World Change Starts with Educated Children® 

IMPORTANT: All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the country where the position is located. Room to Read is not able to provide sponsorship.

Position Overview

The Manager, Donor Communications is a senior proposal writer and project lead responsible for developing high-quality proposals and reports for institutional, corporate, foundation, government, and high-net-worth donors. This role plays a critical part in securing large, complex, multi-year funding opportunities that support Room to Read’s Literacy and Gender Equality programs globally.

The position leads proposal development processes from strategy through submission, working closely with cross-functional global teams to develop compelling, donor-ready narratives that align with organizational priorities and donor requirements. The Manager, Donor Communications, also helps strengthen proposal systems, tools, and organizational capacity across the organization.

This is a full-time position reporting to the Director of Strategic Content and Creative.

Responsibilities

Proposal & Report Development (60%)

• Lead the writing and project management of complex, high-value proposals and donor reports for institutional, corporate, foundation, government, and high-net-worth individual donors.

• Manage proposal development processes from kickoff through submission, including timelines, workflows, responsibilities, and review cycles.

• Develop compelling donor narratives, including program approaches, theories of change, implementation plans, and monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) components.

• Coordinate proposal development across Programs, Finance, Research/MEL, Operations, and Development teams to ensure cohesive, donor-ready submissions.

• Facilitate review processes with senior leadership, technical experts, and country teams; incorporate feedback into final deliverables.

• Ensure all submissions comply with donor requirements, formatting guidelines, and internal quality standards.

• Manage external grant writers, editors, and consultants as needed to support proposal and report deliverables.

Content & Process Improvement (20%)

• Build and maintain proposal templates, boilerplate language, technical content libraries, and donor-facing resources.

• Develop and improve systems, tools, and workflows that streamline proposal and reporting processes across global teams.

• Contribute to internal guidance materials, trainings, and documentation related to proposal development.

• Provide coaching, mentorship, and quality assurance support to colleagues contributing to donor communications.

Strategic Proposal Leadership (10%)

• Review funding opportunities (RFPs) to assess strategic fit, eligibility, competitiveness, and compliance requirements.

• Provide recommendations and go/no-go input to leadership on major funding opportunities.

• Advise relationship managers and internal teams on proposal strategy, positioning, and win themes for major bids.

• Support development of competitive funding strategies for complex donor opportunities.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Stakeholder Management (10%)

• Partner closely with relationship managers, technical teams, finance staff, and leadership throughout the proposal development process.

• Collaborate effectively with geographically dispersed teams across multiple regions and time zones.

• Maintain strong communication and coordination with internal and external stakeholders to support successful submissions.

Qualifications

• Minimum 7 years of experience in grant writing, donor communications, or proposal development within an NGO, INGO, or international development organization.

• Demonstrated success leading and securing complex 6- and 7-figure grants from institutional, bilateral, multilateral, corporate, and foundation donors, with preferred experience developing proposals for institutions such as U.S. Government, FCDO, GAC, World Bank, or similar.

• Proven experience managing complex proposal development processes involving cross-functional global teams, multiple stakeholders, and competing deadlines.

• Strong writing skills, with the ability to translate complex education and development concepts into compelling narratives for a wide range of donors

• Strong understanding of donor compliance requirements for major grants, contracts, and cooperat