Senior Associate, Development & Grants Management. (Washington DC-Baltimore Area)

Senior Associate, Development

We are seeking an experienced Senior Associate, Development to join a mission-driven organization and play a key role in strengthening its fundraising and grants management efforts.

This position is designed for a development professional who can do more than execute tasks. The Senior Associate will be expected to bring sound judgment, strong communication skills, and the confidence to help guide Development work across teams . This individual must be comfortable working with senior leaders, navigating competing priorities, and ensuring that commitments to funders remain aligned with organizational goals and grant requirements.

The ideal candidate understands that successful Development work often requires balancing the needs of fundraising, programs, leadership, and external partners. They should be able to independently assess a situation, review the relevant grant or funding requirements, identify potential risks, and recommend a thoughtful path forward.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the management and execution of grants, fundraising initiatives, and other Development priorities.
• Review grant requirements, deliverables, timelines, and commitments to ensure organizational work remains aligned with funder expectations.
• Partner closely with Program and other internal teams to identify and resolve issues related to grant requirements, deliverables, and scope.
• Exercise sound judgment when priorities or requests fall outside established Development parameters.
• Communicate clearly and confidently with colleagues and senior leaders when expectations, timelines, or deliverables need to be recalibrated.
• Help establish and maintain appropriate boundaries around Development projects, timelines, presentations, proposals, and funder commitments.
• Anticipate potential challenges and proactively identify solutions rather than waiting for detailed direction.
• Support Development leadership with presentations, proposals, reports, donor communications, and other fundraising materials.
• Help maintain strong internal processes that allow Development activities to move efficiently and accurately.
• Collaborate across teams while maintaining accountability for Development requirements and commitments.

What We're Looking For

• Demonstrated experience in Development, fundraising, grants management, institutional giving, philanthropy, or a closely related field .
• Working knowledge of the grant lifecycle, including reviewing grant requirements, deliverables, reporting expectations, and funding commitments.
• Strong professional judgment and the ability to assess situations independently and determine an appropriate course of action.
• Ability to navigate the natural tension that can arise between Development commitments and Program priorities .
• Confidence communicating with senior leaders and respectfully pushing back or setting boundaries when necessary.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to manage changing priorities without losing sight of deadlines, requirements, or agreed-upon scope.
• Highly organized with excellent attention to detail and follow-through.
• Comfortable working in a collaborative, fast-moving environment where priorities may evolve.
• Ability to think beyond the immediate task and understand the broader implications of Development decisions.

The Person Who Will Thrive in This Role

You are someone who can be handed a complicated Development situation and determine what needs to happen next. If a grant or deliverable is at risk, your instinct is to review the grant requirements, understand what was committed, assess where things stand, and help the team determine an appropriate solution .

You are collaborative, but you are also comfortable saying, “That falls outside of what we committed to,” or “Before we move forward, we need to look at the grant requirements.”

This is not an administrative assistant role . We are looking for someone who brings enough Development knowledge, maturity, and judgment to serve as a strong partner to the Development team and organizational leadership.

Ideal Background

Candidates may come from nonprofit Development, institutional giving, foundations, philanthropy, grant-funded organizations, or other environments where they have been responsible for balancing fundraising commitments with programmatic execution.

If you are a Development professional who combines strong execution with strategic judgment, proactive communication, and the confidence to help keep teams aligned , we would love to hear from you.