Leadership role
Director of Grant Programs
Directs an organization's grant work, whether seeking grant funding or administering the grants it makes.
Reporting and scope
Typically reports to the Director of Development, Chief Program Officer or CFO / Head of Finance when seeking grants, or to a program or grantmaking officer at a foundation. Authority covers the grant pipeline or the grantmaking process.
Core responsibilities
- At grant seekers, finds prospects and leads proposal writing and budgets
- Tracks deadlines, reports and compliance terms for active awards
- Works with finance on restricted fund tracking and federal award requirements
- At grantmakers, runs application review, due diligence and award recommendations to the board or grants committee
- Monitors grantee reports and outcomes
- Maintains the grants management system and records
How it differs
Director of Development covers all fundraising, of which grants are one part. At a foundation, Director of Programs or Chief Program Officer sets funding strategy while Director of Grant Programs runs the process. Confirm which side of the grant the job sits on before matching.
By organization size
In small grant-seeking organizations the role is often a grant writer with a director title. Large federal grantees and foundations run grants offices with pre-award and post-award staff.
Filings from the last five years mapped to this role commonly report titles such as: Director of Grants; Grants Manager; Grants Director; Director of Grants Management; Director of Foundation Relations; Dir of Grants