Senior Manager

Job Title: Senior Manager [Grants & Foundations]

Location: Remote

Travel: Travel across India and within Mumbai

Compensation: Competitive with peer

About Us:

Avanti Fellows is dedicated to empowering students from low-income and marginalized

communities across India in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

by providing them with the competitive exam preparation, and resources to excel in

these fields. Part of our mission is to bridge the gender gap in STEM education and

careers, ensuring that every girl has the chance to pursue her interests

and achieve her potential.

The Role

This is a high-ownership role covering large donor

management, grant execution, and institutional partnerships.

You will manage a defined portfolio of donors and grants endto-

end — from relationship coordination and application

tracking through to reporting, compliance, and renewal. You

report to the Director, Fundraising (Strategic Partnerships).

What You Will Actually Do

Large Donor & HNI Management

• Manage the donor engagement calendar — touchpoints, briefing notes, meeting

packs, and impact updates.

• Run regular donor calls for reporting updates, relationship deepening, and scoping

renewal or expansion opportunities.

• Support tailored donor journeys for HNIs from first engagement through to multiyear

commitments.

• Ensure relationship continuity and smooth handoffs in coordination with the

Director, Fundraising (Strategic Partnerships).

Grant Applications & Tracking

• Maintain a live tracker of application windows, eligibility criteria, and submission

deadlines across target funders.

• Coordinate concept note and proposal submissions — ensuring materials are

ready ahead of each window.

• Flag upcoming opportunities early and support prioritisation decisions with the

Director, Fundraising (Strategic Partnerships).

Grant Lifecycle & Compliance

• Own end-to-end execution for assigned grants: milestone tracking, conditions

precedent, and reporting timelines.

• Coordinate across Programs, Finance, Impact/Data, and Comms to gather, qualitycheck,

and submit deliverables on time.

• Package and submit narrative reports, financial utilisation documentation, and

compliance materials to funder specifications.

• Maintain clean grant records to support renewal conversations.

Proposals & Donor Deliverables

• Draft concept notes, proposals, and donor updates — translating program

complexity into clear, credible narratives.

• Prepare decks, one-pagers, and diligence materials for high-stakes partnerships

managed by the Director, Fundraising (Strategic Partnerships).

Internal Systems & Knowledge Management

• Build and maintain proposal modules, donor packs, reporting templates, and

compliance checklists.

• Maintain version control and documentation standards across all submissions and

donor communications.

Who We're Looking For

Experience

• 5–7 years in donor management, institutional fundraising, or grants

management — ideally in education or the social sector.

• Demonstrated experience managing large donors or HNIs including

engagement planning and multi-year stewardship.

• Proven ability to manage grant cycles end-to-end including applications,

reporting, compliance, and renewal.

• Track record of coordinating across internal teams to produce time-bound,

high-quality deliverables.

Capabilities

• Strong relationship management instincts — able to anticipate donor needs

and build trust over time.

• Disciplined project manager: holds multiple parallel donor relationships and

grant timelines without dropping the ball.

• Comfortable with financial inputs — budgets, utilisation tracking, and narrative budget

consistency.

Attributes

• Deep alignment with Avanti's mission and genuine commitment to educational

equity.

• Low ego, high ownership — takes pride in getting the work done well, even

behind the scenes.

• Warm, professional, and relationship-oriented — trusted equally by donors and

colleagues.

• Comfortable with ambiguity, long diligence cycles, and shifting priorities.

Strongly Preferred

• Experience with international foundations, bilateral donors, or family offices in

the philanthropy space.

What's Hard About This Job

• Multiple donor relationships and grant cycles running simultaneously — each

at a different stage, with different expectations. No quiet season.

• Getting quality inputs from Programs, Finance, and Impact on time requires

persistence and strong internal relationships.

• You will often represent complex, evolving program work to donors without

always having full context.

Why This Role Matters

• Near-term: Every grant you manage well directly funds access to quality education

for students from low-income communities.

• Long-term: You are building the funder trust and institutional systems that will

sustain Avanti's partnerships for years to come.

• Personal: You sit at the intersection of mission and strategy — close enough to the

work to feel its impact, central enough to shape its growth.

Compensation & Logistics

• Package: Competitive with peer organisations in the education and development

sector.

• Location: Remote; Mumbai-based candidates strongly preferred.

• Travel: Travel across India and within Mumbai for donor meetings and team

meetings.

• Start Date: Within 2–3 months of offer.

We are looking for someone who manages relationships with care, executes with

discipline, and builds systems that make a mission-driven team more effective. If that is

you — and you care about equity in education — we would love to hear from you.