Grants and Scholarship Manager

Department: Grants Management & Donor Services

Reports to: Director of Grants Management & Donor Services

Location: Oakland, CA - must live in Northern CA and be able to easily travel to Oakland

Status: Full Time/Exempt 

Salary: $90K - $100K

About the East Bay Community Foundation 

Founded in 1928, East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF) is one of the nation’s first community foundations. Named the country’s “boldest” community foundation in 2019 by Inside Philanthropy, EBCF is dedicated to employing innovative strategies to advance an inclusive, fair, and just East Bay through four core program strategies. 

• Arts and Culture for Social and Racial Justice 
• Capacity Building with a Racial Equity Lens 
• Community Organizing, Power Building, and Movement Building 
• Fostering Inclusive Economic Models 

As a community foundation, our donors are a critical partner in addressing the racial and economic inequities in the region. We take the time to understand what’s important to donors, provide opportunities to align their giving to the priority areas of the foundation, and work in collaboration with our programmatic team that has a thorough understanding of the social and economic challenges in the East Bay and has deep relationships with the nonprofits and policymakers that are most effectively tackling those challenges.    

With a strategic regional focus on Alameda and Contra Costa counties, EBCF works towards its framework of “A Just East Bay,” which includes grantmaking, impact investing strategies, and a new way of taking steps to build solidarity among donors and community. We commit to employing all of our resources in service to our mission and push beyond industry norms to offer uniquely impactful opportunities for our fund advisors to help build economic equity for all. As a result, EBCF allows fund advisors to make impact investments from their Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) and grants as a part of their overall giving strategy. 

Approaching 100 years of service in the East Bay, join EBCF in eliminating structural barriers, advancing racial equity, and transforming political, social, and economic outcomes for all who call the East Bay home for generations to come. 

For more information, please visit: ebcf.org 

About the Position 

The EBCF Grants & Scholarship Manager leads the efficient execution of the grantmaking process, ensuring compliance with internal policies, laws and tax rules throughout the grantmaking process. Of equal importance, the Grants & Scholarship Manager will lead EBCF in grantmaking best practices, initiating and driving projects to improve processes across departments, while implementing and utilizing technology and tools for reporting. The position requires a deep knowledge of compliance- related information, processes and procedures in the field of grantmaking.

The grants manager is an integral part of the Donor Servicing and Administrative Support (DSAS) team.

DSAS services all internal and external partners with an emphasis on workflow management, providing excellence in grant making, service, compliance, and enabling the continual development growth of EBCF.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Grant and scholarship administration

• Lead the grantmaking lifecycle from recommendation through grant award, this includes grants of various level of complexity (e.g.: simple grants to charitable organizations, expenditure responsibility grants, scholarships, etc.) by maintenance of support documents, and responsive support and troubleshooting as issues arise
• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with corporate partners and funders to optimize grant funding opportunities and ensure alignment with organizational goals.
• Manages grant agreement development through all lifecycle stages (draft, revision, approval, filing, distribution, and amendments), ensuring that all statutory, regulatory, and organization requirements are met, and internal processes and records are maintained.
• Review grantee partner requests for amendments to grant agreements to determine next step in consultation with foundation partners and recommend appropriate actions as necessary.
• Work closely with the program and finance teams and external partners to develop and maintain reporting templates, develop reporting timeline for all report submissions (establishing and communicating clear internal and external deadlines), and following up with grantee partners when they are out of compliance.
• Develop and maintain best practices for grantmaking by designing workflow processes to facilitate grants and scholarship administration.
• In collaboration with the grants team, oversees all compliance and administration of new and existing scholarship funds. Collaborate with Communications staff to update public scholarship materials, as needed.
• Manage day-to-day scholarship administration including tracking applications, student communication, renewal documentation, reporting requirements, and coordinating the review and selection process.
• Maintain deep knowledge of grants administration regulations and industry best practices for all financial vehicles at EBCF, such as donor advised funds, supporting organizations and scholarship funds.
• Review and recommend improvements to grant priorities for due diligence based on risk, mission and values, donor recommendations, and grant complexity.
• Communicate with grantees to gather information and ensure compliance wit.h IRS rules and regulations and EBCF policies for domestic Expenditure Responsibility grants
• Work with third-party consultant to manage international grants on an as needed basis
• Collect and review banking information on grantees in coordination with Finance staff
• Represents the Foundation as a compliance leader in the philanthropic field (e.g., PEAK Grantmaking).
• Collaborate with appropriate leadership to update and implement policies, procedures impacting grants and scholarship administration scholarship.
• Ensure high quality and timely support services are provided to internal staff and external grantee partners.

