Senior Manager, Grants and Corporate Partnerships
14 days ago
Seattle
Job Description Posted: Open to internal and external applicants Reports to: Vice President of Philanthropy and Membership Status: Full-time, salaried, benefitted position Hours of work: Standard Monday–Friday workweek, 8am–5pm. Occasional need for weekend or after-hours work as related to events and other projects. This is a hybrid position with a minimum of 2 days of work onsite at the Aquarium each week, one of which is Thursday. Date needed: Fall 2025 Posting expires: Open until filled; priority given to applications received by August 21, 2025. Position description: The Seattle Aquarium is a leading marine conservation organization with a global reputation. Delivering on our conservation mission, Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment, is more important now than ever before. Our current campus expansion with the Ocean Pavilion holds tremendous hope for revitalizing our city, and for leading animal welfare, conservation engagement and building awareness about climate change, plastic pollution, sustainable seafood and marine protected areas. Currently, the Seattle Aquarium is the ninth-largest aquarium, by attendance, in the United States. Including our community-outreach and beach-based programs, we typically reach over one million people annually. The Aquarium employs 200 full-time employees, supports more than 500 volunteers, and has a 50-person board of directors. All staff, volunteers and board of directors ascribe to and conduct themselves in alignment with the Aquarium’s S.A.L.I.S.H. and D.E.I. values. This position is part of the Seattle Aquarium’s Philanthropy & Membership leadership team. The senior manager leads—and is the key administrator of—the organization’s centralized grants process and the organization’s foundation, government, and corporate giving scope of work. The position supervises a team of two direct fundraisers—a grants officer and a corporate partnerships officer. Like other senior managers on the Philanthropy & Membership team, this position manages a portfolio of 10-15 prospects or current funders. The role sets multi-year strategy and activity and financial metrics for this team and is responsible for meeting annual financial goals and budget management for the foundation, government, and corporate scope. The senior manager reports to the vice president of philanthropy and membership, and works closely with the Aquarium’s programmatic and executive leadership, members of the board of directors, and across many departments. Externally, this position builds and maintains critical relationships with foundation, government, tribal, and corporate funders. The Seattle Aquarium recognizes that various marginalized communities are being disproportionately impacted by environmental harm while not having access to lead the conversation on conservation and environmental education. We are partners in changing that narrative and seek a senior manager who can inspire philanthropy with an equity-centered lens. Key functions: • Builds a three-year strategy with a goal of substantially building and maintaining the foundation, government, and corporate funding pipeline for the Seattle Aquarium., • Leads and administers the organization's centralized grants process, including ensuring team members across the Aquarium are clear on their roles and responsibilities within a grants context., • Provides vice president of philanthropy quarterly assessment of goals, timelines, and resources necessary to ensure achievement of annual and long-term goals., • Manages a select portfolio of 10-15 funders or funding prospects, including securing major and principal grants and gifts. Ensures prompt upkeep of donor records in the Raisers’ Edge database. Also, supports the vice president of philanthropy in her work with principal-level funders that are foundations and corporations by writing proposals and reports., • Leads and supervises a team of two direct fundraisers (grants officer, corporate officer), each of whom holds a portfolio of 75-90 prospects and funders, and ensures that forecasting and moves management is strategic, steady and productive, and funder relationships are well-maintained and stewarded., • Sets activity and financial goals for their team and manages workflow and productivity to ensure goals are met., • Serves as one of the philanthropy team’s lead writers in crafting compelling and pertinent language to describe our key initiatives and their impact, and in writing proposals., • As appropriate, holds face-to-face donor visitations and attends relevant public and private events., • Manages contracts and agreements with respect to specific fundraising and programmatic outcomes, recognition and compliance, as appropriate., • Ensures the development of briefing papers for all principal and major gift solicitations. Essential functions, grants: • Works closely with executive team members and program leaders to identify and pursue foundation and government agency funding opportunities that advance Aquarium priorities, including crafting strategies for funding and writing proposals, materials, and reports., • Supervises the grants officer, who maintains a full portfolio of grants prospects and funders at the $5,000 - $100,000 level, ensuring timely outreach to foundation officers, continued rapport-building with officers and trustees, creation and maintenance of the grants calendar, and timely submission of proposals, reports, and updates., • Ensures that aspirational engagement and stewardship strategies are in place for current foundation, government, and corporate funders., • Supervises grants officer, including scope of work, annual plan, metrics, benchmarks, and deliverables., • Ensures that all strategies, goals, and metrics for foundations and government funding are met. Essential functions, corporate partnerships: • The senior manager is responsible for the strategy, management, and activation of the corporate program. This position interacts with executives at large corporations in Seattle and must provide an elevated level of service through high-level, timely, and professional communications. This includes supervising the corporate partnerships officer position, which holds the majority of the corporate partnerships portfolio (giving at $2,500 - $50,000/year). The senior manager ensures corporate partners are well-stewarded, including activating all communication and benefits quickly and accurately. Additional responsibilities: • Serve as a passionate spokesperson for the Aquarium and its mission., • Contribute to the effort to build a culture of philanthropy throughout the organization., • Lead Aquarium donor tours as