Job description

Position:Director of Development

Reports to:Chief Development & External Relations Officer

Status: Exempt

Hours: Full-Time / Maximum of 40 hours per week

Hours of Operations: Mon-Fri 8am-5pm

Organizational Description. North Lawndale Employment Network is a comprehensive workforce development agency on Chicago’s West Side dedicated to advancing the economic outcomes of the community’s residents through innovative employment initiatives, including our social enterprises. In August 2021, North Lawndale Employment Network transitioned to a new campus which features a premier community café for residents and stakeholders.

Our Mission. To improve the earning potential of the North Lawndale community through innovative employment initiatives that lead to economic advancement and an improved quality of life for residents.

Opportunity. We are seeking a Director of Development to guide the organization to long-term financial sustainability by managing grant development activities for the organization, researching opportunities, writing and submitting proposals, and submitting timely and accurate reports for grant-funded programs and initiatives, to include grant writing and reporting with public agencies, private foundations, and corporations. This unique individual will also be instrumental in shaping future fundraising activities such as funder cultivation, engagement, stewardship, and annual fundraising events.

Key Responsibilities.

• Direct and manage grant processes, including prospect research, application compilation and submission, award review, signature, and tracking
• Lead a strategic approach aimed at securing financial support from new and existing institutional foundations, family foundations, corporations, public/governmental grantors, and other grant resources
• Evaluate all potential grant opportunities and work collaboratively to determine whether the agency should apply based on evaluation of financial alignment, strategic alignment, implementation needs/requirements, and application complexity/requirements
• Provide management leadership to the grant-writing process, including forming grant-writing teams, setting deadlines, assigning tasks, overseeing process, final review, and timely submission of all agency grant applications and follow-up
• Prepare letters of inquiry, proposals, grant applications and funder reports, ensuring accurate data and timely submission
• In collaboration with the Director of Innovation and Evaluation, assist in tracking and reporting for grant awards, effectively reporting organizational impact
• Maintain knowledge of agency funding gaps and prioritize program funding needs
• Maintain annual grant cycle calendar to track public and private grant opportunities and plan application submissions
• Develops and will steward collaborative relationships with foundations and government agencies.
• Serve as relationship manager/liaison with foundation funders, and corporate funders as needed.
• Coordinates with agency program and project leaders to communicate funding source requirements.
• Proactively locates and researches grant opportunities and grant requirements; Evaluates and assesses viability and makes recommendations to leadership.
• Maintain comprehensive data files on all foundations/grantors including, relationship contacts, funding requests, secured funding, reporting requirements, etc.

Qualifications

• BA/BS degree in liberal arts and sciences, communications, business, or related field plus a minimum of 5 years of grant management and grant writing experience on public and private grant proposals and applications is required
• Excellent writing skills and ability to tailor writing to make compelling cases for funding to a wide range of funders
• Proven track record of success in securing grants from foundations, corporations, and public funders
• Excellent self-management and organizational skills motivated by outcomes and goals
• Proven leadership and management experience delegating and creating clarity for team members and direct reports
• Strategic thinker who has the ability to build consensus across a diverse organization
• Highly organized, attentive to detail, goal‐oriented, and capable of multi‐tasking
• Experience with Salesforce or other donor management software preferred
• Experience with MailChimp or other email marketing software preferred
• Demonstrated success in information management and project management
• Budget planning and financial management experience a plus
• Experience with staff or intern supervision a plus
• Passion for NLEN mission and goals
• A commitment to social and economic justice
• Excellent time management skills and communications follow-up habits

NLEN Core Values

Neighborhood-focused employment initiatives are fundamental.

Successful programs are neighborhood-focused and community-driven so they meet the specific needs of individuals.

Quality of work matters.

People who work hard should not be poor. A full-time job must meet basic needs and offer conditions for engagement, advancement, and respect.

Economic mobility is essential to reducing poverty.

Family supporting wages and financial literacy are core to addressing economic insecurity, which disproportionally affects African American, Latino, and other families of color. Economic insecurity is not only impacting the poor; it has grown to threaten the middle class. Self-employment and entrepreneurship are critically important economic mobility strategies to generate income and boost household finances.

We must address the racial wealth gap and social inequality.

The United States’ history of racially charged public policy has created the modern racial wealth divide not just through the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow, but through the more recent race-based discrimination in hiring, housing subsidies, tax subsidies, and veteran benefits as well as other implicitly and explicitly racist public policies.

Everyone deserves human dignity and empowerment.

To uphold this belief, we do all of our work in a manner that values human dignity and eliminates shame, humiliation, and stigma by building on the strengths that help our participants and community survive loss and trauma and rebalance the power dynamic between participants and authority figures.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: From $80,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance program
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift
• Monday to Friday

Ability to commute/relocate:

• Chicago, IL 60624: Reliably commute or planning to relocate before starting work (Preferred)

Experience:

• Fundraising: 5 years (Preferred)
• Microsoft Office: 1 year (Preferred)

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Chicago, IL 60624

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