Position Summary

The Rose Foundation seeks an experienced, proactive writer who is committed to protecting the environment, community health, and people’s rights. As part of an innovative grantmaking public foundation, the Grant Writer will help manage a diverse funding stream from traditional philanthropy (private, family, and community foundations), government agencies, and legal settlements. The Grant Writer will also play a critical role of storyteller by writing impact pieces, cases for support, and other pieces. This is a great opportunity for a writer who thrives on appealing to varied audiences, is mission-driven, and understands the intersections between community health, environmental protection, and social, racial, and economic justice.

The Grant Writer is a new position at Rose, and one that comes at a critical time of need and opportunity. The Grant Writer will help stabilize our existing funding streams while significantly increasing revenue from foundations and other funding partners to sustain and grow our programs. The Grant Writer is a key player in conveying our story and impact to inspire investment and partnership from institutional philanthropy.

Our Ideal Candidate

You have outstanding writing skills and care deeply about environmental conservation, social justice, and consumer protection. You are adept at understanding and conveying complexity, nuance, and enthusiasm. You are inquisitive, proactive, and have impeccable attention to detail. You have experience in grant/foundation prospecting, grant writing, and managing a grants portfolio, and are excited to apply your skills in increasing foundation funding for Rose’s programs. You have experience in building relationships, conveying impact through your writing, and making the case for investment and partnership. You enjoy playing a crucial role in a small, highly collaborative team, but are also comfortable working independently and taking ownership of your projects.

Duties and Responsibilities

Institutional Fundraising (70%)

· Collaborate with the team to develop fundraising goals, including revenue from new sources.

· Lead grant prospect research efforts and identify new funding opportunities.

· Develop and manage an active grants pipeline.

· Outline, draft, and edit grant proposals and reports about Rose’s grantmaking programs and New Voices Are Risingyouth leadership development program for private and community foundations, government agencies, and legal settlement audiences.

· Collaboratively manage and strengthen relationships with funding partners by conducting research and briefing Rose staff; following up on information requests; moving funding conversations forward; and supporting periodic one-on-one check-ins.

· Help program staff find their roles in the grantseeking and storytelling process, coach staff members in improving their writing, and provide excellent editing and proofreading for all grant materials.

· Draft and send personalized acknowledgement letters to funders.

Content Development and Impact Writing (20%)

• Serve as one of Rose’s principal storytellers: convey the urgency and relevancy of our work, illustrate our impact, and move the audience to action, particularly towards financial support.
• Work closely with the Development Team to develop and translate Rose’s work into appealing messaging for a wide variety of audiences including impact pieces, appeals, and cases for support.
• Support the organization’s portfolio of settlement awards with pitch and report writing.

Systems Management (5%)

• Help manage the organization’s pipeline of grants received and government contracts, collaborating with team members to ensure on-time submission of all materials (e.g. narrative reports, budgets, invoices).
• Manage cross-team collaboration to gather insights and data and report to funders on progress toward grant objectives. Ensure that deliverables are being met through project management tools such as workplans.
• Develop Salesforce reports and dashboards and other tracking systems that help the team keep a pulse on the funding portfolio.

Other Duties (5%)

• Participate in weekly staff and team meetings.
• Participate in staff-wide activities, including justice and diversity trainings, and our annual Film Fest.

Required Qualifications

• Enthusiasm for Rose’s mission and work.
• Exceptional English writing and editing skills with the ability to understand and appeal to multiple and varied audiences.
• Minimum two years of grant writing experience, ideally from foundations and government agencies.
• Experience managing a grant portfolio, submitting successful grant applications, and conducting prospect research.
• Impeccable attention to detail and ability to produce high quality work against a deadline while managing a variety of projects concurrently.
• Relationship builder with the flexibility and finesse to work collaboratively with all constituent groups including staff, program participants, donors, and other stakeholders.
• Team player who balances team and individual responsibilities, and gives and welcomes feedback as a way to support everyone’s efforts to succeed.
• Curious, proactive, mature, and possesses sound judgement.
• Comfortable using Microsoft Office Applications and learning a variety of new software applications.

· Willing to occasionally work some evenings and weekends; able to sit at a standard desk for periods of 2 hours or more.

Additional Preferred Qualifications

· Bachelor’s Degree.

• Experience drafting persuasive writing pieces, such as cases for support, business pitches, impact statements, op-eds, and marketing narratives.

· Experience with grassroots initiatives, environmental justice, conservation, and/or youth leadership.

· Familiarity with managing complex government grants and/or contracts.

• Familiarity with program evaluation.

· Background in coaching others in writing skills.

Salary, Hours, and Benefits

The Grant Writer is a full-time, exempt, at-will position. Starting pay is in the range of $65,000- $80,000 annual salary depending on experience and qualifications. Benefits include fully paid health insurance (medical/dental/vision) for employee and dependents; sick leave which exceeds California standards; generous vacation and paid holidays; Flexible Spending Accounts; and 401k with employer contribution and match; plus, sabbatical and professional development opportunities. General hours are 9:30am-5:30pm, Monday through Friday, but occasional evening or weekend hours may be required.

Workplace Considerations

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place, Rose staff is largely continuing to work remotely, with the option of working from the office if fully vaccinated against covid. We continue to monitor local and national public health guidelines and update our office/work protocols accordingly. The Rose Foundation will work with the hired candidate to ensure proper equipment setup and connectivity.

Our office is in a commuter-friendly location five blocks from Lake Merritt BART; located near Jack London Amtrak, AC Transit including the 72R, 12, and Broadway Free Shuttle, and Oakland’s network of bike lanes.

How to Apply

Send your resume, cover letter, and at least one writing sample to rfarahbakhsh@rosefdn.org. Please write “Grant Writer—[Your Name]” in the subject line. Please also include how you learned about this position within your cover letter, and why you are interested in this specific job. Writing sample(s) should demonstrate formal persuasive writing skills, for example grant proposal, report, or op-ed piece. Applications will be reviewed as received. We are looking to fill this position as soon as possible – please apply early!

The Rose Foundation provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.