Skip to main content

This job has expired

Director of Public Grants (Immediate Opening)

Job Details

Description
Position at IDEA Public Schools

At IDEA Public Schools, we believe in college for ALL and we are committed to ensuring that all of our students graduate from college. IDEA Public Schools has grown from a small school to the fastest-growing network of tuition-free Pre-K-12 public charter schools in the United States sending 100% of our students to college. 50% our students graduate from college in 6 years - that's 8 times the national rate for students in our communities.

IDEA was founded in 2000 as a single school with 150 students in the Rio Grande Valley. When interest exceeded building capacity, to meet the demands, IDEA's co-founders committed to serving more students in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and beyond. We now serve nearly 45,000 students across Texas and Louisiana. By 2022, IDEA will serve 100,000 students. Be on the lookout for IDEA schools opening near you-with continued growth in our current regions and new launches in Tarrant County (Fort Worth/Arlington), New Orleans, Houston (2020), Permian Basin (2021), and Tampa Bay (2021).

When you choose to work at IDEA, you are part of our IDEA Team and Family. You will work alongside team members who set and reach ambitious goals every day, are excited to continue to grow with IDEA, and work relentlessly to make college for all a reality.

To learn more about IDEA, check out this video .

Role Mission: The Director of Public Grants: (1) raises $25M in support of IDEA's programmatic innovation priorities or expansion by building a portfolio of prospective state and federal donors. This includes engaging in prospect qualification, setting a proposal vision and strategy with grant stakeholders to push innovation within IDEA, internal and external relationship-building, proposal development, and submission; (2) provides leadership, direction, and technical assistance to grant programs funded by state and federal agencies and coaches a team of 14 grant managers responsible for the effective management and implementation of nearly $150 million in state and federal grant funds. The Grants Director ensures that grant managers accomplish their approved program goals and initiatives while meeting all compliance and reporting requirements; provides formative feedback to all grant managers and ensures all grant activities are streamlined and efficient; (3) researches, qualifies and submits proposals to raise $500k from city, state, and federal agencies to support Camp RIO programming and capital projects.

1.Contribute to the team goal to raise $75M to towards $365M 2022 philanthropic gap to include; growth and/or college matriculation and/or programming.
  • Maintain relationships with all current state and federal funders, positioning IDEA for future grant opportunities.
  • Monitor requests for proposals from state and federal entities and create and present one-page summaries for Chiefs within one week of grant announcement to garner senior leadership's approval to apply.
  • Create, manage and execute on grant project plans to coordinate grant committees consisting of cross-functional teams to submit grant applications by deadline.
  • Author, revise, and/or edit sections of federal and state grants which includes, but is not limited to: Charter School Program, 21 st Century, GEAR UP.
  • Analyze grant evaluation scores to continuously improve competitiveness and quality of applications, as well as communicating feedback to respective parties
  • Streamline the process from grant-seeking to grant implementation and management, ensuring clear communication and delegation of responsibilities with buy-in and engagement from necessary stakeholders


2.Raise $25M in cash/pledges from public funding sources toward 2022 growth campaign including growth, program or college matriculation needs to support the network. (Individual goal)
  • Identify and prioritize proposals, consulting with national team members, organization leaders and regional executive directors to architect and manage IDEA's solicitation strategies to ensure ambitious programmatic, school launch, and financial goals are met by making at least 10 solicitations.
  • Identify, cultivate and solicit prospects and foster relationships through stewardship strategies, including applications to state grant opportunities in all states with IDEA regions.
  • Assemble and lead cross-functional teams to set grant proposal visions, securing senior leadership buy-in of the proposal, program and evaluation teams' investment and input, and coordinating with the business department on budget alignment.


3.Ensure there are zero "material weakness" or "significant deficiency" findings in external audits of any grants within the Grant'ED portfolio for the 2019-2020 school year.
  • Design high quality grant onboarding and train all new grant managers on audit rules, compliance regulations and provide a comprehensive overview of grant goals, roles, and responsibilities.
  • Lead quarterly Grant'ED professional development sessions focused on increasing grant manager knowledge of grants management, progress to goal, and teambuilding.
  • Develop two content rich stepbacks that bolster grant managers' ability to manage and implement grants with fidelity.
  • Coach grant managers to develop a strategic, compliant spend down plan for their grant and train grant managers to understand expenses that are and are not allowable under the current Notice of Grant Award (NOGA).
  • Manage grant managers in monthly business office meetings to ensure grant expenditures are allowable within the guidelines of the grant and that all grant documentation required by law is collected timely and filed with the appropriate parties.
  • Conduct monthly check-ins with external and internal evaluation partners on the progress towards agreed upon scope of work milestones and deliverables; coach grant managers on when and how to provide feedback on evaluation plans and dissemination
  • Participate in Grant Manager interview process and provide feedback to hiring manager
  • Coach grant managers around challenges or perceived barriers to progress toward major grant goals.