Team leadership

• Support team leadership in driving strategic and operational planning to establish annual department plans and budget in connection with the EBCF’s strategic goals.
• In collaboration with team leadership, support the development of team members; identify opportunities for team members to build skills and knowledge that contribute to their successful, performance and professional growth.

Grants workflow effectiveness

• In collaboration with team leadership, advance efforts to optimize grant processes and policies, to streamline grantmaking operations, and to contribute strategic insights to organizational improvements.
• In collaboration with team leadership, design, implement, and improve upon a grants management system that aligns with current and future grants administration needs.
• Perform periodic audits of electronic grant files to ensure high quality and adherence to compliance policies and procedures, as well as final file review.
• Build and maintain strong partnerships with all team members and maintain regular working relationships with other departments and entities across EBCF.

Qualifications

• Ability to approach each day with curiosity, humor, integrity, humility, compassion and optimism.
• A commitment to learning, accountability, and a healthy team dynamic.
• High-level compliance knowledge in both grants and scholarships.
• Knowledge of community foundations, private foundations and non-profit agencies.
• Ability to work well under pressure with frequent interruptions, to prioritize changing workloads in order to meet tight deadlines, and to work both independently and as a member of a team.
• High level of comfort with ambiguity and the strong ability to work collaboratively toward solutions using excellent judgment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to work well by email, Slack and Zoom.
• Exceptional attention to detail with ability to link work with the Foundation’s goals and objectives.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to establish and maintain effective and respectful working relationships.
• Fluency with grants management software and Microsoft Suite including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook .
• Strong familiarity with DocuSign, Adobe, Zoom, Google docs, and Slack preferred.

Racial Equity Competencies 

Understanding and Applying Racial Equity 

Demonstrate commitment to building or deepening the understanding of racial equity: 

• Using core terms and concepts such as structural racism, white privilege, and anti-Blackness; 
• The role that racial inequity has played and continues to play in our society; 
• How race impacts supervisory relationships, team dynamics, and organizational culture; 
• How personal/implicit/unconscious bias affect decision-making; 

Working for Racial Equity 

• Consistently assess structural implications and racially disproportionate impacts of policies, activities, and decisions within the context of their job responsibilities; race/ethnicity, intersection of race/ethnicity, gender, identity, and/or sexual orientation; 
• Consistently adhere to organization’s racial equity policies and procedures, including those that relate to hiring, retention, and promotion; 
• Consistently identify and disrupt ways in which bias plays out in work and/or team; 

Leading on Racial Equity 

• Effectively encourage people to have honest conversations about racial equity, and accept feedback openly, non-defensively, and from a posture of learning. 
• Consistently address structural implications and racially disproportionate impacts of policies, activities, and decisions by identifying and implementing changes that can produce more equitable outcomes. This applies not only in terms of race/ethnicity, but also at the intersection of race/ethnicity, gender identity, and/or sexual orientation. 
• Consistently set racial equity outcomes, goals, and performance measures for team, department, or organization, and develop and successfully implement plans to achieve them. 

Salary and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $90k - $100k, depending on experience. 

EBCF offers a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401k retirement savings plan with a 5% employee match, group term life insurance, disability insurance, 15 days of paid time off in year one, 20 days in year two and thereafter, sick leave, and 17 paid holidays per year. Plus, a Flexible Spending Account, an Employee Assistance Program, an annual professional development budget, commuter benefits, and a matching gifts program.   

Worksite 

Candidates must live within Northern California and be able to travel to the Oakland office with ease. East Bay Community Foundation operates in an employee-driven hybrid work model: Employees can use EBCF’s office space in downtown Oakland any number of days per week. The policy is subject to change. 

COVID-19 Vaccination: All employees are required to adhere to EBCF’s COVID-19 policies.  

About the Application Process 

To apply, please email a combined PDF or Microsoft Word File of a cover letter and resume to jobs@eastbaycf.org Please use the subject line: EBCF Grants & Scholarship Manager. Applications will be reviewed as they are received.

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The East Bay Community Foundation (EBCF) is an equal opportunity employer committed to racial justice and equity. EBCF does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law and is an employment-at-will organization. The Foundation welcomes and encourages people of color, women, LGBTQIA+ people, and members of other historically disenfranchised groups to apply.