Senior Grant Writer, Constituent Affairs Specialist

USC Shoah Foundation is an institute within the Office of the Provost at USC. Our core purpose is to give opportunity to survivors and witnesses to the Shoah—the genocide of the Jews—to tell their own stories in their own words in audio-visual interviews, preserve their testimonies, and make them accessible for research, education, and outreach for the betterment of humankind in perpetuity.

We are seeking a dedicated and skilled communications professional to join USC Shoah Foundation’s External Affairs division as a Senior Grant Writer, Constituent Affairs Specialist. In this critical role, you will be responsible for preparing, researching, and crafting highly competitive research grant proposals and other supporting documentation for donors and other external affairs stakeholders (e.g., Board of Councilors, government representatives, etc). Reporting to the Chief of Staff, you will join a growing team in a new division of the Shoah Foundation in a fast-paced, creative and highly collaborative environment. The successful candidate works quickly to produce high quality content, loves working with diverse audiences, and thrives working independently and collaboratively in deadline-driven environments.

The annual base salary range for this position is $71,807.78 - $78,000.00. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.

Responsibilities:

• Develops a deep understanding of program content to ensure integrity and quality of proposal writing. Creates special reports, summaries and analyses related to programs for donors and other key stakeholders. This will involve close collaboration with program staff and institute leadership to ensure comprehension and alignment.
• Prepares, writes and maintains a portfolio of highly competitive, technical and/or complex research grant proposals/applications based on identified institutional priorities.
• · Prepares briefing materials, memos, letters and other collateral materials in support of advancement and external affairs. This will involve close collaboration with the Marketing and Communications team to ensure alignment with brand guidelines and messaging.
• Designs and formats proposals, reports and other materials for professional presentation to donors and other audiences. Provides design input to graphic designers as appropriate.
• Identifies, researches, compiles and evaluates data sources and background information in areas related to the institute’s work (Holocaust education, genocide, etc). Leverage this information for inclusion into relevant written materials.
• Maintains awareness and knowledge of changes in industry trends. Incorporates changes and advises researchers on best practices. Maintains subscriptions to relevant publications and memberships in professional organizations, as appropriate. Cultivates and maintains a network of professional contacts, as applicable.
• Interprets and follows sponsor regulations, requirements, guidelines and instructions. Meets proposal deadlines by establishing priorities and target dates for information gathering, writing, review, and approval. Coordinates requirements with contributors. Contributes proposal status information to review meetings.
• Applies technical expertise to strengthen and improve proposal-writing process by evaluating and re-designing strategies, approaches, and policies. Implements changes as needed.
• Collaborates with advancement staff to prioritize funding needs and manages writing portfolio accordingly.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Job Qualifications:

• Minimum Education: Bachelor’s Degree
• Minimum Experience: 3 years
• Minimum Field of Expertise: Demonstrated experience writing effective, accurate materials of a complex nature, working with highly complex documents and advising/assisting authors. Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Preferred Education: Master's degree
• Preferred Experience: 5 years

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Minimum Education: Bachelor's degree Minimum Experience: 3 years Minimum Field of Expertise: Directly related experience with submitting grant applications and awards in specialty area. Experience in planning and developing written reports and grant proposals. Demonstrated experience writing effective technical materials of a scientific nature, working with scientific documents and advising/assisting authors. Ability to work both independently and as a team.