4.100% of grant reports and grant amendments for the 2019-2020 school year are submitted on-time and with the grantor's approval.
  • Strategize with grant managers around when to submit an amendment to meet grant goals.
  • Conduct monthly, cross-functional grant reporting meetings and establish systems for grant managers to access data from teams across the organization.
  • Provide coaching and feedback to grant managers on all state and federal reports, including Annual Performance Reports.
  • Coach grant managers to draft amendments that are in-line with the goals of the grant; make revisions as necessary.
  • Manage grant managers to communicate amendment approval to internal partners to ensure all business and/or programmatic updates are made.


5.Raise $500K in cash or cash equivalent funding to support Camp RIO by June 30, 2020 from public grant sources.
  • Collaborate with Camp Director to determine highest priority programmatic and capital needs for fiscal year. Clarify vision for camp programming and capacity to implement new grant programs, as released by entities such as Texas Parks and Wildlife and US Environmental Protection Agency.
  • Build and manage a portfolio of city, state, and/or federal grants in coordination with Regional Director of Advancement-RGV for local grants.
  • Develop and implement a comprehensive plan to identify, cultivate, solicit and steward capital and programmatic gifts, including grant writing.
  • Write, edit and submit timely reports, letters, proposals or gift agreements as part of managing the prospect and donor pipeline.
  • Identify and secure meetings for self, National Advancement and staff leaders with local, state, and federal program staff as part of cultivation and stewardship plan.
  • Maintain timely and appropriate electronic documentation portfolio management actions and gift tracking, including proposal tracking, contact reports, donor strategies and forecasting.


7.Live the values of IDEA.
  • Believes and is committed to our mission: that all students are capable of getting to and through college.
  • Is driven by outcomes and results, and wants to be held accountable for them.
  • Has a propensity for action, and is willing to make mistakes by doing in order to learn and improve quickly.
  • Thrives in an entrepreneurial, high-growth environment; is comfortable with ambiguity and change.
  • Seeks and responds well to feedback, which is shared often and freely across all levels of the organization.
  • Works through silos and forges strong cross-departmental relationships in order to achieve outcomes.
  • Embodies IDEA's core values.


Supervisory Responsibilities :

The Director of Public Grants will have coaching responsibilities with each member of the Grant'ED team on effective grant management strategies, practices, and principles.

Qualifications:
  • Bachelor's degree required, Master's degree preferred
  • 2+ years of experience in a development, advocacy, fundraising, grant writing, grant management or similar role
  • Proven track record of personally achieving success
  • Teaching and/or school-based experience highly preferred
  • Belief in IDEA's mission and an understanding of what it takes to achieve the goal of college for all children


Competencies:
  • Fundraising
  • Strategic Thinking
  • Project Management
  • Problem Solving/Analysis
  • Communication Proficiency (written and verbal)
  • Ability to work extended workdays to support advancement and growth priorities
  • Must be strong team player


Knowledge and Skills:
  • Experience utilizing data and analyzing results to tell a story
  • Successful experience in relationship development, building personal trust and making successful grant proposal presentations
  • Persuasive writing skills for grant writing, reporting and donor communications (proposals, email, letter, etc.)
  • Ability to communicate IDEA's vision with an external audience
  • Comfort with collaboration and coordination of relationships with decision makers and influencers of organizations
  • Demonstrated capacity to take initiative, and manage multiple projects with limited supervision
  • Experience working in a fast-paced, results-oriented, highly entrepreneurial environment


Compensation:

Salaries for this role typically fall between $71,298 and $92,688, commensurate with relevant experience and qualifications. This role is also eligible for a performance bonus based on individual and organizational performance and goal attainment.

*ca

IDEA Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, sex or disability, in admission or access to, or treatment of employment in its programs and activities. Any person having inquiries concerning the organization's compliance with the regulations implementing Title VI of Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), or Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), may contact IDEA Human Resources at (956) 377-8000.

Company

IDEA Public Schools believes that each and every child can go to college. Since 2000, IDEA Public Schools has grown from a small school with 150 students to the fastest-growing network of tuition-free, Pre-K-12 public charter schools in the United States. IDEA currently serves nearly 66,000 college-bound students in 120 schools across Texas and Louisiana and is gearing up to open schools in Florida for the 2021-2022 school year.

Interested in learning more about working at IDEA Public Schools? 

Visit us at www.ideapublicschools.org/careers.

Company info
Website
Telephone
956-377-8000
Location
2115 W. Pike Blvd
Weslaco
TX
78596
US

Get job alerts

Create a job alert and receive personalized job recommendations straight to your inbox.

Create alert