Senior Associate Public Grants – Minnesota

Who We Are:  

Trust for Public Land (TPL) is the leader of a movement to connect everyone in America to the outdoors. A national nonprofit, TPL partners with communities to create high-quality parks and protect public lands—especially in communities that need them most—to improve public health, create social cohesion, strengthen historic and cultural connection to place, and increase climate resilience. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than 4 million acres of public land, created more than 5,500 parks, trails, schoolyards, and iconic outdoor places, generated over $112 billion in public funding for parks and public lands, and connected nearly 10 million people to the outdoors. To learn more, visit tpl.org.

position Summary:  

The Senior Associate Public Grants – MN position provides critical program, technical and administrative support in the management of publicly funded grants for Trust for Public Land’s Minnesota/Northwoods office (TPL-MN/NW). TPL-MN/NW manages 20-25 multi-year public grants (for a total of about $10 – $12 million annually) from State and Federal sources; primary funding sources include Minnesota’s Outdoor Heritage Fund and Minnesota’s Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund. This position supports the land protection staff, as well as finance staff, by organizing and tracking grant deliverables, budgets, contracts, and reports to ensure proper compliance with the rules associated with these public grants. Additionally, the position is a critical link in delivering TPL’s mission of conserving land for people by utilizing well-established nonprofit land acquisition techniques and sound business practices, to advance landscape-scale conservation in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Essential Functions:

Public Grant Management: 60%

• Provide support and ensure quality control for grant proposal submission process. Ensure required documents are included with grant submission and appropriately filed in TPL’s electronic filing systems.
• Ensure compliance with grant standards and requirements, lead record-keeping processes, and routinely monitor grant folders for compliance documentation. Confirm that staff follow the compliance guidelines.
• Ensure new grants and grant amendments are set up in accounting, time-keeping, and other filing systems. Create and/or maintain internal standardized processes and document for tracking and potential audit review purposes.
• Manage grant reporting requirements, including tracking and compilation of outcomes/deliverables for use in project reports, status updates and final reports. Facilitates, manages and co-leads engagement with program partners in these tasks.
• Assist as needed with the submission of the acquisition packet to the funder.
• Create and maintain grant calendar. Work with land protection staff and partners, as well as TPL finance staff to create a shared grant calendar; enter key dates for all new and existing grants; and monitor existing grant reporting and other key dates.
• Review reimbursement requests prepared by finance department before submission to the funder to confirm backup documentation and sufficient funding. Work with land protection and finance staff to maintain and update grant budgets and tracking systems.
• Other duties as assigned

Program and Project Support: 20%

• Assists project staff in project research, administration and coordination of non-negotiating real-estate functions of project development. Assists with such administrative tasks as drafting letters, memos, and overall help with presentations including preparation of graphic materials and other project-related graphics work.
• Assists project staff in acquisition closing functions with TPL finance staff as it relates to real-estate transactions, including coordination with title agents, state & federal grant staff, and private foundations
• Leads coordination with TPL’s Marketing team in the creation and on-going maintenance of program and project specific materials.
• Assists land protection staff in land acquisition projects and programmatic initiatives, including project research; landowner outreach; collaboration with local governments, agencies, partners, and community groups.
• Attends community meetings, builds relationships with partners, and garners support for projects as needed.
• Work with project team to identify, track and attend key regional and state convenings, workshops, and training opportunities on various topics and initiatives, including wildlife and forest management, water conservation and management, Indigenous and tribal matters, and agency and private funding.
• Other duties as assigned

Other support and activities: 20%

• Assist with the development, preparation, and submission of grant applications for other local, state, and federal public agency funding.
• Assist program staff in monitoring grant proposals following submittal to funding agencies; gather and provide additional information as needed.
• Assist in administrative support, including meeting scheduling and minutes for Land Protection staff and MN State Director.
• Assist in other activities as directed by Minnesota / Northwoods Land Protection staff.

Qualifications:

• Strong commitment to TPL’s shared values (Belonging, Creativity, Collaboration, Impact, and Hope) to effectively work across the organization.
• Minimum of two years’ experience in a professional setting.
• Minimum of two years’ experience with government/public grant requirements, knowledge of Minnesota’s Clean Water, Land and Legacy Funds preferrable.
• Bachelor’s Degree preferred; Course work or experience to include real estate, environmental studies, grant management, public policy, or related areas.

Special Knowledge and Skills:

• Strong written and oral communications skills.
• Ability to work under pressure, juggle multiple tasks and meet deadlines.
• Ability to work independently or as a team member as appropriate.
• Ability to take initiative, be creative, and make recommendations to solve problems.
• Interest in TPL’s mission as it relates to land conservation, community, and equitable access to nature and healthy communities.
• Computer skills: MS Office, spreadsheets, project tracking tools, graphics and internet research techniques. Experience with GIS, mapping and project management tracking tools is a plus.
• Excellent organizational skills, with a desire and ability to work on complex projects and manage multiple priorities.
• Demonstrated capacity to develop, track and advance projects with accuracy and efficiency.
• Ability to take initiative, make suggestions, be creative and solve problems.
• Strong people skills, with the ability to engage constructively with people of diverse backgrounds.

Compensation:

Trust for Public Land is a hybrid work environment, and this role will ideally be located near a Trust for Public Land office. As a full-time employee, you will be eligible for the Trust for Public Land’s comprehensive benefits program which includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, vacation and sick pay plus holidays, a year end office closure, and a 403(b)-retirement plan, currently with up to a 7% company match. We offer competitive salaries commensurate with experience; the anticipated hiring range for this position is $31.04/hour – $32.78/hour (annualized to $64,553 – $68,185).

Trust for Public Land’s active goal is to be an inclusive and equitable place to work and build community. As the organization actively works to eliminate racial and other disparities it welcomes candidates with diverse backgrounds and/or multicultural skillsets. We are open to the possibility that a great candidate for this job may not precisely meet all the above criteria; if you believe you are the right person for this job and can persuasively make that case, we encourage you to apply.