Director of Grants

Global Ministries connects The United Methodist Church, its people and congregations to partner with others engaged in God’s global work, which takes place in a variety of settings, countries and cultures. Global Ministries works through missionaries and partners in more than 60 countries around the world. Some of our key programs are in the areas of Disaster Response, Global Health, Hunger & Poverty, Water & Sanitation, Education, Migration, Racial & Ethnic Ministries, Creation Care and Mission, Evangelism & Church Growth.

Job Summary

The Director of Grants is a member of the Senior Leadership Team, reporting to the General Secretary, whose primary initial function will be providing strategic visioning and oversight of a process definitively assessing the feasibility of an agency-wide grantmaking approach.

The Director of Grants will lead the agency’s approach to grantmaking, incorporating any revisions that may result from the feasibility study, with special emphasis on grantmaking operations. This will include the grantmaking operations of all mission programs of Global Ministries and UMCOR, as well as the related grantmaking operations of the agency’s units for Fund Development, Operations, and Treasury.

Essential Job Functions

• Meet with operational and program staff involved in administering/leading grantmaking.
• Engage program staff about their respective programmatic goals and evaluate whether current grant operations sufficiently complement program goals and their desired outcomes/impact.
• Review all grant application procedures and forms and evaluate their effectiveness. Guide teams in identifying effective balance between uniformity and individualized procedures/forms.
• Review current policies and procedures as developed by Grants Finance and meet with staff.
• Meet with selected directors to incorporate their understanding/vision for global grantmaking.
• Review previous projects and consultations affecting agency-wide grantmaking, including 2021-2022 Grant Review Team, the 2022 Survey of External Grant Approval Processes, and the 2019 New Global Ministries Integrated Grant Management System Findings and Recommendations.
• Review current grants management system and evaluate value of seeking new system.
• Working with/through leadership, design a plan, if its feasibility is sufficiently provided, to reshape agency-wide grantmaking approach.
• Work with HR to envision, design, and implement staff training to ensure ongoing consistency

Education and Experience

Minimum Qualifications

• 5-7 years of experience in grant administration, plus 1 year of prior supervisory/managerial grant management experience, OR an equivalent combination of professional work experience, training, and education.
• Bachelor’s and MBA degrees or comparable credentials.

Preferred Qualifications

• UMC affiliation or knowledge
• 3 years prior experience in leading grant administration policies and procedures, including grants life-cycle administration, pre/post award, and compliance for varying types of grants and grantees in US and international environments
• 3 years of prior supervisory, managerial, or grant management experience

Competencies, Job Requirements and Other Specialized Knowledge

• Success leading grants management teams.
• Success overseeing/coordinating across multiple, complex grant programs and processes.
• Project management skills and technical system knowledge related to grantmaking.
• Knowledge of the grants management systems currently in use by nonprofits and experience in working with them and knowing how to manage their pros and cons. Strong verbal communication and consulting skills with demonstrated ability to work with senior leadership.
• Senior decision-making experience, comfort, and skill.
• Humility, leadership charisma and savvy.
• Ability to cultivate and empower staff as they respond to change.
• Comfortable and effective working in varied global contexts.
• Attentive and responsive at the outset to the agency’s strategies for achieving grantmaking impact in the global regions.
• Understanding the agency’s strategies, put in place to achieve goals related to missionaries, evangelism and church revitalization, global health, and humanitarian relief and recovery, would be a crucial prerequisite before shaping, as needed, any grantmaking processes, services, and systems, including grant applications, grant approvals, grant reporting, etc.

The Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate will bring strong acumen for strategic organizational analysis and experience in grants management. The ideal candidate will bring skill and sensitivity in navigating among leadership and staff, crucial for enabling and leading a process to assess the agency’s grantmaking capabilities and sustainability. The ideal candidate will have experience or demonstrated capacity for providing visionary, strategic direction to shape processes and systems. The ideal candidate will be enthusiastic about and deeply understanding of the crucial role operational systems play in supporting programmatic goals and strategies, aiding overall improvement, customer service, analytics and learning, and process documentation. Beyond the initial phase of work, the ideal candidate will drive continuous improvement in grants management for the agency through ongoing innovation and incorporation of best practices affecting the agency’s outcomes and impact. The ideal candidate will understand the nature of funding provided by Global Ministries/UMCOR across its global portfolios. The ideal candidate will also bring prior experience with the implementation and/or utilization of grants management system technology platforms.

Work Hours and Conditions

• FLSA Status: F/T Exempt
• Location: Remote
• Hours: 9:00am – 5:00pm (Monday – Friday with flexible start/end time) – Evening and weekend work/meetings as necessary, particularly during peak unit season.
• May require work outside of standard business hours (to include weekends), particularly during peak unit season.
• Sedentary office/computer/keyboarding/meeting work for extended periods of time.
• Travel as required.

What We Offer and How To Apply

• Global Ministries offers a competitive benefits package to include medical, dental, vision, retirement plan, HSA/FSA, and other health and welfare benefits.
• Qualified candidates should submit a cover letter and resume, along with a digitally signed employment application through the applicant portal. Applications must highlight competencies against requirements, potential start date and at least three references (2 supervisory references and 1 professional reference).
• We are looking to fill the position as soon as possible, so don’t wait to apply! We will review applications as they are submitted.
• Application deadline June 10, 2022.