Program Manager, Truist Foundation Western NC Recovery & Resilience Fund

Position Type: Full-time, Salaried, Exempt, Term-limited for 18 months.

Location: Western North Carolina; must be eligible to work in the U.S.

Salary: Starting at $73,000

Closing Date: Feb. 14, 2025

Candidates will be reviewed on a rolling basis. The position will remain open until we have a sufficient pool of diverse candidates who meet the job requirements, at which point we may pause the review of new applications before the stated deadline. Please understand that you may not be contacted for several weeks after you apply.

Ideal Start Date: April 1, 2025

About the Center for Disaster Philanthropy

CDP began in 2010 with the goal of pioneering the practice of strategic disaster philanthropy. Since then, it has grown in its ambition, envisioning a world where the impact of disasters is minimized through thoughtful, equitable and responsible recovery for all. CDP has a $40 million budget and a team of more than 30 staff members working remotely across the U.S.

CDP is a trusted partner, expert and authoritative resource helping hundreds of individuals, foundations and corporations boost the impact of philanthropic giving in response to disasters and humanitarian crises by supporting equitable recovery and addressing root causes of vulnerabilities worldwide.

In 2024, CDP awarded approximately $16 million through 70 grants to grantee partners worldwide, demonstrated thought leadership through webinars, blog posts, featured speaking engagements, and other events, and served 20+ philanthropic partners through consulting efforts. In 2020, CDP was a featured nonprofit for the 14th Annual CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute. CDP has earned Charity Navigator’s Four-Star Charity rating, Candid’s Platinum Transparency seal and is a Better Business Bureau Accredited Charity.

As an organization grounded in racial and intersectional equity, our team members are deeply committed to strengthening communities most vulnerable to disasters because of systemic inequities. We are guided by our values of integrity, boldness and innovation, humility, and empathy in all that we do in pursuit of our mission.

Bottom line: We aspire to walk the talk of anti-racism and treat each other and our partners in ways that inspire trust, creativity, learning and care.

Be a part of our fast-growing team that offers countless ways to help communities thrive. Join us!

Responsibilities & Duties

The program manager plays a critical role in CDP’s domestic fund management by ensuring effective strategic grantmaking and stewardship of CDP’s domestic disaster response, recovery funding and partnerships.

This role, which is part of CDP’s fund management & coalition building (FMCB) team, provides added capacity to the domestic funds team and is dedicated to supporting the implementation of the Truist Foundation Western North Carolina Recovery & Resilience Fund. The fund will address small business and housing recovery needs and provide resiliency support for thriving and sustainable communities.

The position reports to the program officer for domestic funds and will work to ensure the effective management of grantmaking processes for this fund. This includes conducting deeper assessment of needs, community engagement, implementing a specialized equity-focused vision for grantmaking, identifying potential grantee partners, stewarding grantee partner relationships, and liaising with local stakeholders.

To excel in this role, the ideal candidate will be an experienced grants manager proficient in program development, grant proposal assessment, data management and reporting. Success in this position hinges on a demonstrated history of strategic thinking, effective problem-solving and strong relationship-building skills with internal and external stakeholders.

As a fully remote workforce, CDP prioritizes employee engagement and relationship-building in service of a collaborative culture rooted in equity. To this end, in-person team retreats are scheduled throughout the year in different regions of the U.S.

This role will be expected to attend 2-3 annual retreats, which average 3-5 days of travel. Additionally, this role may expect 5-10 travel days per year for conferences and regular daily travel within the region. Preference is for the position to be based in Western North Carolina or Appalachia. Consideration will be provided to candidates residing outside Western North Carolina and within a reasonable driving distance to the region.

