The Chesapeake Bay Trust (the Trust) seeks a qualified candidate to serve as Program Coordinator to support the work in the Outreach and Education and Restoration Departments. The Program Coordinator is responsible for leading and supporting grant programs within the team’s growing portfolio as well as supporting new programs as they are developed. This person will be a key member of a twenty-four person staff. This is a full-time salary position (40 hours per week) that requires periodic evening and weekend work. The Program Coordinator will report directly to either a Vice President of Programs or a Program manager.

 

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 currently makes 400+ grants and other awards per year ranging from $100 to ~$400,000 for projects in the K-12 environmental education, on-the-ground restoration, science, capacity building, and community engagement realms. In the past 15 years, the Trust has increased its grant-making four-fold through various revenues streams under the purview of four Trust departments, with annual grant-making of approximately $12 to 20 million, including a new urban tree initiative that will serve to again almost double the Trust’s grant-making.

 

Position Responsibilities

The person(s) in this position will spend approximately 40% of their time managing grant programs within the Education and Outreach and/or Restoration portfolio; approximately 20% of their time assisting with the delivery of the grant programs; 20% of time managing grants across the team’s portfolio; and approximately 10% of their time supporting the Trust in other avenues of work. Specific duties include:

Managing all aspects of program implementation for one or more grant programs including but not limited to:

  • Finalizing the Request for Proposals
  • Advertising the grant program
  • Providing technical assistance or connecting applicants with technical assistance
  • Proactively identifying potential applicants in underserved communities who may not have heard about the opportunity
  • Implementing a grant proposal review stage informed by the Trust’s existing Technical Review Committee process to recommend proposals for funding
  • Preparing awards for decision by the Trust’s Board of Trustees
  • Preparing award agreement
  • Supporting awardees accomplish their project goals and objectives
  • Managing grant awards up to $100,000 in funding including status and expense report review, award revision requests, and final report/close-out
  • Coordinating and interacting with funding partners

Support the Trust with the delivery of grant programs including but not limited to:

  • 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, for a subset of the Trust’s award portfolio. Some grant management activities require site visits.
  • Help to develop new grant programs and enhance existing grant programs
  • Support and team with existing Trust staff to expand existing grant programs
  • Provide technical assistance, proposal review, and attend select events of the awardees
  • Develop communications (blogs and other stories) for the Trust to share, content for webpages to promote the program and awardee’s efforts, and content for social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) sharing
  • Assisting the restoration and education/outreach managers to advertise and recruitment for programs with a specific emphasis on increasing diversity
  • Assisting the restoration and education/outreach managers with trainings and workshops for grant programs or Trust priority areas (e.g., climate change, waste reduction and reuse initiatives, Climate Corps/Chesapeake Conservation Corps)
  • Assisting with quarterly report compliance
  • Other projects and duties as assigned.

Skills and Qualifications

  • Proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite of programs (e.g., 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 successful candidate must be exceptionally thorough, and detail orientated.
  • Ability to work both independently and in team settings in an office environment – required. Note that some staff are working in the office, some staff are working a hybrid schedule (in the office part of the week and remote work part of the week), and some staff are working remotely with limited access to the office as needed.
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills – required.
  • Bachelor’s degree – preferred
  • An interest or demonstrated experience with environmental and community health issues, outreach, community engagement, and/or environmental education; particularly working with diverse groups of people – preferred
  • Experience with at least one database that illustrates ability to learn – preferred, but not required.
  • Personal vehicle or access to a vehicle/transportation and valid driver’s license or access to transportation options required to facilitate site visit travel and travel to the office (required).

 

Salary

The Chesapeake Bay Trust benchmarks its salaries using a number of resources, but most predominantly the Council on Foundations (COF).  The 2020 COF salary survey identifies the range of $45,000 to $50,000 for similar positions at grant-making organizations of our size.  The Trust also offers an excellent benefits package, professional development opportunities through workshops, training programs, and conferences, and opportunities for advancement.

 

How to Apply

Applications will begin to be reviewed on or around August 15, 2022, though the position will remain open until filled. Please submit a resume and cover letter via email to talent@cbtrust.org and place “Program Coordinator-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 a description of your previous positions or experience.  Please explain why you are interested in this position specifically and what makes you a good fit.

 

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.