Senior Manager of Grantmaking & Artist Engagement

Reports to: Administrative Director & Chief of Staff
Classification: Full Time, Exempt
Salary: $80,000
Benefits: They offer comprehensive benefits including employer contribution to health, dental and vision insurance; pre-tax flexible savings accounts for commuter, medical & dependent care; paid vacation and personal time off and Summer Fridays.
Location: Hybrid work schedule with the expectation of attending weekly in-person staff meetings at the office space in Brooklyn, plus additional in-person work as required to carry out the duties of this position, including attending grantee events. BAC’s hybrid work schedule is subject to change and employees are expected to be available in person during working hours as required.

About Brooklyn Arts Council:

Celebrating 60 years of service this year, Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC) is the borough’s leading nonprofit organization supporting artists and cultural groups in all disciplines. BAC is committed to serving the arts ecosystem through grants, professional development, cultural heritage programming, and arts education provided via distance learning. By creating and supporting cultural events and platforms for Brooklynites, BAC provides forums for critical thinking and self-expression, enriches Brooklyn’s cultural landscape, and generates experiences that expand horizons.

BAC’s Values:

Brooklyn Arts Council strives to a foster a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace where employees and volunteers – whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education, or ability – feel valued and respected. They are committed to being a nondiscriminatory organization that provides equal opportunity for employment and advancement in programs and at worksites. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages, and work to ensure that all voices are valued and heard. They are committed to modeling diversity and inclusion for the arts community in Brooklyn, and to maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all.

Brooklyn Arts Council prohibits any form of workplace harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status.

Position Overview

The Senior Manager of Grantmaking & Artist Engagement leads Brooklyn Arts Council’s regranting programs with the mission of enriching the cultural life of the borough by making public funds, resources and opportunities more accessible to Brooklyn’s artists and arts organizations.

Reporting to the Administrative Director this role oversees the strategic direction & implementation of grantmaking at Brooklyn Arts Council, ensuring regrant programs & initiatives at Brooklyn Arts Council are responsive; equitable and aligned with the organization’s wider programs & engagement activities, mission and values.

BAC distributes, on average, over $1 million of public and private funds to artist & arts organizations across Brooklyn annually, and the Senior Manager of Grantmaking & Artist Engagement is responsible for ensuring that regrant programs are thoughtfully designed & accessible and that funds are administered efficiently and appropriately and in line with funder requirements. Collaboration and attention to detail is critical, and this position will develop and maintain systems; working closely with the financial operations partner ArtsPool to create sustainable and effective processes that ensure continuous smooth grantmaking operations.

This role will also work closely with the Director of Artist Programs, Learning & Engagement to plan and execute annual ‘creative cohort’ activities, professional development, trainings, and events for grantees to align grantee engagement & initiatives with wider organizational programming.

The Senior Manager of Grantmaking & Artist Engagement is an experienced grant maker who has excellent attention to detail, strong communication, administration and project management skills and the ability to build relationships with and manage multiple stakeholders and priorities. As a Senior Manager, this role will work closely with BAC’s leadership team to provide insight and recommendations to support decision making and ensure that grantmaking is aligned and effectively contributing to the strategic direction of the organization.

This is an exciting position for a highly organized, systems-minded individual with a passion for supporting artists and community in Brooklyn and an understanding of the responsibilities that come with distributing public funds.

This position reports to the Administrative Director & Chief of Staff and will work closely with the Director of Artist Programs, Learning & Engagement. They will supervise any regrants associates, interns or volunteers where applicable.