Primary responsibilities include:

Grants management and administration

• Support the domestic funds team with planning, implementing and evaluating progress on program outcomes and departmental objectives, milestones, timelines and budgets related to the Truist Foundation Western NC Fund.
• Play a lead role in researching and sourcing potential new grantee partners, emphasizing locally-led organizations that have strong connections in affected communities and share CDP’s values.
• Introduce and represent CDP’s mission and work to potential new partners, discussing initial concept ideas and determining programmatic alignment.
• Research organizations within the Western North Carolina geographic region that have, or will likely, be critical to disaster response and recovery efforts.
• Liaise with grant seekers to obtain information required to complete the processing of their grant requests.
• Answer all administrative, non-programmatic or decision-making inquiries from grantee partners about their grants.
• Respond to emails and telephone calls requesting general information about CDP grantmaking and a proposal’s review status.
• Effectively steward the grantmaking process through the Blackbaud Grant Management (BBGM) system for all Truist Foundation Western NC grants.
• Ensure regular oversight of all grants within the program and provide timely notification of any challenges or opportunities
• Lead the review and processing of partner requests for no-cost extensions, grant amendments and budget variances.
• Lead the fulfillment of donor reporting requirements.
• Plan and organize site visits to understand the needs of affected communities and aid in identifying and stewarding grantee partner relationships.
• Engage regularly with grantee partners to monitor and review the progress of the grant and ensure effective communication.
• Connect grantee partners impacted by disasters to recovery resources.
• Collaborate with CDP’s cross-functional teams to ensure that impact stories are sourced, well-drafted and aligned with organizational and thematic program priorities.
• In collaboration with the program officer and relevant functional areas within CDP, help identify and develop methods and systems for analyzing grant impact and effectiveness.
• Provide administrative support as needed.

Knowledge management and system administration

• Create and update records of organizations, contacts, requests and deliverables in the BBGM system.
• Maintain records of minutes and action items from internal and external meetings and ensure appropriate follow-up on behalf of the domestic team.
• Edit, publish and send out grant applications and requests as directed.
• Act as point of contact for development, communications and finance teams’ inquiries or requests related to administrative elements of the Truist Foundation Western NC Fund.
• Coordinate all grant reporting efforts with donor and grantee partners, including tracking in BBGM and filing reports in Dropbox.
• Capture and document key learnings, innovations and promising practices identified through grantmaking.
• Support team in collecting, tracking, analyzing and synthesizing data and conveying information in easy-to-understand, appealing formats.

Research and organizational support

• Conduct primary or supplementary research into specific housing and business recovery issues (context, needs, gaps, actors) and synthesize data in digestible, reader-friendly formats as requested.
• Become knowledgeable about CDP’s funding interests, services and culture.
• Act as a thought partner to the program officer and other department staff in identifying effective and innovative ways to advance CDP’s mission and maintain and enhance our reputation as a leader in fund management, grantmaking and coalition building.
• Support CDP’s organization-wide effort to ensure proper meeting hygiene through planning and preparation, setting agendas, sharing minutes, and ensuring appropriate follow-up.

Required qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive experience in philanthropy or nonprofit sector pertaining to grantmaking and/or disaster recovery.
• Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent work experience.
• Experience working in Western North Carolina and/or Appalachia.
• Excellent organizational, interpersonal and verbal communication skills.
• Proven experience with general project administration and management and stakeholder relationship management.
• Experience conducting community needs assessments (preferably in post-disaster contexts).
• Excellent analytical and critical thinking with precise attention to detail.
• Ability to work effectively, independently and remotely with minimal direct supervision while working collaboratively with internal and external constituents.
• Possess a strong sense of personal responsibility for one’s work and that of the team, which includes monitoring priorities and deadlines and flagging issues to the program officer on a timely basis to ensure the team meets its goals.
• Must have a driver’s license, minimum state-required auto insurance and reliable vehicle or equivalent access to a vehicle for meetings and site visits in Western North Carolina.

Preferred skills and qualifications:

• Knowledge of and/or interest in disasters and the systems and actors poised to address related issues.
• Grantmaking experience.
• Experience working in a post-disaster context.
• In-depth knowledge and understanding of the diverse range of facilitation methods and techniques to maximize engagement, establish common agendas and build consensus.
• High proficiency in using Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Experience with grantmaking software such as Blackbaud Grantmaking or similar tools.

Characteristics

• Commitment to the values intrinsic to CDP’s mission and strategy, including the centrality of local leadership, equity and service to marginalized and vulnerable communities.
• Entrepreneurial spirit
• Team player
• Sense of humor

The Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status and all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or state in which you are working.

We welcome and encourage applicants with non-traditional career paths.

If you don’t meet the qualifications outlined here, please apply and tell us how your experiences would equip you for the job.