Senior Granting Officer

We are seeking a strategic, high-impact leader to serve as Senior Granting Officer. This role oversees the full grant-making lifecycle—from strategy development and ecosystem mapping to due diligence, compliance, and legal agreements. In addition, this position manages the day-to-day granting operations and coordinates closely with both the DAF and MAVRIK to ensure alignment and smooth execution.

Working in partnership with the VP of Operations and CEO, you will steward our philanthropic mission and ensure our grant investments deliver meaningful, measurable impact.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop annual granting strategy: Create the yearly grant allocation plan aligned with the organization’s mission and granting policy. Coordinate with the VP of Operations to finalize budgets and present recommendations to the CEO.
• Lead the granting process: Oversee ecosystem mapping to identify potential grantees, analyse prospects through calls and meetings, and develop a shortlist. Request proposals, evaluate recommendations and prepare memos for final approval.
• Conduct due diligence: Supervise analysts and oversee due diligence on shortlisted organizations. Ensure compliance with legal, risk, reporting and governance requirements. Analyse organizational structure and, with external stakeholders, structure grants appropriately.
• Manage grant agreements: Draft, review and negotiate grant agreements, payment letters and contract amendments. Coordinate with legal counsel and obtain final signatures from executives.
• Oversee grant administration and data: Track and monitor grants; ensure all preand post-grant requirements are met; create and manage payment and reporting schedules. Maintain accurate grant data and documentation, establish procedures to improve workflow, and produce grant reports and analyses for leadership.
• Communicate with applicants and stakeholders: Serve as the primary contact for grant applicants, answering inquiries and guiding them through submission and reporting processes. Present findings and recommendations to senior leadership and the board. Strategic and operational leadership: Coordinate activities across departments, inform managers of policy changes and read/listen to departmental reports. Create budgets, ensure compliance with relevant laws, and establish policies to protect assets.
• Relationship management: Attend meetings with executives and external partners, network with investors and donors, and represent the organization at industry events. Build and maintain relationships to expand the organization’s reach and reputation.

Additional Responsibilities

• Impact measurement: Develop evaluation metrics to assess grantee performance and track outcomes. Provide regular impact reports to internal and external stakeholders.
• Process improvement & policy development: Recommend and document policies for special types of grants, including new giving vehicles. Identify opportunities to streamline procedures and implement best practices.
• Team leadership and development: Mentor analysts and grant staff, facilitate training on grant-making best practices, and foster a collaborative culture.
• Program management and research: Serve as program officer for specific portfolios, conducting research on organizations and emerging philanthropic trends and summarizing findings.
• Financial stewardship: Work with finance and operations to ensure responsible fiscal management of grant funds, forecasting multi-year commitments and aligning them with broader organizational budgets.
• Community and donor engagement: Collaborate with communications and development teams to share grant outcomes, showcase success stories and engage donors in funding opportunities.

Qualifications & Skills

• Proven leadership experience (12+ years) in grant management, philanthropy or nonprofit management.
• Demonstrated expertise in due diligence, compliance and regulatory requirements for charitable giving.
• Strong analytical skills and experience with grants databases and reporting tools.
• Excellent communication, negotiation and interpersonal skills for working with applicants, partners and internal stakeholders.
• Ability to build budgets and understand financial statements.
• Experience leading teams, managing cross-departmental projects and implementing process improvements.
• Knowledge of Canadian charity law and cross-border giving is an asset; bilingualism (French/English) preferred.