appropriate., • Honor the rights of our donors under the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Code of Ethics., • Perform other related responsibilities to successfully achieve the Aquarium’s philanthropy goals and objectives as necessary., • All Aquarium staff and volunteers are expected to participate in advancing and integrating into their work Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Regenerative practices in alignment with our S.A.L.I.S.H. Values., • Other duties as assigned. Required skills and experience: The skills and abilities listed below may be demonstrated through a combination of relevant cultural and community programs, jobs, internships, volunteer experience, and/or formal or informal education. If you meet some of the requirements and you are passionate about our mission and our ocean, we encourage you to apply and look forward to learning more about you. • BA/BS degree required, preferably in communications, journalism, marketing or humanities., • Minimum 5 years of private foundation, corporate, and public grant writing and grants administration experience with proven track record of a fundraiser securing grants of $250,000 or more., • Minimum of 3 years of supervisory experience and development of annual goals, metrics, and evaluation., • Accomplished narrative writer and editor with superior English language skills and proficiency in writing stories that convey impact and utilize data to articulate outcomes and progress., • Strong attention to detail including proofreading – accuracy is paramount to our operations., • Strong project management focus: experience creating and adhering to timelines and communicating expectations to a project team., • Familiarity with foundation, tribal, and government funders and the Seattle-area philanthropic community., • Successful track record of cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding foundation, government, and corporate funders., • Knowledge and utilization of Raisers Edge donor database or similar platform., • Advanced Microsoft Office skills., • Demonstrates an understanding of the Aquarium’s Mission and Values, including Regenerative and Equity work. Working conditions: • Hybrid virtual/in-office model with minimum two days onsite at the Aquarium, including Thursdays., • High energy needed for long hours when opportunities present themselves to apply for funding on short turn-around., • Flexibility for evening or weekend work throughout the year to meet donor deadlines., • Office work is performed in a semi-private work area. Foundation donor tours will occur in Aquarium exhibit areas, possible outdoor field excursions and off-site donor meetings., • Work is highly collaborative in nature and requires the ability to meet in person, talk on the phone and via Teams/Zoom, and listen well for understanding., • Some exposure to elements. Employees are located in campus environment with multiple buildings, outdoor and semi-covered areas. Travel between Aquarium buildings and meeting sites in all types of weather. Salary and benefits: $102,000 - $107,000/year, Dependent on experience. Please include salary expectations in your materials. Full-time staff are eligible for the Seattle Aquarium’s comprehensive benefits package to include medical, vision, dental, an employer-funded health reimbursement account, medical and dependent care flexible spending accounts, life insurance, long-term disability, 403b retirement fund with employer match, access to a subsidized ORCA pass, a Seattle Aquarium Family Plus membership and generous paid time off. How to apply: The Seattle Aquarium is committed to expanding a diverse, equitable, and inclusive conservation movement. We are invested in building an Aquarium with a wide variety of backgrounds, identities, languages, cultural ways of knowing, and life experiences. We know research shows that society has conditioned communities of color, trans and gender non-conforming people, immigrants, people with disabilities, and other marginalized candidates to more frequently not apply to a job because they don’t feel that they meet all of the qualifications listed even if they are qualified. If you meet some of the requirements and you are passionate about our mission and our ocean, we encourage you to apply and look forward to learning more about you. Interested candidates should upload a résumé to our online application to be considered. Application review will begin immediately. SeattleAquarium.org/careers Please let us know if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for this job by emailing us at . Note: If offered the position, candidates must pass a background check. Conviction record is not an automatic disqualifier; we are a second chance employer. About the Seattle Aquarium: The Seattle Aquarium is a respected authority on Puget Sound, the Salish Sea and the world’s one ocean. Our passionate staff increases awareness and drives the change needed to preserve and protect our marine environment by providing an inspiring visitor experience, engaging daytime and evening events, conservation education programs for people of all ages and backgrounds, community outreach to marginalized populations, research that advances understanding of animals in our care and their counterparts in the wild, advocacy and policy work, an award-winning volunteer program, high-impact marketing and communications, and more. Our values, developed in conjunction with our staff, include commitments to adopting and promoting sustainable practices, creating awe-inspiring experiences, constantly learning and improving, fostering an inclusive community, maintaining scientific credibility through evidence-based practices and honoring our unique place by using our location and history as a lens for larger understanding. Proudly accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, we’re among the top 10 aquariums in the U.S. by attendance, and we welcome over 1,000,000 people each year. Guided by our mission of Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment, we have substantially increased our conservation impact by expanding our campus with our new building, the Ocean Pavilion. Learn more at SeattleAquarium.org. Timeline: We anticipate the following recruiting schedule for those candidates who are selected for consideration. The following dates are preliminary and subject to change. We will work with candidates to set interview dates. If hired, relocation assistance is not available. • Application deadline: Open until filled., • Priority given to applications received by August 21, 2025., • Interviews completed in September 2025., • Start date: October 2025.
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