Senior Donor Communications Lead - Proposals & Grants

Location: New York

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*** World Change Starts with Educated Children(R)***#
** IMPORTANT:
All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the country where the position is located. Room to Read is not able to provide sponsorship.
**** Position Overview
** The Manager, Donor Communications is a senior proposal writer and project lead responsible for developing high-quality proposals and reports for institutional, corporate, foundation, government, and high-net-worth donors. This role plays a critical part in securing large, complex, multi-year funding opportunities that support Room to Read's Literacy and Gender Equality programs globally.

The position leads proposal development processes from strategy through submission, working closely with cross-functional global teams to develop compelling, donor-ready narratives that align with organizational priorities and donor requirements. The Manager, Donor Communications, also helps strengthen proposal systems, tools, and organizational capacity across the organization.

This is a full-time position reporting to the Director of Strategic Content and Creative.
** Responsibilities
* *** Proposal & Report Development (60%)
*** Lead the writing and project management of complex, high-value proposals and donor reports for institutional, corporate, foundation, government, and high-net-worth individual donors.
* Manage proposal development processes from kickoff through submission, including timelines, workflows, responsibilities, and review cycles.
* Develop compelling donor narratives, including program approaches, theories of change, implementation plans, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) components.
* Coordinate proposal development across Programs, Finance, Research/MEL, Operations, and Development teams to ensure cohesive, donor-ready submissions.
* Facilitate review processes with senior leadership, technical experts, and country teams; incorporate feedback into final deliverables.
* Ensure all submissions comply with donor requirements, formatting guidelines, and internal quality standards.
* Manage external grant writers, editors, and consultants as needed to support proposal and report deliverables.
** Content & Process Improvement (20%)
*** Build and maintain proposal templates, boilerplate language, technical content libraries, and donor-facing resources.
* Develop and improve systems, tools, and workflows that streamline proposal and reporting processes across global teams.
* Contribute to internal guidance materials, trainings, and documentation related to proposal development.
* Provide coaching, mentorship, and quality assurance support to colleagues contributing to donor communications.
** Strategic Proposal Leadership (10%)
*** Review funding opportunities (RFPs) to assess strategic fit, eligibility, competitiveness, and compliance requirements.
* Provide recommendations and go/no-go input to leadership on major funding opportunities.
* Advise relationship managers and internal teams on proposal strategy, positioning, and win themes for major bids.
* Support development of competitive funding strategies for complex donor opportunities.
** Cross-Functional Collaboration & Stakeholder Management (10%)
*** Partner closely with relationship managers, technical teams, finance staff, and leadership throughout the proposal development process.
* Collaborate effectively with geographically dispersed teams across multiple regions and time zones.
* Maintain strong communication and coordination with internal and external stakeholders to support successful submissions.
** Qualifications
* ** Minimum 7 years of experience in grant writing, donor communications, or proposal development within an NGO, INGO, or international development organization.
* Demonstrated success leading and securing complex 6- and 7-figure grants from institutional, bilateral, multilateral, corporate, and foundation donors, with preferred experience developing proposals for institutions such as U.S. Government, FCDO, GAC, World Bank, or similar.
* Proven experience managing complex proposal development processes involving cross-functional global teams, multiple stakeholders, and competing deadlines.
* Strong writing skills, with the ability to translate complex education and development concepts into compelling narratives for a wide range of donors
* Strong understanding of donor compliance requirements for major grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements.
* Experience mentoring, coaching, or managing the work of colleagues, consultants, or external writers.
* Strong project management, organizational, and stakeholder management skills.
* Proficiency with Microsoft Office, Salesforce or similar CRM systems, digital workflow tools, and AI-assisted writing tools used to improve productivity and quality.
* Strong communication and intercultural collaboration skills.
** Preferred Qualifications
*** Bachelor's degree or higher in international development, communications, journalism, public policy, or a related field.
* Familiarity…