About Us

Driven by a passion to solve the climate crisis, The Sunrise Project (TSP) is a team of experienced change-makers with a mission to scale social movements to drive the global transition beyond fossil fuels. With affiliated programs and staff in the United States, Europe and Asia, we have developed a unique model of grant making and campaigning that supports networks of organizations to drive powerful change towards our mission.

We have a dynamic and nimble organizational culture. We’re serious about supporting our people to thrive as we tackle the urgent climate challenge. TSP supports networks of organizations to work together to achieve outcomes that would not be possible by individual organizations acting alone. Last year we gave over 30 million dollars to over 200 partners globally and we are projected to double our yearly giving in the coming years. We expect all roles to actively support the capacity building of our networks and partner organizations. 

We believe that a diversity of experiences and perspectives will help us build stronger strategies, teams and movements. We take the broadest possible view of diversity and encourage First Nations people, people of color, people living outside of cities, people living with disabilities, neurodiverse, and LGBTQIA+ people to apply. We are continually working on becoming a better workplace for everyone.  Find out more here.

About The Role

The Senior Grants System Administrator is responsible for taking the lead in administering, developing and implementing policies and procedures for ensuring the security and integrity of the TSP’s grants management system (GMS) and online grant applications and reporting. The position will work closely with the Senior Grants Administrator to deliver a best practice grant making experience for our staff and partners. This role will manage the migration to a new grants management system (GSM) to better support our partners, our program teams and the grant making function. As TSP’s grants management database expert, the position is primarily responsible for systems administration; onboarding, staff and partner training; specialized reporting; and technical assistance for staff and external stakeholders. The Senior Grants System Administrator works collaboratively with TSP’s stakeholders to develop solutions to enable a streamlined process, and expansion of organization-wide usage of the grants management tool. The Senior Grants System Administrator acts as a technical liaison to IT partners; and will implement improvements, enhancements, and integrations to meet evolving needs, supporting team efforts to promote trust-based granting relationships and meeting the highest standards and best practice.

About You

You are a team player and a highly organized systems design and implementation professional, with strong analytical and information and data management skills. You center user needs, experience, and capacity building in your work. You’re comfortable working with ambiguity as we develop the picture of the future state, and then hold that in your mind as you work towards it. You’re great at project management, planning, and delivery, and you enjoy supporting a team’s capacity in these areas as well. You possess strong trouble-shooting and analytical skills, and are passionate about data, designing and continually improving grant management processes and systems. You embrace a partnering approach and can communicate complex information to diverse audiences in multiple formats. You’re passionate about leveraging your first-rate grant management skills to help solve the climate crisis.

Key Responsibilities

The Senior Grants System Administrator provides both strategic and tactical leadership in the following areas:

Grants administration and workflow process optimization

• Participate in all components of the grantmaking process, including: application processes, database management, grant review, grant documentation and grant compliance

• Support TSP’s grantmaking processes and procedures by reviewing all live processes for accuracy, managing GMS data quality, managing pilot processes, etc.; 

• Remain current on grants management best practices in the industry and implement ongoing process reviews

• Execute the administration of grants by preparing grant award letters and grant agreements, requesting payment, documenting grant modifications, etc.

• Support the compilation and finalization of dockets and memos  for approvals by  different audiences at TSP - leadership, Board of Directors and Grant Committee 

• Ensure staff understanding and compliance with TSP’s country-based legal and tax requirements 

• Lead the selection of a new GMS and migration process -  design, build and testing of the GMS, working closely with TSP’s stakeholders and  GMS project team 

Database Administration

• Apply in-depth knowledge of cloud-based grants management software to optimize effective management of grants management systems, processes and workflows from start to finish

• Act as the primary administrator for the grants management system; provide training and technical assistance and act as liaison with the vendor as needed. 

• Direct any further configuration of the GMS, including revisions to filters and workflows in the various processes and create and update initial templates for key stakeholders in the workflow in the system.

• Create reports, dashboards, and other reporting tools to support the team’s knowledge sharing, monitoring, and planning needs, cooperating with both the program and finances teams across all entities. 

