Grants Contract Specialist

Grants & Development Manager — SR1 Cradle to Career Initiative SoulFood International / SR1 · Mississippi (on-site) · Full-time Priority first hire · Performance-based · Salary + bonus

SR1 is building a Cradle to Career initiative that carries our communities from early learning all the way to a living-wage career — and we have the track record to back it up, with numerous educational awards already to our name. Now we are hiring the Grants & Development Manager who will fund it.

This is the hire that powers the whole initiative. You'll write and win the grants that turn our proven ability to execute into funded programs. You'll start with our Agriculture Health Initiative — funding the farm, the food, and the nutrition and health programming that anchors the pipeline — then expand into the education and workforce initiatives that follow. Your pay rewards results: a solid base plus a bonus tied to clear, agreed milestones.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Research, write, and submit grants across SR1's Cradle to Career initiative (USDA, NIFA, SARE, HHS, U.S. Dept. of Education, state, foundation, and corporate) — owning the pipeline from concept paper to final report.
• Start with the Agriculture Health Initiative — funding the farm, nutrition, and health programming — then extend grant support across the full Cradle to Career pipeline as it grows.
• Write staff positions into grant budgets as personnel line items so awards fund the growing team.
• Manage the grant calendar, deliverables, and on-time reporting to funders and the board.
• Build and steward funder and foundation relationships; support the Founder on major-donor cultivation.
• Track restricted vs. unrestricted funds with Finance and keep clean, audit-ready records.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE (FIRST 12 MONTHS)

• First 90 days: Stand up the grant calendar and tracking system; map a pipeline of 15–20 qualified funder prospects; submit 2–3 letters of inquiry or concept papers.
• By 6 months: Submit 4–6 full proposals; secure your first award(s); establish an on-time reporting cadence for all active grants.
• By 12 months: Secure over $1 million in new funding across multiple awards and/or write proposals totaling over $2–3 million in requested funding; maintain a 100% on-time reporting rate; fully fund and launch the first phase of the Agriculture Health Initiative.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• Demonstrated grant-writing wins — bring numbers: total dollars raised, hit rate, and agencies.
• Strong writer; comfortable building budgets and reporting on deliverables and outcomes.
• Familiarity with education, Cradle to Career, food-systems, health, or USDA / agriculture funders is a strong plus (not required — a proven grant writer who can learn the space is preferred over a subject specialist without grant wins).
• Organized and deadline-disciplined; able to manage a calendar of overlapping deadlines.
• Real alignment with our mission and the communities we serve; relationships across Mississippi and the rural South a plus.
• Cultural Competency is a strong plus.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

• Base salary: $55,000–$75,000, commensurate with experience (Mississippi market). A strong record of federal-grant wins moves you toward the top of the range.
• Performance bonus: discretionary annual bonus of up to 10% of base, awarded against agreed milestones and quality measures and reviewed at 6 and 12 months. The bonus is earned by meeting milestone, quality, and program goals — never a percentage or commission of grant dollars, in keeping with AFP/GPA ethics and 2 CFR Part 200.
• Benefits: health benefits, paid time off, and a professional-development budget.

GROWTH PATH This is an org-wide role. It starts by funding the Agriculture Health Initiative and grows into the SR1 Director of Development, leading fundraising across the entire organization.

HOW TO APPLY Send your résumé, a short cover note, and one example of a grant you've written or won to View email address on click.appcast.io with the subject line "Grants & Development Manager."

SR1 is an equal opportunity employer. We hire the best person for the job.

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