Development Manager
Position Overview
Position Overview
Baltimore’s Promise is seeking a Development Manager. The Development Manager drives the funding pipeline that makes Baltimore's Promise's work possible — from identifying new grant opportunities through project-managing submissions to ensuring a clean handoff once funding is secured. This is an early-career role for someone who is proactive, organized, and comfortable managing multiple deadlines and relationships at once. The Manager will work closely with the Chief of Staff Office and will partner regularly with backbone and program staff across the organization — including CareerBound, the Center for Excellence, and the Summer Funding Collaborative — to keep proposals moving and to set new awards up for successful implementation.
This role sits at the front end of the funding cycle that fuels Baltimore's Promise's 2030 goal of 42,000 more young people on a path to economic self-sufficiency. The grants this role helps source and win are what fund CareerBound placements, Summer Funding Collaborative dollars, and every other program working toward that number — and the quality of the handoff this role manages is what determines whether that funding gets implemented well from day one.
Why Now
Baltimore’s Promise is working to ensure 42,000 more Baltimore City youth and young adults achieve economic mobility by 2030 as part of StriveTogether’s 4 Million Futures campaign. Reaching this ambitious goal requires a strong and diversified funding pipeline, disciplined grant development, and coordinated execution across the entire organization. The Development Manager will help build this infrastructure by identifying aligned public and philanthropic opportunities, managing applications from prospect research through submission, and coordinating the timelines, contributions, and approvals required to produce compelling proposals. Working across teams, this role will strengthen both the quality of our proposals and the way we manage them, helping Baltimore’s Promise secure and steward the resources necessary to scale our work and achieve the 42K goal.
Development Manager Research Duties and Responsibilities
Project-manJune and July 2026 Communications Retainerage the full grant submission process end to end — building and maintaining submission timelines, coordinating inputs from program and finance staff, and ensuring every proposal is complete, compliant, and submitted on time.
Source new grant opportunities by researching funders, prospect lists, and RFPs whose priorities align with Baltimore's Promise's mission and current program needs.
Maintain an active pipeline of prospective and in-progress grant opportunities, tracking stage, amount, deadline, and next steps.
Draft, compile, and edit grant application components — narratives, budgets, attachments, and letters of support — working closely with program leads and the Chief of Staff Office to gather accurate content.
Coordinate internal review cycles for proposals, ensuring the right people weigh in with enough time before submission deadlines.
Once a grant is awarded, lead the internal handoff — briefing finance, operations, and the relevant program team on award terms, budget, deliverables, and reporting requirements so implementation starts smoothly and on the right footing.
Maintain clear documentation of each award's terms and conditions to support a clean transition from development to program and finance ownership.
Track and report on development pipeline metrics — proposals submitted, win rate, funds raised — to inform strategy and keep leadership updated.
Support cultivation of funder relationships alongside the Chief of Staff Office and executive leadership, including preparing briefing materials for funder meetings.
Support special projects related to fundraising and development strategy as assigned.
Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)
1–3 years of relevant experience in development, grant writing, project management, or nonprofit operations.
Strong project management skills, with the ability to juggle multiple deadlines and stakeholders without dropping details.
Excellent writing skills, with the ability to translate program information into clear, compelling funder-ready narrative.
Comfort with research — able to independently identify and vet new funding prospects.
Strong relationship and coordination skills; able to pull information out of busy colleagues without becoming a bottleneck.
Comfort working with spreadsheets and document/pipeline tracking tools (e.g., Excel, CRM or grants management software, Google Workspace).
Interest in youth development, education, or collective impact work strongly preferred.
Demonstrated commitment to understanding and working in service of youth from low-income families, Black, Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) communities; and communities experiencing concentrated poverty. Preferred understanding of Baltimore's historical, social, and political context, particularly issues facing children and youth
Strong alignment to Baltimore’s Promise’s Organizational Values and Race Equity and Inclusion Statement
Compensation and Benefits
This position is classified as exempt and is not eligible for overtime compensation in accordance with the policies set forth by Baltimore’s Promise in accordance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The annualized compensation for this position is $63,000. Please note that this compensation is firm. Baltimore’s Promise compensation ranges are determined by the responsibilities and level of authority required by each position as opposed to individual candidates’ qualifications or pedigree. This is an intentional attempt to mitigate pay inequities that are in part driven by systemic and implicit racism and gender bias impacting career trajectories and negotiation.
This is a full-time position with full benefits, including CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield health insurance, dental and vision insurance, paid time off, paid parental leave, cellphone and mileage stipends, and support for professional development opportunities.
