Job Description:Job SummaryReporting to the Executive Director of Institutional Advancement, the Director of Grant Development provides strategic leadership for the identification, cultivation, development, submission, tracking, stewardship, and renewal of grant opportunities that advance Our Lady of the Lake University's institutional priorities.
The Director develops and manages a comprehensive grant strategy and pipeline encompassing private and corporate foundations, government agencies, and other institutional funding sources at the local, state, and federal levels. Working collaboratively with faculty, academic leadership, Finance, Institutional Advancement, and program teams, the Director translates University priorities into competitive and fundable proposals.
The Director proactively develops relationships with institutional funders, identifies emerging funding opportunities, and utilizes AI, prospect research platforms, grant databases, and other technologies to strengthen funding intelligence, proposal development, and grant strategy. The position serves as the University's central resource for grant development and contributes directly to OLLU's overall fundraising and institutional advancement goals.
Performance Evaluation Metrics1. Grant Pipeline Growth
Achieve a 10% year-over-year increase in qualified grant opportunities and proposals submitted that align with University priorities and Institutional Advancement fundraising goals.
2. Proposal Quality & Timeliness
Ensure 95% of approved grant proposals, applications, and required reports are completed accurately and submitted by established deadlines.
3. Grant Data & Pipeline Tracking
Maintain 95% timely and accurate documentation of grant opportunities, proposals, awards, deadlines, reports, stewardship activities, and renewal opportunities within established Institutional Advancement tracking systems.
4. Grant Revenue & ROI
Demonstrate measurable contribution toward Institutional Advancement fundraising goals by tracking and reporting dollars requested, dollars awarded, proposal success rate, grant revenue, renewals, and year-over-year performance.
5. Cross-Campus Collaboration
Achieve 90% satisfaction from key internal partners, including Institutional Advancement, Finance, faculty, academic leadership, and program teams, through effective grant development support, communication, training, and collaboration.
Essential FunctionsStrategic Grant Planning & Administration- Develop and implement an annual and multi-year grant development strategy aligned with OLLU's institutional priorities, strategic plan, and fundraising goals.
- Establish annual goals for qualified opportunities, proposals submitted, dollars requested, awards secured, and grant renewals.
- Build and actively manage a comprehensive pipeline of public, private, corporate, foundation, federal, state, and local funding opportunities.
- Develop grant pipeline forecasts and provide regular progress reports to the Executive Director of Institutional Advancement.
- Track and analyze grant performance, success rates, revenue, and return on investment to inform future strategy.
- Maintain a comprehensive grants calendar incorporating prospecting, application, reporting, stewardship, and renewal deadlines.
- Develop a proactive institutional grant-development culture that generates fundable concepts before funding opportunities are released.
Grant Prospect Research & Funding Intelligence- Proactively identify and research grant-making organizations and funding opportunities that align with OLLU's mission, programs, academic priorities, and strategic initiatives.
- Utilize AI, grant databases, prospect research platforms, and emerging technologies to identify, evaluate, prioritize, and monitor funding opportunities.
- Monitor philanthropic, corporate, foundation, government, and higher education funding trends and communicate emerging opportunities to University leadership.
- Evaluate prospective funders for strategic alignment, funding capacity, historical giving, eligibility, and likelihood of support.
- Develop and maintain institutional funding intelligence to strengthen OLLU's long-term grant pipeline.
Proposal Development & Submission- Lead and coordinate the development of competitive grant proposals in collaboration with faculty, academic leaders, Finance, and program teams.
- Translate complex institutional priorities, academic programs, and community initiatives into compelling and fundable proposals.
- Review funding requirements, eligibility criteria, guidelines, and evaluation standards and develop clear proposal-development timelines.
- Coordinate proposal narratives, budgets, supporting documentation, institutional approvals, and required attachments.
- Guide proposals through the University's internal review and approval processes by facilitating grant concept development with faculty/program leaders; identifying projects with strong funding potential; developing concept papers/letters of inquiry; assessing project readiness before pursuing funding; helping departments articulate outcomes, evaluation plans, sustainability, and budgets.
- Ensure proposals are accurate, persuasive, compliant, and submitted by required deadlines.
- Develop and maintain standard proposal language, institutional data, templates, and other resources to improve efficiency and consistency.
Funder Relationship Development & Cultivation- In coordination with the Executive Director of Institutional Advancement, develop and strengthen relationships with foundation, corporate, government, and other institutional funders.
- Participate in funder meetings, briefings, site visits, cultivation activities, and stewardship efforts as appropriate.
- Research funder priorities and interests to strategically position OLLU for current and future funding opportunities.
- Identify opportunities to deepen institutional funder relationships and, when appropriate, transition relationships into broader philanthropic opportunities for the University.
