Senior Associate, Development

Salary Range: $65,000.00 To $75,000.00 Annually

The Senior Associate, Development supports the Director, Government Partnerships in identifying, tracking, pursuing, and managing federal, state, and local funding opportunities. This position is responsible for research, proposal coordination, grants administration, CRM management, pre-award compliance support, and cross-functional communication to ensure timely and successful public-sector fundraising efforts. This role directly supports government revenue growth and organizational partnerships.

The Senior Associate, Development reports to the Director, Government Partnerships. This position is currently based in Chicago and is remote, but there may be instances in which onsite visits and travel are required.

• Provide proposal management by coordinating proposal timelines, gathering required attachments and organizational documents, assisting with drafting proposal narratives, supporting budget preparation, and conducting compliance reviews prior to submission.
• Coordinate communication among Development, Finance, Programs, Strategy (National Strategic Engagement Team), Legal, Policy, Operations, and leadership teams to support the research, development, and submission of comprehensive and compelling proposals and reports.
• Support the development and maintenance of a diverse pipeline of funders by researching, identifying, and qualifying prospective federal, state, county, municipal, and utility funding opportunities.
• Support pre-award compliance activities by assisting with risk analyses and proposal readiness assessments, identifying compliance, financial, operational, and contractual risks, and coordinating with internal stakeholders to ensure funding applications meet eligibility, regulatory, and organizational requirements.
• Maintain Salesforce, SharePoint, project files, and prospecting platforms to ensure accurate and up-to-date funding opportunity and stakeholder information.
• Work with the development team to monitor and analyze key performance indicators, including pipeline growth, funding success rates, opportunity conversion rates, proposal win/loss trends, and agency-specific funding patterns, and develop reports, dashboards, and presentations to inform leadership and board-level decision-making.
• Assist in partnership development by tracking coalition memberships and industry associations, coordinating outreach campaigns, and supporting public-sector visibility efforts.
• Conduct funding landscape, policy, and competitive research to identify emerging public sector funding opportunities and support organizational fundraising strategies.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

• Bachelor’s or graduate degree in public administration, public policy, business administration, non-profit management, finance, accounting, political science, communications, or relevant lived experience.
• At least four (4) years demonstrated experience developing and writing competitive proposals and grant applications.
• Experience collaborating with or working within public sector or government agencies.
• Knowledge of government grant and contract procurement processes and requirements.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including persuasive writing and proposal development.
• Experience preparing, analyzing, and managing project budgets.
• Strong project management skills, including managing multiple projects and maintaining a project pipeline.
• Knowledge of compliance requirements, evaluation and monitoring plans, and the application of relevant regulations and policies.
• Understanding of departmental initiatives and programs aligned with Elevate’s primary focus areas.
• Broad knowledge of energy…