Grant Manager

POSITION SUMMARY:

Adeptly manage a portfolio of federal and state grants that support TERA’s ecocultural stewardship, programs, facilities, and operations.

ORGANIZATIONAL VISION

The Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance (TERA) is a community-based, intertribal nonprofit organization that works to revitalize ecology, economy, and culture through indigenous-led stewardship.

The mission of TERA, founded in 2019, is to cultivate land stewardship, livelihood, and leadership skills that weave collaborative relationships between Tribal members and the community at large for the benefit of all lands and beings. Our program goals include:

• Strengthen ties to land and culture
• Connect tribal members with meaningful livelihoods and culturally relevant work in their ancestral territories
• Regenerate local ecology of the North Coast Ranges
• Build capacity for native voices to play a central role in land stewardship

TERA is a young organization in a dynamic growth phase, and building a team of professionals who are deeply committed to TERA’s vision. 

ABOUT THE ROLE:

The Grant Manager is an organized, detail-oriented, and experienced grant and project manager who is adept at navigating reimbursable state and federal grant requirements. This role will manage a portfolio of federal and state grants, which support a diverse set of activities including facilities upgrades; equipment purchases; workforce development training; and on-the-ground ecocultural fire and stewardship. The position reports to the Stewardship Director.

The Grant Manager will be responsible for managing compliance, reporting, and support invoicing for grants and collaborating with the Admin team to develop robust administrative systems organization-wide that are compliant with all relevant federal and state requirements. This role will also collaborate with TERA’s finance department to ensure all compliance and reporting requirements are met. Currently this portfolio includes managing a Housing and Community Development Community Development Block Grant subaward through the Workforce Alliance of the North Bay, a USDA Forest Service Community Wildfire Defense Grant subaward through the Lake Resource Conservation District, and a California Strategic Growth Council subaward through the Tamien Nation. This portfolio may shift and expand over time. 

FUNDAMENTALS:

Reports to: Stewardship Director

Supervises: None

Location: The TERA team is based at our EcoCultural Fire & Stewardship Training Center, on 140 beautiful acres near the town of Upper Lake in Lake County, California. The working location for this position is flexible, and can be in person, hybrid, or primarily remote. Must be able to travel to work in Upper Lake for at least one week per quarter (4 weeks per year), or 1-2 days / month

Time Commitment: 40 hours/week preferred, may be reduced to 32 hours/week if desired by the selected candidate. TERA’s work schedule is Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm PT.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

Grant Management

• Develop and manage budgets, timelines, workplans, and tracking systems for each grant to enable TERA staff and project partners to effectively achieve all grant deliverables within established timelines;
• Serve as the primary liaison between TERA and the lead agency for each grant;
• Create and manage highly accurate and detailed spreadsheets to facilitate effective and accurate grant administration and management;
• Ensure compliance with all required federal, state, and funder-specific requirements including prevailing wage, procurement processes, Section 3 paperwork (CDBG/HUD), etc, and maintain all relevant documents
• Identify internal TERA policies needed to maintain compliance, and work with TERA leadership to implement and revise such policies as needed;
• Work with TERA finance and administrative team to track and approve expenditures, create and review invoices and financial reports, and maintain and update budget tracking spreadsheets;
• Submit timely and accurate financial reports, narrative reports, and all compliance-related documentation, in accordance with funder and grant lead agency requirements;
• Support TERA staff with developing applications for new grants as needed;
• Complete other duties as assigned.

Team Collaboration

• Collaborate with TERA administrative, finance, program, and stewardship teams to effectively manage, implement, track, and report on all aspects of each grant in accordance with federal, state, and funder-specific requirements;
• Actively participate in all scheduled staff meetings, grant manager meetings, and grant-specific meetings;
• Contribute to creating a positive, cohesive team environment where everyone is treated respectfully and fairly;
• Support recruitment, hiring, and onboarding for new staff positions relevant to grant activities;
• Work with TERA staff to develop requests for proposals, review proposals, and create subcontracts related to grant activities;
• Manage and coordinate subcontractor deliverables, timelines, and budgets;
• Coordinate with TERA staff, subcontractors, and project partners to ensure all metrics for each aspect of the grants are properly collected, tracked, and reported;
• Complete other duties as assigned.

QUALITIES & QUALIFICATIONS:

All members of the TERA team are expected to embody the following qualities:

• Cultural competency, humility, self-awareness, and willingness to learn.
• Ability to listen well, and give and receive direct, honest, and constructive feedback.
• Positive attitude, able to work independently and contribute to a high-functioning, collaborative team environment.
• Strong work ethic, reliability, accountability, and commitment to excellence.
• Flexibility, adaptability, and capacity to work in a fluid and often fast-paced work environment.
• Commitment to follow and enforce all TERA policies, maintain professionalism, and represent the work of TERA and Tribal communities with dignity and integrity at all times.

In addition, the following are required minimum qualifications for this position:

• Bachelor’s degree in any field.
• 5+ years experience in grant management (including federal and state grants), with a proven track record of successfully managing multi-million dollar grants.
• 3+ years experience working at nonprofit or community-based organizations.
• 3+ years experience supervising contractors and/or employees.
• Experience managing and tracking expenditures on client/project-specific budgets.
• Highly organized and detail oriented, with aptitude for developing and following through on effective systems for project management, tracking, and reporting.
• Outstanding skills in creating and managing complex spreadsheets utilizing formulas, pivot tables, filters, and other data management tools.
• Advanced proficiency with office technology, including Google suite (Mail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, Drive), MS Office suite (Word and Excel), Adobe Acrobat, videoconferencing (Zoom, Meet), and ability to learn new software and technology.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to write and speak effectively.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working with Tribes or Native-led organizations.
• Strong understanding of 2 CFR and federal grant requirements (including federal procurement requirements, Davis Bacon act, etc.)
• Familiarity with land stewardship, wildland fire, beneficial burning, natural resource management, and/or workforce development.