Senior Development Associate

Bellwether seeks a Senior Development Associate to join our development team. This role reports to the Senior Development Manager and works in close partnership with the Senior Director of Development and Program Team colleagues. 

Bellwether’s grant portfolio is growing. This role exists to make sure growth is matched by strong reporting, clean data, and a clear view of our funder pipeline. It serves as the connective tissue between our funder relationships and our systems of record. You’ll own grant reporting end to end, build the systems that keep 15 portfolios coordinated, and give the team a reliable picture of each funder relationship. 

Core Responsibilities

Grant Reporting (40%)

• Own the full grant reporting lifecycle, from deliverable tracking through submission, ensuring every report is accurate, high-quality, and on time. 
• Collect and synthesize input from project leads, finance, and senior leadership, that connects work completed to stated grant outcomes. 
• Manage the reporting calendar and funder portal logistics, including deadlines, requirements, credentials, and submission status.
• Quality-assure funder-facing materials remain accurate, on-brand, and strategically sound.

Pipeline and Moves Management (20%)

• Log funder interactions, meetings, and next steps to build institutional knowledge of our funder relationships. 
• Track cultivation moves against stage, owner, amount, and timing; surface stalled opportunities before they go cold. 
• Produce pipeline summaries and revenue snapshots that not only report current status, but flag forward-looking risks and opportunities for team meetings, board reporting, and planning cycles.
• Monitor Salesforce pipeline data, proactively surfacing stalled opportunities, overdue follow-ups, and relationship risks before they become problems.

Systems and Grant Operations (20%)

• Build and maintain the trackers, templates, and documentation that keep grant coordination consistent across the entire portfolio. 
• Maintain data hygiene in Salesforce for grants, funder records, and opportunity stages. 
• Write and update a grants procedure manual that documents both traditional workflows and processes.
• Partner with finance to reconcile grant payments and issue timely acknowledgements. 

 Prospect Research (10%)

• Identify and qualify new institutional funding prospects aligned with Bellwether's priority areas, using AI-powered research tools to accelerate initial screening.
• Monitor foundation announcements, RFPs, and leadership changes, automatically flagging time-sensitive opportunities and routing them to the team.
• Write concise prospect memos covering funder priorities, giving history, and recommended entry points. 
• Monitor emerging funding landscapes and evolving funder priorities using trend analysis to anticipate future opportunities.

 Team Contribution (10%)

• Regularly use AI tools to raise the quality and speed of research, drafting, and data work, with judgment about when human review is essential.
• Build trusted working relationships with leaders across the organization, particularly program teams, to understand workflows.
• Contribute to development and external relations team meetings and planning. 
• Travel two to four times per year for team and organization-wide convenings.

Recommended Qualifications

• 2-4 years of nonprofit development experience, or equivalent experience.
• Education sector and institutional/foundation giving preferred but not required.
• Strong writing and communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex program, budget, and outcomes information into clear, compelling narratives for funder audiences.
• Demonstrated experience with grant reporting, prospect research, and pipeline coordination.
• Proven project management skills, including the ability to manage a high volume of deliverables, competing deadlines, and multiple stakeholders independently.
• Exceptional organizational skills and attention to operational detail, including managing calendars, keeping accurate records, and maintaining consistent processes and documentation.
• Sound judgment in using AI tools, including appropriate verification of AI-generated content and careful handling of sensitive donor and organizational information.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and Google Workspace; Claude/ChatGPT and Salesforce experience strongly preferred.