Summary
Description
At Big City Mountaineers (BCM), we bring the transformative power of time spent in nature to a generation of young people who face systemic barriers to outdoor access and opportunity. Each BCM experience helps youth deepen their connections—to themselves, to nature, to their communities, and to a sense of joy and belonging.
Through free, fully outfitted, and professionally led outdoor experiences—including single-day hikes, frontcountry overnights, and weeklong backcountry expeditions—BCM provides youth ages 12 to 18 the opportunity to build confidence, improve their mental and physical well-being, strengthen social-emotional skills, and grow as environmental stewards.
For 35 years, BCM has been a recognized leader in youth development and outdoor access, with programs that demonstrate long-term, measurable impact. Today, BCM stands at an exciting moment of growth and innovation, poised to expand our reach and deepen our mission’s impact with fidelity and equity.
Headquartered in Arvada, Colorado, BCM’s work is national in scope. Our programs take place on the ancestral territories of the Ute and Arapaho (Denver, CO), the Sioux and Anishinaabewaki (Minneapolis, MN), the Ohlone, Ramaytush, Chochenyo, and Muwekma (San Francisco Bay Area), the Duwamish (Seattle, WA), and the Muscogee Creek and Shawnee (Birmingham, AL).
Our dedicated team of staff, seasonal trip instructors, and volunteers share a belief in the life-changing potential of time outdoors—and a commitment to ensuring that every young person has the chance to experience it.
Position Overview:
Reports to: Director of Development
Start Date: January 2026
Location: Hybrid
Hours: 24 hours per week
Pay Rate: $32 to $35/hour Depending on experience
Big City Mountaineers (BCM) is seeking a part-time Grants Manager to play a vital role in sustaining and growing the organization’s mission through effective grants prospecting, management, reporting, and administration. This position will contribute directly to BCM’s financial health by ensuring excellence in the organization’s grant strategy—from research and proposal development to compliance, reporting, and relationship management with foundation, corporate, and government funders.
The Grants Manager will be responsible for managing the full lifecycle of BCM’s grant activities. Approximately 35% of the role will focus on grant writing and reporting, while 65% will focus on grants administration.
This is an exciting opportunity for a skilled writer, seasoned institutional fundraiser, and organized professional who is motivated by youth development, outdoor access, and providing equitable opportunity— and someone who thrives in a collaborative, mission-driven team environment.
Essential Duties
Grant Writing and Reporting (35%)
- Write and edit compelling, high-quality proposals and letters of inquiry to foundation, corporate, and government funders that clearly articulate BCM’s mission, programs, and impact. Focus on sustaining and incrementally growing BCM’s institutional funding portfolio while maintaining high proposal quality and alignment.
- Ensure timely submission of all required reports, including outcome and financial documentation, in compliance with funder requirements
- Draft customized materials (e.g., case statements, data summaries, and narrative updates) for use in funder cultivation and stewardship.
Grants Administration (65%)
- Manage the full grant lifecycle, including research and prospect identification, proposal development, grant writing submission, writing of reporting, and renewal.
- Maintain accurate and up-to-date records of all grant activities and funder communications in Salesforce and Google Drive.
- Manage grant documentation, contracts, and related compliance files.
- Support organizational grant tracking systems to ensure alignment between Development, Program, and Finance departments.
- Monitor progress against goals and provide regular bi-weekly status updates and performance metrics to the Director of Development. Track key indicators such as 6-month renewal and on-time reporting rates, and 12-month win-rate and total revenue influenced, ensuring quality ahead of volume.
- Assist in streamlining internal grant processes and ensuring consistent formatting, file management, and compliance with BCM’s development policies.
- Work with the Director of Development to manage a robust grants calendar, tracking deadlines, reporting requirements, and progress toward annual goals.
- Develop and maintain high quality professional relationships with grant representatives. Serve as BCM’s representative and point of contact to current and prospective funders.
- Coordinate with BCM’s program, finance and outreach teams to gather accurate data, impact stories, and financial information for proposals and reports. Attend program, outreach and board committee meetings as needed to stay informed and engaged.
- Conduct grant prospect research to identify new funding opportunities aligned with BCM’s strategic goals, geographic focus, and program priorities.
- Support the Director of Development in developing strategies for deepening relationships with current and prospective funders.
Qualifications & Competencies
- Personal and professional values aligned with BCM’s mission and principles, including commitments to equitable opportunity and access to the benefits of transformative experiences in nature.
- Exceptional written communication skills with the ability to translate complex program information into clear, persuasive narratives.
- Demonstrated experience in nonprofit grant writing and/or grants management to successfully raise at least $600,000 in grant revenue.
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail; ability to manage multiple deadlines simultaneously.
- Proven track record of meeting grant submission and reporting deadlines.
- Familiarity and comfort working with Salesforce or similar CRM/database systems for tracking grants and funders.
- Comfort working independently, collaboratively, and cross-departmentally in a remote work environment.
- Understanding of nonprofit finance and program evaluation concepts.
- Knowledge of the youth development and/or outdoor education sector
Additional Preferred Qualifications
- At least 2 years of direct experience in grants management, development, or nonprofit fundraising.
- Experience gathering and synthesizing data, program outcomes, or evaluation metrics for funder communications.
- Familiarity with foundations and corporations that fund youth development, education, outdoor access, social emotional learning or youth mental health support initiatives in BCM’s regions of service
- Comfort and experience working with remote teams in multiple U.S. time zones.
- Knowledge of diversity, equity and inclusivity narratives pertaining to youth development
Benefits
This is a part-time, hourly position with an hourly rate of $32–$35/hour (DOE) for 24 hours per week. The preferred schedule is Tues–Thurs, with flexibility to accommodate the right candidate.
Benefits include: Paid sick time off, a flexible work schedule, mileage reimbursement (federal rate) for use of personal vehicle for work events and Pro discounts (typically 40%) on outdoor gear and apparel
Because this is a part-time position, health, dental, and vision benefits are not currently available.
BCM is committed to pay equity and transparency. Compensation is benchmarked against nonprofit sector standards and reviewed annually to ensure fairness and alignment with our equity values. Big City Mountaineers is an Equal Opportunity Employer and values diversity at all levels of the organization. We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds and lived experiences. If you require accommodations during the application process, please contact christine.fiedler@bigcitymountaineers.org.
How to Apply
To apply for the Grants Manager position at Big City Mountaineers – email the following information to christine.fiedler@bigcitymountaineers.org by 5PM MST on Friday, December 12, 2025. Please submit your application with the following instructions: Email Subject Line: “For consideration of the BCM Grants Manager position” (required) Email Body: In a maximum of five paragraphs (required)
Introduce yourself and provide a summary of your grant writing track record from the past 1-2 years.
Include a most recent approximate number of proposals you’ve personally submitted and your estimated percentage of successful awards.
Describe your connection to BCM’s mission and why you are applying for this position.
Attach: One page Résumé PDF (required) Attach: Writing sample in PDF (optional) The ideal start date for the Grants Manager is January 2026.
