Senior Grant Writer

Background

The Washington Area Community Investment Fund (Wacif) advances equity and opportunity in the Washington, D.C. area’s underserved communities by providing financial capital, business advisory services, and strategic networking support to underinvested entrepreneurs. Since its inception in 1987, Wacif has deployed more than $100 million in capital, served more than 4,500 entrepreneurs with business advisory services, and helped create or retain more than 44,000 local jobs. To learn more about Wacif’s work, visit www.wacif.org.

Summary

The Washington Area Community Investment Fund (Wacif) seeks a full-time Senior Grant Writer, who will be responsible for researching, producing, writing, and submitting high-quality winning proposals. The Senior Grant Writer will engage in a collaborative development writing process with the Wacif team, program leaders, and fundraisers to create a robust portfolio of funding proposals, letters, reports, and other fundraising materials. The role responsibilities include but are not limited to identifying funding opportunities, completing written grant reports, and supporting donor communication. This position requires strong writing and verbal communication skills, with experience in proposal development for public and private funding opportunities.

Responsibilities

Proposal Development – 70%

• Manage the development of competitive and winning proposals, including:
• Reading funding solicitations in detail and developing proposal outlines;
• Participate in kickoff of proposal development efforts;
• Make and manage staff assignments relating to proposal input development, specifically gathering program and budget design inputs from internal and external partners and refining them into final text;
• Lead proposal review sessions, capturing and reflecting staff feedback;
• Support packaging documentation in collaboration with internal partners; and,
• Submit proposals ahead of deadlines and monitoring their status.

Opportunity Identification/Market Research – 15%

• Support the organization’s efforts to understand the full range of funding opportunities to include philanthropic, corporate, individual, institutional, and other opportunities;
• Support strategic, coherent process for including internal and external stakeholders – to include staff, Board, and others as appropriate – in market analysis and opportunity triage activities;
• Support a strategic, comprehensive approach to opportunity prioritization and decision-making related to the pursuit or non-pursuit of specific opportunities;
• Support the team’s identification of emerging trends aligned with Wacif strengths and community need.

Grant Reporting and Donor Communication – 15%

• Identify opportunities to repurpose proposal inputs for strategic communications, in support of opportunity capture;
• Collaborate across the organization and within the Development department to meet grant reporting deadlines;
• Produce high-quality reports and donor engagement collateral to ensure donor retention.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in English, communications, journalism, or related field; or equivalent combination of education and/or experience required (master’s degree preferred);
• At least 5 years of demonstrated success writing proposals for public and private sector partners;
• 2+ years of project management experience;
• Strong proposal development, research, and writing skills, with the ability to plan, coordinate, organize, prioritize and simultaneously implement multiple projects requiring inputs from partners across the organization;
• Knowledgeable of funding sources, compliance issues, and legal and fiscal policies of funding sources and appropriate agencies (federal, state, local and private), as applicable;
• A high level of motivation, initiative and attention to detail demonstrated by the proactive inclination to identify, highlight, and respond to development needs;
• Outstanding written and verbal communications skills;
• Successful track record working in fast-paced, opportunity-rich environment;
• Proficiency in MS Office suite (Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, MS Teams, etc.)
• Experience handling confidential information with high level of discretion;
• A friendly, collegial personality with compulsive integrity;
• Commitment to Wacif’s mission and interest in supporting and working with low- and moderate-income entrepreneurs and underserved communities.

Compensation and Benefits

Competitive salary commensurate with experience.  Medical, Dental, Vision, HSA, FSA, DCA, Life & Disability insurance coverages available. 401(k) retirement plan (employer matching contribution eligible); paid time off (increased with tenure), paid holidays and sick leave days, transportation benefits, and education assistance benefits (professional development, tuition reimbursement, and student loan repayment).

How to Apply

Interested candidates should email a resume, thoughtful cover letter that outlines how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position, and salary requirements to opportunity@wacif.org with “Senior Grant Writer” in the subject line.

Wacif is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes candidates from diverse backgrounds. Wacif provides a flexible and hybrid working environment with the opportunity to work remotely.