Manager, Grants Development

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is a district on the rise, serving over 320,000 students in 500+ schools and employing over 44,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world‑class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life. In order to fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families, and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability, and integrity.

Six core values are embedded within these commitments – student‑centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.

The Office of Budget and Grants Management supports strategic utilization of all resources, aligning them to district priorities by spearheading CPS’ financial strategy to support effective budget planning and maximizing available funds. As part of this work, the competitive grants team brings additional revenue to the district by pursuing federal, state, and other competitive grant opportunities. This is a full‑time, exempt position that will be paid for time worked on a salary basis.

Reporting to the Deputy Chief of the Office of Budget and Grants Management, the Manager of Grants Development will play a critical role in ensuring the continuous fulfillment of the core elements of the grant’s development strategy. This role leads a team of grant writers in the development and administration of a variety of highly competitive state, federal and local grants.

• Develop and execute a comprehensive vision and approach for CPS pursuit and management of competitive grants.
• Manage a team of grant writers as they pursue a variety of competitive grant opportunities; establish protocols, develop guidelines, and provide expertise to the grant writers as they initiate, facilitate, and process manage the development of highly competitive grant applications.
• Determine and implement with fidelity the competitive grants team approach to monitoring websites regularly for funding opportunities and announcements, and providing recommendations on district eligibility and alignment of opportunities with district needs and priorities, including collaboration with other city agencies.
• Strategically assess the viability of funding opportunities and connect grant programs to district- and department‑level strategic plans and priorities.
• Determine and implement with fidelity the competitive grants team approach to moving from opportunity to go/no status in pursuit of highly competitive opportunities.
• Collaborate with teams throughout the district to help ensure timely and appropriate use of grant funds, including coordinating any required plans and reporting, completing amendments and continuation applications, and developing other post‑award materials.
• Support multiple stakeholders through the complex grant development process, applying knowledge of educational content areas, district priorities, and proposal requirements to ensure that proposed strategies meet district needs while complying with grant guidelines.
• Serve as the competitive grants “Subject Matter Expert” (SME) to various internal partner departments, stakeholder groups and external agencies.
• Create, present, and distribute to stakeholders written guidelines, procedures, and protocols related to the team’s work.
• Other duties and work streams as assigned.

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Business Management, Public Policy, Education or related field from an accredited college or university.

• Minimum of five (5) years of relevant experience in grants development, grant writing, grant administration, and/or related field.

• Ability to analyze grant guidelines and apply comprehensive knowledge of educational content to grant requirements.
• Excellent attention to detail, critical thinking skills, and ability to effectively work under pressure while meeting deadlines.
• Ability to establish and implement systems.
• Ability to work on multiple high‑stakes, deadline‑driven projects…