• Provide data from grants management systems and/or Excel to create and maintain foundation-wide reports and data analysis

• Produce regular and ad-hoc reports of grant activity, including written and data illustrations to quantify and summarize findings for use in internal and external communications and as a management resource for TSP’s leadership

• Guide communication between program, finance, information technology and other staff to ensure TSP’s grant administration activities are smoothly implemented

• Supports the organization with technical assistance for researching data system solutions needed for changes in grantmaking processes, training and curriculum development,and design of tracking solutions

• Work in concert with IT staff toward resolving front and back-end technical issues with database and electronic signature solutions

• Serve as TSP’s liaison for end user problems between the GMS vendors.

• Oversee all data system maintenance and upgrades through the planning, training and implementation phases of new solutions, including testing and validations

Stakeholder training / capacity building

• Develop training materials and guide staff education on GMS

• Respond to inquiries from applicants, prospective applicants and grantees about utilization of the GMS

• Troubleshoot applicant and grantee issues related to submission of applications and reports

• Collaborate with the measurement, learning and evaluation partners to ensure that standardization and streamlining of all grants data is implemented and to assist in collecting all relevant data

• Provides all new staff with on-site database training, including, running reports, template usage, and adding documents and comments to the database.

• Develop specialized training presentations, including webinars, and curriculum for staff on new functions within the system or updates and refreshers resulting from upgrades.

Other organizational priorities 

• Continue to improve grants management procedures continually while keeping the procedures manual current.

• Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned

Required Skills, Knowledge and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree preferred in a technical or business-related discipline (e.g., computer science, math, business administration, finance, etc.), or equivalent relevant experience.

• Work experience in philanthropy

• Able to demonstrate experience equivalent to minimum of five years of professional database management experience, working in complex data systems, (i.e. Fluxx, Givingdata, Salesforce), and managing and/or performing related technical, operational, and project management responsibilities.

• Passion for learning and adopting new technologies that are critical to evolving organization needs.

• Demonstrated ability to independently identify and recommend process improvements or operational changes to drive more effective and efficient processes

• Proven work experience highlighting strong attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple priorities and complex project

• Demonstrated ability to communicate technical details to staff, and other stakeholders (e.g. working directly with different TSP stakeholders, summarizing complex data and reporting progress to stakeholders)

• Demonstrated ability to effectively train others. Strong active listening, oral and written communication skills; demonstrated ability to work collaboratively, sell ideas, and influence outcomes across departments

• Strong information technology skills, with a specific focus on database management, advanced Excel, Outlook, Word and report writing skills using Access or Crystal Report applications

Desirable skills, knowledge and experience

• The ability to easily interact with a wide range of people and styles

• A passion for action on climate change and a deep commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion.

• A generous and curious nature, coupled with a sense of humor, and grace under pressure

• Ability to contribute to system design and management in no-code platforms (eg. AirTable/Zapier). 

• Proficient in the use of HTML and SQL and other markup/query language (e.g. Liquid, Ruby or Python) a plus

Job requirements 

You must have full working rights for the country in which you will be working. The Sunrise Project is unable to sponsor applicants for employment visas.

• Employment background checks are required.

• Intermittent travel with advanced notice may be required.

• Flexibility to adjust work hours to accommodate multiple time zones

• COVID-19 vaccinations may apply in accordance with local legislation and/or Sunrise policy

How Sunrise supports its staff

The Sunrise Project is committed to creating a workplace that supports our staff to do their best work and develop professionally. We have the following in place to help us achieve that, noting that benefits listed may vary in accordance with the Professional Employment Office (PEO) we engage with for this role. Statutory benefits and entitlements of the country/province in which you are employed.. 

Sunrise may provide additional benefits, where in-country entitlements are less than our standard package, where applicable including:

• Birthday leave (if it’s your birthday, you get a day off)

• Solidarity and community leave up to 1 week p.a.

• Floating public holidays (cultural leave)

• Gifted leave (over Christmas and New Year)

• Minimum 3 months paid parental (maternity) leave

• Flexible work policy

• Employee Assistance Program

• Insurances (country dependent, please check)

 How to apply

We recognize that racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, classism and other forms of discrimination creates structural barriers that impact opportunities to formal education and experience. When assessing candidates we look at more than the jobs you've been paid to do but the range of ways you've picked up skills and knowledge throughout your life. This is why we assess candidates on how well they respond to application questions and don’t require a cover letter.