- Coordinate funder relationship activity with Institutional Advancement to ensure consistent communication and relationship management.
- Strengthens the government grants and sponsored-program coordination in compliance with federal/state grant systems and registrations; government application requirements; indirect cost/F&A considerations; cost-sharing or matching requirements; subawards and external partners; institutional assurances and certifications; coordination with post-award/grants administration.
- Responsible for maintaining a funder portfolio and developing strategies such as: research ? introduction ? cultivation ? concept discussion ? proposal ? award ? stewardship ? renewal/upgrade.
Cross-Campus Grant Development- Serve as a strategic resource to faculty, administrators, and program leaders in identifying and developing fundable projects.
- Convene cross-functional teams for significant funding opportunities and establish responsibilities, timelines, budgets, and deliverables.
- Provide one-on-one consultation and technical assistance throughout the proposal-development process.
- Develop and deliver workshops and training on grant development, proposal writing, funder expectations, AI-assisted research, and grant best practices.
- Work closely with Finance and appropriate University offices to ensure proposed budgets and funding requests meet institutional and funder requirements.
- Build institutional capacity and a stronger culture of grant development across the University.
Grant Stewardship, Reporting & Renewal- Maintain a comprehensive schedule of grant reporting, stewardship, and renewal requirements.
- Coordinate with responsible departments to collect program outcomes, financial information, student impact, and other information required by funders.
- Facilitate timely submission of progress reports, final reports, and other required funder communications.
- Track funded projects and collaborate with appropriate University departments to support compliance with grant requirements.
- Identify successful grants for renewal, expansion, or development into larger funding opportunities.
- Collaborate with Institutional Advancement on appropriate recognition and stewardship of foundation, corporate, and institutional funders.
Data, Reporting & Institutional Advancement Integration- Maintain accurate and timely grant pipeline information within established Institutional Advancement systems.
- Track opportunities, submissions, dollars requested, awards, declines, success rates, reports, renewals, and projected revenue.
- Provide regular grant pipeline reports and forecasts to the Executive Director of Institutional Advancement.
- Collaborate with Advancement Operations to ensure appropriate grant and funder information is accurately maintained within Institutional Advancement systems.
- Use data and analytics to identify trends, evaluate performance, and inform future grant strategy.
- Contribute to overall Institutional Advancement planning and fundraising activities as a member of the IA team.
Additional Responsibilities- Participate as an active member of the Institutional Advancement team and support broader University fundraising and engagement initiatives as appropriate.
- Represent Institutional Advancement on University committees and working groups related to grant-funded initiatives.
- Maintain confidentiality and comply with university policies, funder requirements, and applicable regulations.
- Work occasional evenings and weekends, travel when necessary, and attend University and Institutional Advancement events
- Perform other duties as assigned by the Executive Director of Institutional Advancement.
Requirements:Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities- Demonstrated knowledge of grant strategy, prospect research, proposal development, funder cultivation, stewardship, and grant reporting.
- Exceptional written communication and editing skills with the ability to develop clear, persuasive, and compelling proposals.
- Ability to translate complex academic, financial, and programmatic information into compelling funding narratives.
- Demonstrated ability to use AI and emerging technologies responsibly to enhance grant prospecting, research, proposal development, and funding intelligence.
- Knowledge of grant databases, research platforms, government grant systems, and related technology.
- Strong analytical skills and ability to use data to manage a grant pipeline and measure performance and ROI.
- Strong project-management skills with demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex proposals and deadlines.
- Ability to develop productive relationships with foundation, corporate, government, and institutional funders.
- Ability to work collaboratively with faculty, administrators, Finance, Institutional Advancement, and program teams.
- Strong presentation, consultation, facilitation, and training skills.
- Ability to work independently, exercise sound judgment, and take initiative.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and adhere to the University's core values of Community, Integrity, Trust, and Service.
Education and Experience- Bachelor's degree required in communications, English, business, public administration, education, social sciences, or a related field; master's degree preferred.
- Requires a minimum of three to five years of progressively responsible experience in grant development, institutional fundraising, sponsored programs, foundation relations, or a related field.
- Demonstrated experience developing successful proposals for private foundations, corporate foundations, government agencies, or other institutional funders is required.
- Higher education or nonprofit grant development experience strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated experience managing multiple funding opportunities and complex proposal-development processes is required.
- Experience working collaboratively with faculty, senior leadership, Finance, and program teams preferred.
- Experience with grant research databases, electronic submission systems, CRM-Blackbaud (Raisers Edge) or grant-tracking systems, and Microsoft Office required.
- Demonstrated ability to incorporate technology, data, and AI-supported research into grant development strategy preferred.
