work and operations.
• Lead development of organization-wide comprehensive fund development plan for grant seeking that supports the organization’s impact and funding priorities.
• Develop and oversee an internal process and database to track grants to ensure excellent grant stewardship, including work plans, commitments and timelines.
• Partner with Community Impact and Finance teams to develop budgets for all grant submissions that capture the full cost of UWGLA’s efforts.
• Research grant prospects and cultivate long-term relationships with local, statewide, and national foundations to support UWGLA’s community impact work.
• Partner with the organization’s Performance & Evaluation Team to build a robust process and practice for measuring and collecting impact data and outcomes across impact areas, including evaluation of grantee impact to produce results-oriented grant submissions and reports.
• Coordinate with the Marketing & Communications and Development & Engagement teams to ensure proper recognition of funders.
• Provide strategic guidance, leadership and oversight around UWGLA’s Home for Good Funders Collaborative grantmaking program.
• Work in partnership with Marketing & Communications to share key impact metrics through various communications channels and support development of impact reports for funders.

Grantmaking

• Plan, organize and direct all of the organization’s grantmaking strategy and operations.
• Lead a team that is responsible for developing, managing and tracking all grantmaking for the organization, including grantmaking aligned with the organization’s Creating Pathways Out of Poverty plan, the Home for Good Funders Collaborative, Southern California Disaster Relief Fund, and other grant initiatives that arise.
• Oversee all stages of United Way’s grantmaking to community-based organizations, including strategy development, RFP design and issuance, grantee selection, reporting, relationship management and outcome data analysis.
• Identify and implement new grantmaking strategies and approaches in partnership with the Community Impact team leadership and ensure a comprehensive and integrated approach to grantseeking across the housing, education and economic mobility impact work.
• Lead efforts to design and implement a standardized grant tracking process, including a grant tracking system.
• Continuously improve grantmaking policies and procedures with an emphasis on building and scaling infrastructure through efficiently operated systems and processes.

Organizational

• Lead and manage a team, providing effective oversight, leadership, mentorship, and proactively addressing personnel and operational issues that may arise.
• Support implementation of the Community Impact Team’s annual goals and the organization’s strategic plan. Participate in cross-departmental and organizational planning and volunteer efforts as needed.
• Conduct annual performance reviews and professional development support for the Director, Impact Communications and Manager; Director, Impact Advocacy and Program Associate, Impact Initiatives.
• Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications

• Minimum 7 years proven record of accomplishment working with and cultivating relationships with major private foundations and corporate funders; experience securing grants of at least $100,000 preferred.
• Deep understanding and experience in grant and relationship management for a nonprofit, foundation or governmental organization required; grantmaking experience a plus.
• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s Degree in nonprofit management, social work, or public policy/administration, or related field preferred.
• Direct experience effectively leading, developing and managing a team.
• Strategic and creative thinker, with a passion for United Way’s mission for addressing poverty in Los Angeles County.
• Subject matter expertise in the areas of homelessness, education and/or economic mobility a plus.
• Possess strong interpersonal, written and verbal skills; be adept and confident when speaking to funders and corporate partners.
• Must have excellent relationship-building skills, strong organizational and analytical skills, and ability to implement complex projects and initiatives.
• Must be able to exercise initiative, independent good judgment, flexibility, discretion, and solid decision-making.
• Must be able to successfully manage multiple priorities and demonstrate confidence working with diverse stakeholders, including nonprofit, public sector, corporate, and philanthropic stakeholders.
• Enthusiastic team player with positive can-do attitude, flexibility to re-prioritize and switch tasks fluidly; including the ability to hit the ground running.
• Ability to creatively troubleshoot and work in a fast-paced, multi-dimensional environment with numerous priorities and deadlines.
• Must thrive under pressure and be able to accept constructive feedback and guidance.
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with all organizational levels within a diverse environment.
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint) is essential. Prior experience with CRM and grants management software a plus.

United Way of Greater Los Angeles is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees regardless of race, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, ancestry, marital status, sexual orientation, age, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, or status as a veteran. Employment decisions are based on merit, qualifications, abilities and business needs.

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