Job Description

World Learning seeks a Senior Associate, Private Grants, based in Washington, D.C., to contribute to identifying, cultivating, and closing grants with foundations and corporations that share World Learning’s mission to train and empower the world’s next generation of civil society leaders. The Senior Associate will be an excellent, efficient writer who will collect data on and write grant reports for existing grant-funded projects, conduct prospect research on and write grant applications to new funders, and help manage both internal and external relationships that advance World Learning’s private grant pipeline. The right candidate will be curious to learn about and help conceptualize international development and exchange programs, and will have a bias towards making ideas into concrete action plans, budgets, and proposals. This position offers an opportunity for the right candidate to advance towards maintaining a client portfolio independently.

Responsibilities

• Support the Director, Foundation Relations and Philanthropic Partnerships in managing World Learning’s private grant portfolio, including conducting prospect research, communicating with funders via e-mail and phone, maintaining and tracking grant and reporting deadlines, and drafting concept notes and grant applications;
• Use Salesforce, World Learning’s CRM, daily to manage all logistics related to grants (tracking deadlines and deliverables; inputting key contact, account and opportunity-related information; logging communications, etc.) and to report on the department’s performance metrics;
• Assist program teams, including international staff, with formulating grant concepts that are responsive to funders, aligned with World Learning’s business development strategy, and appropriately budgeted;
• Draft high-quality, deadline-driven, concept notes and grant applications in collaboration with program staff, including (rarely) working outside of typical business hours as necessitated by deadlines;
• In collaboration with program teams, write and/or edit interim and final grant reports for active corporate and foundation grants, ensuring that reports are responsive to funders’ interests and maintain an excellent standard of quality;
• Provide excellent customer service to clients (both internal and external) during day-to-day email and phone interactions.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant discipline;
• Two to four years of experience in a role focused on writing or editing, with previous experience with donor, foundation, or private sector-funded international development activities highly preferred;
• Understanding of the private grant application and stewardship process, including comfort with budgeting and financial reporting is preferred;
• Demonstrated written communication skills, including comfort with deadline-driven writing;
• Excellent organizational skills, including a high level of attention to detail and the capacity to work comfortably in a rapidly changing environment on multiple, ongoing projects;
• Excellent technology skills, including expertise with Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, and experience with Adobe Creative Suite products and cloud-based CRM systems (Salesforce preferred);
• Curiosity to discover and understand all facets of World Learning, its programming, and its place in the larger international development community, with experience cultivating and maintaining external client relationships preferred;
• Willingness to travel domestically.

About the Organization

For more than 85 years, World Learning has worked to create a more peaceful, sustainable, and just world. Our education, development, and exchange programs help people find their voices, connect with their communities, and strengthen the institutions that form the backbone of a democratic society. With our support, these emerging leaders tackle critical global issues like poverty, conflict, and inequality.

As a thriving international nonprofit organization with impact in 150 countries, World Learning works across six major program areas. We’re hard at work improving global education to ensure schools and teachers have the tools they need to support students — including English language instruction through our TESOL teacher training. We encourage civic engagement in communities around the world, and we strengthen institutions so that they can best serve their constituencies. Our workforce development programs help people cultivate the hard and soft skills they need to succeed. And we offer people-to-people exchanges for people of all ages who seek professional and academic enrichment.

All World Learning programs are grounded in five key approaches: experiential learning, leadership development, inclusive practices, innovation, and grants management. We believe in partnering with local experts, organizations, and institutions to find solutions that will truly work for each community. Together, we create the foundations for a better tomorrow.

World Learning is a member of the World Learning Inc. family, which also includes The Experiment in International Living and School for International Training.

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