Hybrid Work Schedule: Baltimore's Promise is an in-person, team-based organization. Staff are expected to be in the office approximately 2–3 days per week on average, with some weeks requiring a greater in-person presence (including up to five days), depending on the work, meetings, and community needs. In-person collaboration is the default for planning, decision-making, and strategic conversations, while virtual meetings are used intentionally. We value flexibility and trust staff to self-manage their schedules within these shared expectations.
Please visit www.baltimorespromise.org/benefits to view the many additional benefits that Baltimore’s Promise offers its staff.
Travel
Travel around Baltimore City for in-person meetings and into the office for staff meetings is a regular occurrence. Travel includes national conferences, staff retreats, and meetings around the State.
To Apply
Submit the following application materials as PDFs by clicking the link below.
Resume
Cover Letter
One writing sample from a grant submission you've authored or significantly contributed to. Ideally, this sample would include the project narrative or need statement, describe how the proposed approach or program design was developed, and reflect your ability to translate goals and outcomes into a compelling case for funding. Please include the full submission or excerpted sections (e.g., narrative, goals/objectives, evaluation plan) that best showcase your writing.
Statement of approach to applying race equity and inclusion lens to data collection, analysis, and interpretation. (Maximum word length 250 words)
Names, titles, and relational context of three professional references. We will not contact references unless you advance in the application process, and we will inform you before contacting your references.
Note: Should you advance to round 2, you will be asked to participate in a final assignment that further demonstrates your ability to excel at the role. (You will be compensated for your time)
We are inviting select candidates who applied for other positions at Baltimore’s Promise to interview for this role.
Apply Here: https://baltimorespromise.formstack.com/forms/developmentmanager
Application materials submitted through online job platforms or by email will not be considered.
ABOUT BALTIMORE’S PROMISE
Baltimore's Promise is a citywide collaborative composed of public, business, higher education, nonprofit, community, and philanthropic leaders. We serve as a catalyst for organizing efforts and resources around a shared vision: all Baltimore City youth will travel a safe, healthy, and successful educational path from cradle to career. Baltimore’s Promise uses data to report on outcomes for children from birth through their early careers in order to understand the complex needs of our city’s children.
We promote a data-based approach to program and policy design--one that is informed by context and lived experience of the communities affected and conducted with the participation of all stakeholders. Recognizing enduring inequalities resulting from persisting racism, ethnocentrism, sexism, and the intersections thereof, we employ a race equity lens to all aspects of data collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation.
Organizational Values
We ensure that everything we do is developed, implemented, and evaluated in alignment with our organizational values, listed below, and our race equity and inclusion statement. It is of critical importance that all staff are fully aligned with our values and commitment to race equity and inclusion. This position must consistently live our values in the way they think about, approach, engage, and support Baltimore City’s young people.
In our fight for justice and systems change, our values as individuals, teams, and as an organization are the following:
Equity – Our efforts and initiatives are co-developed and driven by the lived experiences of those most negatively impacted by the outcomes we seek to improve. Race, ethnicity, gender, or other attributes should not have predictive power over support, resources, and opportunities that one can access.
Hustle – We are self-starters who take the initiative to strategically identify and advance solutions to address failures in achieving positive outcomes for children, youth, and families. We work efficiently, cross-functionally, and resourcefully – with a sense of urgency – to carry out the mission of the organization.
Humanity – We honor individuals and communities by holding ourselves and our partners accountable to act with integrity, compassion, kindness, and empathy.
Creativity – We are fun and innovative. Our first idea may not be the final strategy because we look for and embrace new ideas from diverse sources. We celebrate the accomplishments of staff and partners.
Shared Accountability – Shared Accountability is our collective responsibility for the work of the organization, not a threat of sanction. When we say we will do something, we will do it, and if we don’t, we will communicate our reasons why. We must be both supportive and demanding of one another to ensure that we meet individual and team responsibilities that contribute to larger organizational goals.
In addition to the aforementioned responsibilities, all Baltimore’s Promise staff are expected to seek out and take advantage of opportunities that our partners and our community provide for us to learn, connect, and show up to support values-aligned efforts in Baltimore. In particular, staff are encouraged to be in spaces that are focused on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) youth and young adults and stakeholders who directly relate to your portfolio of work and professional network.
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
Studies have shown that women, BIPOC, and other people from marginalized groups are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet all the qualifications described in the job description. If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organization, and to considering a broad array of candidates, including those with diverse work experiences and backgrounds. Please use your cover letter to tell us about your interest in this position, and what you hope to bring to this role.
Baltimore’s Promise is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity. It is our policy to recruit, hire, train, and promote individuals, as well as administer all personnel actions, without regard to race, color, religion, creed, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin or ancestry, status as an individual with a disability who is otherwise qualified to perform the essential functions of his or her position, or any other protected characteristic in accordance with applicable laws. Baltimore’s Promise will not tolerate any unlawful discrimination, and any such conduct is prohibited.