Manager of Foundation Partnerships

Manager of Foundation Partnerships

Washington, DC (Preferred), Remote, Full-Time

Salary: $70,000-80,000

The Education Design Lab is excited to be seeking nominations and applications for a Manager of Foundation Partnerships to support the prospecting, development and management of partnerships with higher education institutions, funders, and other post-secondary organizations. The new Manager will contribute to a range of operational and partnership development activities at the Lab, including, pipeline management, fundraising, budgeting, proposal writing, pitch development, and contract and client management. This is an outstanding opportunity for an early-stage professional who relishes the idea of joining an influential, rapidly growing national nonprofit organization in a dynamic, disrupted field. The Lab is still small enough for any team member to have an immediate impact on the success of the organization, but with a sector profile that is garnering more and more attention every day.

This role is ideal for anyone who has interest in reinventing current post-secondary education systems and/or an interest in nonprofit fundraising, leadership, and partnership development. The role offers the opportunity to interact with the entire Lab team across its many projects as well as many of the key foundations and a range of K-12, post-secondary, and workforce organizations. The position will provide a superb grounding for candidates interested in a career in strategy, philanthropy, development, and/or nonprofit management. This team member will interact daily with the Chief Growth Officer and the Senior Partnerships and Program Lead and participate as a critical third member of the Partnership Development team. The Manager will wear two critical hats on the team by 1) serving as a primary project manager who will create structure and build key internal processes for the team, including managing our CRM and grant reporting processes, and 2) draft and prepare proposals that help secure new funding opportunities. This work will include collaboration with the Lab’s education design team and senior leadership to create and share consistent, compelling narratives to potential funders.

The ideal candidate will be committed to the EDL’s mission to provide historically underserved learner populations equitable access to higher education success. They will be a strong project manager who can take detailed notes, manage the Lab’s Salesforce instance, coordinate multiple calendars, and manage numerous simultaneous projects. The Manager will equally be a talented proposal writer and interpersonal communicator with 3-5 years of experience in nonprofit organizations with a focus on public-private partnerships, place-based strategies, education, future of work, ed-tech.

Success in this role requires someone who thrives in a startup environment and enjoys collaborating across teams, bringing order to chaos, and managing multiple projects at once. The ideal candidate will be flexible, proactive, a self-starter, a fast learner, maintain a sense of humor, and is enthusiastic about joining a diverse team of designers and innovators. They will thrive on sense-making in a rapidly changing, intellectually stimulating environment. The Manager of Foundation Partnerships will be comfortable with ambiguity and building new processes from a blank slate.

Given EDL’s mission and programming, applicants with lived experience as first-generation college students, community college students, those who attended minority-serving institutions (HBCUs, HSIs, AANAPISIs etc.), those who have experience as non-traditional students, and other underserved populations, are particularly encouraged to apply for this role. The Lab does not require college degrees in its hiring.

Responsibilities of the Manager of Foundation Partnerships

Reporting to the Chief Growth Officer, the new Manager of Foundation Partnerships will take on the following responsibilities:

Draft proposals and other narratives for new and existing funding partnerships

• Collaborate with the Chief Growth Officer on initial drafts in response to requests for proposals (RFPs)
• Apply insights from the Education Designers to draft budgets and staffing implementation plans to include in proposals
• Collaborate with the Chief Growth Officer on the final approval and submission processes for each proposal
• Communicate with program officers and potential funders to clarify RFP guidelines and troubleshoot any challenges associated with the RFP process

Collaborate with Education Design Teams

• Translate the goals and strategies of the Design Teams into compelling narratives for funding proposals
• Prepare and deliver regular updates to Education Designers on the strategy and progress of the development pipeline
• Ensure consistent communication between the partnership development team and the design team so that each team is aligned on organizational goals

Manage Project Calendar, Partnership Pipeline and Grant Reporting activities

• Serve as the partnership development team’s project manager with visibility into all aspects of the development pipeline by documenting all funding opportunities, tracking next steps, managing internal and external deadlines, and ensuring that the team has the information they need to accomplish its goals
• Maintain regular meetings with the Chief Growth Officer and other senior leaders to ensure transparency and budget alignment
• Prepare reports on the progress of the development portfolio including pipeline status, to-do items, and deadlines
• Serve as the team’s “power user” of the Lab’s Salesforce instance, keeping meticulous records of all funding relationships, communications, successes, and goals
• Manage reporting requirements for existing funder relationships
• Consult senior leadership on how to align development strategy with external programs, staffing, and organizational culture

Qualifications and Experience

The ideal candidate will have the majority of the following characteristics and experiences:

• Expertise across 2 or more focus areas: public-private partnerships, education, workforce development, future of work, ed-tech, change management, design, and/or innovation
• Experience and interest in breaking down racial and economic barriers to education
• 3-5 years of multi-sector experience at regional and/or national levels, such as nonprofit, philanthropy, private industry, government, and education. We are especially interested in candidates with direct experience managing cross-sector initiatives focused on social impact
• Strong communication skills, with excellent writing, synthesis, and facilitation/speaking skills
• An expert eye for detail and project management
• Experience or familiarity with using CRM (Salesforce experience preferred)
• The ability to build trust and effective relationships with partners at all levels, and engage diverse stakeholders to coalesce around shared goals and objectives
• An entrepreneurial approach, with a passion for tackling complex problems and a high level of comfort with uncertainty and experimentation
• An openness to different perspectives and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
• A desire and ability to track the results and impact of our work

Application Instructions
To apply, please submit a cover letter and resume using the form linked here as soon as possible. EDL has partnered with Monday Morning Consultants to support this search. Please feel free to reach out to Jamie Joanou, jjoanou@gmail.com and Erica Nicole Griffin, ericanicole@mondaymorningconsultants.com with questions.

About the Education Design Lab

The Education Design Lab (Lab) is a national nonprofit that designs, tests, and implements unique education models and credentials that address the rapidly changing economy and emerging technology opportunities. The Lab demonstrates where technology, rigor, and design can improve opportunities for historically underinvested learners to achieve equitable futures.

The Lab works across disciplines and alongside schools, employers, entrepreneurs, government, foundations, nonprofits, and innovators. The organization has significant experience managing national and local learning cohorts, working with organizations such as The Lumina Foundation, the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, the Gates Foundation, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), Walmart, American Council on Education, and the ECMC Foundation. To learn more, visit www.eddesignlab.org, and follow on Twitter @eddesignlab.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Education Design Lab is an equal opportunity employer; applicants are considered for all roles without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, citizenship status, age, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, marital, parental, veteran or military status, unfavorable military discharge, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.