The Chesapeake Bay Trust (the Trust) seeks a qualified candidate to serve as Program Assistant. The person in this position will assist the Trust with the review, management, and tracking of grants and other awards for projects in the fields of urban tree planting, other watershed/community restoration projects, and natural resources-related community engagement. This person will be a key member of a 20+ person staff. This position is a full-time, salaried position (40 hours per week) that requires periodic evening and weekend work. The Program Assistant will report directly to the Urban Trees Program Manager.

 

About the Trust

 

The Chesapeake Bay Trust seeks to engage and empower diverse groups to take actions that enrich the natural resources and local communities of the Chesapeake Bay region. The Trust is a non-profit grant-making organization established by state government in 1985. The Trust currently makes 350-400 grants and other awards per year ranging from $100 to ~$400,000 for projects in the K-12 environmental education, on-the-ground restoration, science, capacity building, and community engagement realms. In the past 15 years, the Trust has increased its grant-making and therefore grant-making four-fold through various revenues streams under the purview of four Trust departments, with annual grant-making of approximately $12-20 million.  This new urban tree initiative will serve to again almost double the Trust’s grant-making.

 

Position Responsibilities

 

Specific duties include:

 

·          Perform aspects of award management, including the steps of proposal review (programmatic and budgetary aspects), status and expense report review, award revision requests, and final report/close-out, for a subset of the Trust’s award portfolio.  Some management activities may require site visits.

  • Serve as the lead on grantee correspondence for a subset of awards
  • Prepare grant reports and meeting preparation material for staff and technical review committees.
  • Prepare queries of grant data as needed for a variety of purposes, such as funding partner requests, reports to the Board of Trustees, funding partners, Maryland General Assembly, the Trust’s website, and more.
  • Provide support to a subset of not-for-profit organizations in the preparation of grant proposals.
  • Play a key role in grant program advertisement.
  • Develop and Post grant-related website content, such as “fact-sheets” to describe project/program success,
  • Compile information for the Trust’s project map.
  • Assist with logistics (e.g., virtual meeting set up, registration list(s), presentation slides, meeting materials note-taking) for events such as review committee meetings, grantee workshops, press events, and/or symposia.
  • Prepare material for grantee newsletters, social media posts, blogs, and/or annual reports
  • Serve, with the Program Assistants from the Restoration and Education and Outreach, as a key Trust lead of the online grants system and database software with tasks to include creating grant application forms, reviewer forms, data fields, and award and decline letters/notifications, and implementing changes to improve efficiency.
  • Other projects and duties as assigned.

 

Skills and Qualifications

 

  • Proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite of programs (especially Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) (required).
  • Ability to tackle multiple tasks in a timely and effective manner (required).
  • Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail. The right candidate must be exceptionally thorough, and detail orientated (required).
  • Ability to work both independently and in team settings in an office environment (required).
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills (required).
  • Experience with at least one database that illustrates the ability to learn (preferred).
  • An interest in environmental and/or community health issues (preferred).
  • Personal vehicle or access to a vehicle/transportation and valid driver’s license or access to transportation options required to facilitate site visit travel (required).

 

 

Position Salary and Benefits

 

$40,000 (for candidates with no prior experience)-45,000 (for candidates with 2+ years of demonstrated experience) with an excellent benefits package and opportunities for related professional development through workshops, training programs, and conferences.

 

How to Apply

 

Applications will begin to be reviewed on October 18, 2022, though the position will remain open until filled.  Please submit a resume and cover letter via email to talent@cbtrust.org and place “Program Assistant-Your Last Name” in the subject line of the email.  The cover letter must address how your skills and experience are specifically relevant to the job description and duties of this specific opportunity, rather than serving simply as a description of your previous positions or experience.  Please explain why you are interested in this position specifically and what makes you a good fit.

 

The Chesapeake Bay Trust provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age or disability in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. We encourage applications from people of color.