Fund Development Manager

Fund Development Manager

Starting Salary: $70,000 - $78,0000 depending on education and experience

Are you an experienced grant writer with proven results? Do you enjoy telling a story using creative writing, data, and research? Do you have experience in communications and marketing? Are you excited about leading a team that drives fund development, policy, communications, and social media activities? Then this position is for you!

Purpose

This position reports to directly to the Chief Planning Officer of Employ Milwaukee and supervises three (3) planning and grant writing team members. The Fund Development Manager maintains responsibility for ensuring effective communications, grant writing, and fund development. This position leads and develops its team to be focused on all aspects of communications and fund development, including social media, public relations, marketing materials, annual report, agency podcast, major gifts, local, regional, and national foundation grants, and corporate and foundation sponsorships.

Responsibilities:

Grant Writing and Fund Development

• Responsible for meeting agency’s annual fund development goal set by the Board of Directors.
• Completes quarterly fund development report for Board of Directors and Executive Committee.
• Maintains fund development files and record-keeping in a complete, organized, and chronological manner.
• Develops agency Fund Development Plan for review and approval by Chief Planning Officer and Chief Executive Officer. Follows, maintains, and meets Fund Development Plan goals and activities.
• Tracks funding opportunities and maintains a calendar of grant opportunities. Identifies and cultivates funding opportunities from foundations, corporations, and government funding sources.
• Provides direction, oversight, and annual performance reviews for fund development staff.
• Trains fund development staff on grant-writing procedures and best practices.
• Monitors and appraises staff performance and provides coaching and professional development opportunities to ensure staff’s ultimate performance.
• Mentors entire team and works cross collaboratively with other areas within the agency. Meets with Program Officers, Managers, and other staff of funding organizations to build relationships, communicate the agency’s workforce development activities, and discuss potential projects.

• Leads strategic sessions with internal teams to identify and build fundable program designs. Coordinates with internal teams to ensure proposals are compliant with agency best practices and local, state, and federal requirements.
• Writes and edits persuasive, compelling, and concise communication and grant materials related to organizational fundraising and external relationship building and planning.
• Leads the grant proposal development process from start to finish including convening partner meetings, completing project narratives, work plans, outcome tables, letters of commitment, data analysis, and other activities as needed to develop competitive proposals that meet funder requirements.
• Tactfully drives urgency toward completion of tasks and hitting established deadlines for product or proposals under development.
• Successfully submits quality funding proposals by deadline via www.grants.gov and other funder submittal systems.

Policy

• Keeps abreast of federal, state, and local workforce development and social services policy and funding trends to maximize programming and other opportunities. Provides regular policy updates to Chief Planning Officer.
• Analyzes, interprets, and reports to leadership on critical workforce issues, policies and budgetary items within the local, state, and national policies and budgets, and their impact on funding.
• Monitors community and governmental policies/agendas for communication to leadership team.
• Through research and data analysis, identifies internal and external best practices, documentation of employment and training innovations, correlative relationships within datasets, and workforce trends.
• Analyzes, distributes, presents, and integrates information used for long-range and short-range strategic planning, decision-making, and policy formulation at Employ Milwaukee.
• Oversees the writing and maintenance of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) local and regional plan including bi-annual modifications and new plans, as required by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.
• Assists the Chief Planning Officer with development agendas and materials for the Board Governance, Compliance, and Nominating Committee.

Data Analysis

• Conducts research to provide timely, accurate, and analytical information to inform the fund development and strategic planning processes.
• Oversees agency Labor Market Information (LMI) analysis including publishing monthly State of the Labor Market reports, responding to internal and external LMI requests, and utilizing the U.S. Census and LMI systems including Lightcast, DWD, federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and other systems to promote agency goals and activities.

Communications

• Oversees and manages social media systems and campaigns.
• Develops and publishes an agency Annual Report.
• Works with internal teams to develop and publish agency marketing and collateral materials.
• Conducts media and public relations activities.
• Develops and maintains an agency stakeholder list and media contact list.
• Develops talking points for agency leadership, as requested.
• Develops reports, white papers, presentations, flyers, pamphlets, and other reports on workforce development.
• Maintains and updates the content on the agency website, www.employmilwaukee.org.

What We’re Looking For:

• Strong persuasive creative writing skills, as well as excellent grammar and punctuation.
• Supervision, performance management and employer engagement skills.
• Strong understanding and considerable experience working with high level public and private leaders as well as strong understanding and experience working with non-profit organizations.
• Know-how to proactively communicate and work well with upper management.
• Must understand public grants compliance regulations and procurement rules.
• Ability to read, analyze and interpret documents such as program manuals, operations plans, technical procedure manuals, various state and federal government regulations, professional journals, and general business-related periodicals and/or journals.
• Forward thinker able to see the big picture and communicate that picture in writing.
• Strong communicator able to listen effectively to all team members, integrate multiple points of view, and synthesize concepts to sell the vision.
• Ability to work independently.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple projects at once.
• Effective time-management skills and ability to prioritize multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Knowledge of PC applications, including Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point.

Required Skills and qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in English, Social Science, Urban Planning, Education, Business Management, Public Administration, or related field.
• A minimum of five years’ work experience in grant-writing and fund development.
• Demonstrated success in developing and obtaining public and private grant awards.

Benefits & Perks:

1. Paid Time Off (14+ days based on tenure) plus 11 Paid Holidays, 5 Personal Days and paid bereavement leave
2. Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance with Health Reimbursement Account (HRA)
3. Flexible Spending Accounts for Health and Dependent care (FSA)
4. 401(k) with Safe Harbor (depend on availability)
5. Welfare Benefits Plan – term life, personal accident, and disability insurance
6. Voluntary Life and Personal Accident Insurance (AFLAC)

About Employ Milwaukee

Employ Milwaukee is the local workforce development board serving Milwaukee County. By convening leaders from business and industry, economic and workforce development, education, and training as well as community partners and policy makers, our vision is to develop workforce solutions that promote regional economic growth and employment opportunity for all job seekers.

Our mission is to build a strong workforce development system by planning, coordinating, collaborating, and monitoring workforce initiatives with businesses, partners, and community stakeholders at the local, regional, and state level to ensure a skilled and productive workforce for the 21st Century.

Our goals are to connect job seekers to employment opportunities, to provide education and training options in high-growth, high-demand sectors, and to provide a skilled and sustainable workforce to attract, retain and grow diverse businesses in our Milwaukee 7 region.

Disclaimer:

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by staff assigned to this position. They are not construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.