Responsibilities

•Manage all aspects of Brooklyn Arts Council’s grant making processes from open call, applicant outreach & technical assistance; paneling & making allocations, through to distributing funds, managing feedback; cohort engagement and collecting data to inform and assess evaluation & impact; centering equity and accessibility at all stages
•Oversee the creation & maintenance of an internal calendar for the grantmaking cycle to support team planning and the streamlining systems and processes to improve the grantmaking processes, as well as to inform organization planning & strategy
•Manage grantmaking compliance and risk; adhering and responding to funder requirements to ensure the responsible and correct use of public funds
•Offer strategic insight & assessment of grantmaking at BAC, making recommendations to leadership that are based on data, feedback from constituents, funding & resources available, and the development of new grantmaking initiatives where appropriate.
•Develop guidelines and application materials for open call, ensuring they are aligned with funder requirements and center accessibility and a values led grantmaking process
•Lead the open call process, managing outreach and engagement; applicant communication & enquiries and implementing technical assistance & information opportunities for potential applicants
•Oversee the narrative review process and participate in narrative reviews with
prospective applicants.
•Manage the post-application deadline process, including collecting data on applications for internal tracking and reporting; eligibility checking and scheduling panels
•Oversee panelist recruitment and onboarding and assign panelists
•Manage the paneling process; ensuring facilitation and note-taking best practices and centering equity and transparency throughout
•Lead on the allocation & awarding of grants, in collaboration with BAC’s leadership team, and manage the appeals process in line with funder requirements
•Manage the process of notifying applicants and collaborate with financial partners Arts Pool to establish systems and processes for contracting and distributing funds,
•Manage a process for feedback to unsuccessful applicants
•Lead grantees through the award process; including devising and overseeing systems to track project changes, interim & final reporting requirements
•Work with the Programming team to develop & deliver resources, professional development support & advice on all matters pertaining to the enrichment of the cultural life of the borough for their annual ‘Creative Cohort’ & wider org programs.
•In collaboration with the Director of Artist Programs, Learning & Engagement to design & support grantee cohort engagement and celebration opportunities, including Brooklyn Arts Awards; Thrive Fest and other networking and professional development for BAC grantees.
•Manage tools and systems to collect and track data across all stages of the regranting process to support internal planning and assessment of grant programs to ensure equitable and accessible deployment of funds and assets and establishing grantmaking best practices
•Work with Director of Artist Programs, Learning & Engagement & Comms team to maintain a comprehensive database of artists & arts organizations engaged with BAC
•Work with leadership, and other stakeholders where appropriate, in evaluating regranting timeline and processes with the aim of continuous improvement and establishing robust internal systems for grantmaking that align with the organization’s strategic priorities
•Prepare reports and presentations with updates on regrant programming for leadership as required
•Support Development colleagues with reporting and submitting funding applications for regrant programs by providing data and program detail
•Collaborate with the Communications team on all aspects of communications and marketing on for regrant programs, including advising on promotional materials and publications in print and digital formats
•Attend grantee events and develop an internal system that supports attendance at grantee events across the organization
•Serve as advisor and resource to all BAC constituents, offering practical advice, professional development and technical assistance on all matters pertaining to the enrichment of the cultural life of the borough
•Act as the organization’s SCR Coordinator for NYSCA funded regrant programs and collaborate with the Administrative Director and development team in managing relationships with other regrant program funders
•Supervise Grants department administrator, interns or volunteers as appropriate
•Provide organizational support as needed, collaborating interdepartmentally and attending / participating in key organizational events as required.
•Other duties as required

Requirements

Required skills and experience

•3+ years of experience managing & administering high-volume regranting programs, ideally in arts, culture, or community-based nonprofits
•Demonstrated experience overseeing public and private funding grant funds - $1million+ with a strong understanding of grant compliance, eligibility rules, reporting requirements
•Ability to balance funder priorities with artist- and community-centered approaches
•Experience designing or refining grant programs, guidelines, eligibility and review criteria
•Experience supporting applicants through workshops, info sessions, technical assistance & facilitating peer review panels
•Expertise with Submittable, Airtable and other grantmaking software & CRM systems
•Experience of working cross departmentally & a desire to collaborate across teams
•Excellent written and verbal communication skills
•High attention to detail & administration skills
•Strong data tracking, analysis & reporting skills
•Experience working with artists, small organizations, and historically under-resourced

Application Instructions

To Apply:

Please fill out this form to apply:
https://forms.gle/GpJCYq794yoL4ajT7

Closing date for submitting your application: Sunday 1 March

Interviews are scheduled for week of 16 March and will be held in person at Brooklyn Arts Council’s offices in Downtown Brooklyn.

If you have any questions please reach out to jobs@brooklynartscouncil.org

Please do not send applications to this email address – only applications submitted via the above form will be considered.