Manager, Development and Grants

About this opportunity

Actua is seeking a high-performing, intellectually sharp, and supremely organized professional to serve as our Manager, Development and Grants. This role serves a central, strategic function that sits at the intersection of fundraising, operations, and partnership management.

You are someone who instinctively sees what needs to be done within your team and area of function and does it. You thrive on creating order, anticipating needs, and enabling senior leaders and teams to perform at their best to deliver results.

Reporting to the Senior Manager of Partner Relations, you will act as the "engine" of the Development team. You are the person who researches opportunities, builds the framework for applications, and ensures our processes and systems run flawlessly. You will be a key "connector" within Actua by gathering data across teams to ensure that program and project proposals are technically accurate, operationally feasible, and meticulously aligned with funder requirements.

About you

Organization is in your DNA. You don’t just stay organized because you have to; you do it instinctively.

You are a skilled technical "mapper." You understand that grant and proposal writing is a meticulous mapping exercise. You have a proven track record of navigating intricate government RFPs and procurement portals, mirroring the requirements of a call line-by-line without missing a single administrative detail.

You are an excellent writer: You have experience crafting copy for a variety of audiences, and know how to adapt your message so that it moves hearts and minds. You are an expert in technical application writing, skilled in structuring logic models and creating compelling cases for support.

You are a collaborative catalyst. You are a confident, mid-career professional who is deeply motivated by Actua’s mission. You don't require constant reassurance; you find deep satisfaction in being the "engine" that keeps the team driving forward.

You are an analytical and process-driven thinker. You thrive on the mechanics of complex applications and can operate effortlessly at the micro-level, ensuring every 't' is crossed and no element is missed in a 50-page document. While you understand how your work fits into the bigger picture, your true comfort zone is building the rigorous frameworks, logic models, and workflows that set our team up for successful pitches. You are eager to master the STEM outreach ecosystem and keep our technical narratives sharp.

What you will do

1. Technical Grant Development & Lifecycle Management

• Identify: Proactively mine government procurement portals (e.g., Canada.ca), foundation and grant databases, and RFPs to identify and filter high-value opportunities aligned with Actua’s mission.
• Engineer: Manage each application as a distinct project. This includes interpreting complex requirements, building workplans, coordinating inputs across teams, and drafting high-compliance technical proposals (logic models, work plans, and narratives).
• Renew: Lead the annual renewal process for existing grants, ensuring no lapse in funding due to administrative oversight.

2. Development Operations & System Stewardship

• Database Ownership: Act as the "source of truth" for all partnership data. You will manage and love our systems, ensuring contact records, donation processing, and agreement statuses are accurate daily.
• The Administrative Backbone: Manage the end-to-end agreement process—communicating with funders, coordinating legal/senior sign-offs, invoicing, and tracking deadlines.
• Team Coordination: Follow up with internal team members to ensure they have completed their programmatic tasks to satisfy grant deliverables.

3. Partnership & Strategic Support

• Funder Liaison: Serve as a professional point of contact for funders on administrative matters, understanding the nature of each partnership to know when and how to communicate.
• Systemic Mapping: Regularly track and analyze funding trends and corporate alignment criteria to identify new, relevant and feasible or expanding partnerships.
• Represent Actua Operational Excellence: Ensure our project frameworks and backend documentation are consistently audit-ready, acting as a highly professional internal anchor who provides quick, accurate and timely data validation needed for external presentations.

Why work with us

In this role, you will have the opportunity to make a national impact by joining an organization that is unapologetically committed to breaking barriers to STEM. Each year, Actua and its growing network of over 40 college and university-based members engage over 500,000 youth in exciting, hands-on experiences that help build their skills and confidence in STEM.

This is your opportunity to join our vibrant team-driven environment while working in a youthful, fast-paced and fun culture. Our Ottawa office is centrally located in the Byward Market.

The annual base salary range for this position is $62,000 - $85,000. We also offer a competitive benefits package including paid time off, access to group health & dental benefits, Group RSP with matching contribution, and annual Holiday closure. For more information about us, please visit www.actua.ca.

Interested?

Please submit your non-AI-generated cover letter, resume, and a writing sample as a single PDF document on the Actua employment page. Actua is an equal-opportunity employer and is committed to accessible employment practices. If you require accommodation for any part of the selection process, please notify us, and we will work with you to meet your needs.

This job posting represents an existing and active vacancy within our organization.

Actua will not be utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in the candidate screening process. All applications will be reviewed and evaluated exclusively by human recruiters and hiring managers.