Job Description

Title: Senior Grant Writer

Division: External Affairs / Development

Reports to: Vice President, Enterprise and Investment

Matrix reporting: N/A

Supervises: None

Location: Washington DC / Brussels / Nairobi; remote location considered for exceptional candidates

Position Summary

The Senior Grant Writer is central to AWF’s efforts to secure funding through well-crafted proposals. The Senior Grant Writer is a new position created to deliver on AWF’s ambitious fundraising campaign. The Senior Grant Writer will serve as the lead designer and writer for project proposals and pitch materials required by the AWF External Affairs / Development Department including seven and eight figure public sector, foundation, and philanthropic gifts.

The incumbent will lead development of key materials and products to support External Affairs fundraising efforts in key markets. Working in close collaboration with the Program Design, External Affairs, Foundations, and Individual Giving team leads, the primary focus is to produce high-quality proposals and pitch materials that speak to donor interests and clearly articulate AWF’s value proposition based on strategy and funding priorities. She/he will work closely with technical and field teams, donor account managers, and cost proposal managers to shape relevant, inspiring, implementable project designs in a timely and accurate fashion.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Research and Understand AWF’s vision, mission, programs and needs and match AWF’s priorities to grant opportunities surfaced through Development team cultivation and research efforts.
• Produce written and visual materials and supporting documents that are tailored to donors’ interests and clearly articulate AWF’s program priorities across the three programmatic priorities of AWF’s $300 million Resilient Africa, Resilient Planet fundraising campaign: Leading for Wildlife, Living with Wildlife and Caring for Wildlife.
• Build productive working partnerships with technical and field teams, donor account managers, and Development team leadership.
• Pro-actively Involve technical and field teams, finance and administration, communications, monitoring and evaluation and other teams as relevant in design processes to ensure propositions are aligned with AWF’s priorities and implementation modalities.
• Distil complex content into accessible, inspirational, compelling, and concise materials that highlight the impact of donor investment.
• Manage workflow on production of materials in line with AWF’s Account Management Framework.
• Keep records of submissions, materials, process, follow up actions, and pipeline up to date.

Requirements and Skills

• Minimum six years’ experience writing substantive content for sophisticated donor audiences, including foundation, government, corporate and individual donors.
• Experience writing successful seven and eight figure grant proposals.
• Ability to write clear and compelling proposals in both creative and technical formats.
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural, complex work environment under tight deadlines.
• Proactive in taking initiative in the context of ambiguity.
• Master’s degree in conservation and/or development related field strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated knowledge of conservation issues in Africa.
• Current passport with ability to travel to Africa.