The Chesapeake Bay Trust (the Trust) seeks a qualified candidate to serve as Program Assistant. This position will assist the Trust with grant review, grant management, and grant tracking. This person will be a key member of an eighteen-person staff. This is a full-time salary position (40 hours per week) that requires periodic evening and weekend work. The Trust anticipates hiring one Program Assistant for the Restoration Department and one Program Assistant for the Education and Outreach Department. The Program Assistant will report directly to the Director of Restoration Programs or the Director of Education and Outreach Programs.

About the Trust
The Chesapeake Bay Trust seeks to engage and empower diverse groups to take actions that enrich the natural resources and local communities of the Chesapeake Bay region. The Trust is a non-profit grant-making organization established by state government in 1985. The Trust makes approximately 400 grants per year ranging from $100 to $200,000 for projects in the K-12 environmental education, on-the-ground restoration, science, and community engagement realms. In the past decade, the Trust has increased its grant-making four-fold through new partnerships, with current annual grant-making of approximately $11 million.

Position Responsibilities
The person(s) in this position will spend approximately 80% of their time assisting the Restoration team or the Education and Outreach team in advancing its mission, and approximately 20% of their time supporting the Trust in other avenues of work. Specific duties include:

  • Assist in the management of grants that advance the Trust’s stewardship and restoration goals, including the steps of proposal review (programmatic and budgetary aspects), status and expense report review, award revision requests, and final report/close-out.
  • Serve as the lead on grantee correspondence for the Restoration or Education and Outreach team.
  • Prepare grant reports and meeting preparation material for staff and technical review committees.
  • Prepare queries of grant data as needed for a variety of purposes, such as funding partner requests, reports to the Board of Trustees, legislature, the Trust’s website, and more.
  • Provide support to a subset of not-for-profit organizations in the preparation of grant proposals and in the management of grant awards.
  • Support/manage select grants that could include site visits.
  • Support the Restoration or Outreach and Education team with grant program advertisement.
  • Support Restoration or Education and Outreach team with program/project management, such as developing and posting website content, developing “fact-sheets” to demonstrate project/program success, compiling information for mapping display, and similar work.
  • Assist the Restoration or Education and Outreach team with event logistics (e.g., compiling registration list(s), PowerPoint presentations, meeting materials such as an agenda for a team meeting, take notes for meetings), including review committee days and external events such as grantee workshops, press events, and/or symposia.
  • Support internal and external meeting logistics including hosting meetings on virtual platforms such as Zoom, Webex, and/or Microsoft Teams.
  • Assist the Restoration or Education and Outreach team with special projects, such as grantee newsletters, social media posts, blogs, and/or identification of demonstration photos.
  • Serve as lead on producing information about the Trust’s grant-making for certain audiences, such as quarterly grant lists for the legislature or project fact sheets.
  • Serve, with the Program Assistants from the Restoration and Education and Outreach, as one of four Trust leads of the online grants system and database software with tasks to include grant application forms, reviewer forms, data fields, award and decline letters/notifications, and any updates needed to improve efficiency.
  • Support several administrative functions, such as tracking and recording grants, reviewing award financial back-up documentation to submit for payment, and supporting quarterly reporting.
  • Other projects and duties as assigned.

Skills and Qualifications

  • Proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite of programs (especially Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) – required.
  • Ability to tackle multiple tasks in a timely and effective manner – required.
  • Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail – required. The right candidate must be exceptionally thorough, and detail orientated.
  • Ability to work both independently and in team settings in an office environment – required. Note that our staff is working remotely with limited access to the office as needed.
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills – required.
  • Experience with at least one database that illustrates ability to learn – preferred, but not required.
  • Bachelor’s degree – preferred
  • An interest in environmental and community health issues – preferred.
  • Personal vehicle and valid driver’s license required to facilitate site visit travel.

Salary
The Chesapeake Bay Trust benchmarks its salaries using a number of resources, but most predominantly the Council on Foundations (COF). The 2019 COF salary survey identifies the range of $35,000 to $38,000 for similar positions at grant-making organizations of our size. The Trust also offers an excellent benefits package, professional development opportunities, and opportunities for advancement.

How to Apply
Please submit a resume and cover letter via email to shiggins@cbtrust.org and place “Program Assistant-Your Last Name” in the subject line of the email. The cover letter must address how your skills and experience are specifically relevant to the job description and duties of this specific opportunity, rather than serving simply as description of your previous positions or experience. Please explain why you are interested in this position specifically and what makes you a good fit. Applications will begin to be reviewed 2/28/21, but the position will remain open until filled.

The Chesapeake Bay Trust provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age or disability in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. We encourage applications from people of color.