Public Grants Manager

Organization: Minnesota Land Trust

Location: Saint Paul or Duluth

Posted: August 21, 2026 • Open until filled

Position: Public Grants Manager
Supervisor: Director of Finance and Operations
Classification: Full time, Exempt
Location: Hybrid schedule, with regular in-office hours in either our St. Paul or Duluth, MN office
Date Prepared: August 2025
Salary Range: $75,920 – 82,000

Please apply by sending a single PDF with your cover letter and resume to apply@mnland.org.

Summary

The Public Grants Manager serves as the centralized administrator for the Minnesota Land Trust’s portfolio of 60+ government grants totaling $10-20 million annually, with primary funding from state sources including the Minnesota DNR’s Outdoor Heritage Fund (OHF). This role ensures organizational compliance with grant requirements throughout the full grant lifecycle—from proposal submission through final closeout—including the project management and submission of reports, processing amendments, and maintaining comprehensive documentation. The position acts as a critical liaison between departments, as well as external partners, and serves as an in-house expert on state and federal grant requirements. The role manages subcontractor agreements to ensure procurement compliance, maintains the organization’s grant calendar, trains staff on compliance requirements, and develops standardized processes to improve grant management efficiency across the organization.

Organization Values
All employees of the Minnesota Land Trust are expected to embrace the ideals of our organization values and incorporate our values into their ongoing work. All employees should be familiar with the current values statement.

Duties and Responsibilities

Grant Compliance – 40%
The Grant Manager understands the requirements of our public funders and integrates compliance into the Land Trust’s standard processes.

  • Serve as an in-house expert for public grant compliance: maintain a working knowledge of the state and federal requirements for grantees. Work with legal dept to interpret guidelines as necessary and proactively seek answers to compliance questions.
  • Ensure compliance for new awards: before a new grant award is signed by CEO, review ‘boiler plate’ language in grant awards to confirm the Land Trust can meet funder’s requirements.
  • Maintain Land Trust grant calendar: track key dates for new and existing grants and communicate reminders and deadlines to staff.
  • Implement efficient processes for grant compliance: maintain SOPs for key grant processes for the grant life cycle and communicate to staff who have a role in the process.
  • Training: provide annual grant training to staff and integrate grant administration into new employee onboarding.
  • Serve as point of contact for federal Single Audit, when required.
  • Maintain grant documentation guidelines: implement internal audit process and ensure record retention practices are followed.

Grant Reporting and Proposals – 40%

Serve as project manager for the grant reporting and proposal processes and ensure quality control of final product.

  • Grant proposals: coordinate the submission process with program leadership; incorporate input from other departments during the submission process (Government Relations/Legal, Communications, Finance); submit accomplishment plan amendments (OHF) as needed; assist with OHF proposal hearings.
  • Status/Interim reports: lead the semi-annual status report process for OHF, work with partners to secure required information, review reports before submission; assist with interim report requirements for other public grants.
  • Final Reports: alert staff when a grant is scheduled to close, assist with collection of final information for grants including partner information, coordinate final reviews by program leaders, submit final report.
  • Grant Amendments: Coordinate with internal staff and external partners to amend budgets or program details in funder systems, communicate amended information to pertinent staff once approved, and retain amendment records.
  • Serve as point of contact for DNR staff for day-to-day grant communications.

Subcontract Management and Compliance – 10%
The Grant Manager ensures that agreements with subcontractors meet the procurement compliance requirements for grant awards.

  • Subcontract templates: Ensure program staff are using the subcontract templates developed by legal dept to ensure consistency and minimize risk.
  • Subcontract review: Serve as quality review for subcontracts prior to obtaining signature, ensuring there are adequate funds in the budget and that grant compliance language is correct.
  • Execute the contract: send the agreement to subcontractors via DocuSign, collect required W-9 and Certificates of Insurance as needed, follow up with unsigned agreements, save signed agreements in Land Trust files.

Other  Support – 10%

  • Seek opportunities to improve grant processes and systems.
  • Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Education, Experience, Licenses/Certifications

  • Bachelor’s degree and three (3) years grants or contract management experience; or, equivalent combination of education, training, and experience

Knowledge

  • Direct work experience in public grant guidance, e.g. MN state grant, federal CFR
  • Grant lifecycle project management from proposal through closeout
  • Grant reporting requirements and performance measurement standards
  • Document retention policies and audit preparation procedures
  • Familiarity with conservation/environmental grant programs and terminology

Skills

  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite
  • Project management and tools
  • Advanced verbal and written communication
  • Organization and prioritization
  • Detail-oriented and attention to accuracy
  • Proficiency with document management systems, e.g. Sharepoint
  • Quality control and proofreading for compliance documentation
  • Data collection and reporting

Abilities

  • Coordinate across multiple departments to gather required information and ensure compliance
  • Manage 60+ simultaneous grants with varying requirements and deadlines
  • Interpret and apply complex grant guidelines and regulations
  • Self-directed, work independently, and take the lead on internal projects.
  • Professional demeanor
  • Work effectively with diverse groups including staff, Board of Directors, volunteers, and external partners
  • Synthesize information from multiple sources into coherent reports
  • Serve as subject matter expert and resource for organization-wide grant questions
  • Occasional travel to meetings, training sessions, or partner locations

 

Physical Demands

  • Office duties are performed at a desk and at a computer.
  • Prolonged sitting and keyboarding/data entry
  • Occasional lifting and carrying of files and documents up to 20 pounds
  • Visual acuity to review detailed documents, contracts, and computer screens
  • Manual dexterity to operate computer keyboard and standard office equipment

Mental Demands

  • Ability to concentrate for extended periods while reviewing complex grant guidelines and contracts
  • Mental flexibility to shift between multiple grants with varying requirements and deadlines
  • Ability to maintain focus and productivity under pressure of strict deadlines
  • Capacity to retain and recall detailed information about numerous grant requirements

The Minnesota Land Trust is committed to providing reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities to ensure equal opportunity in the performance of essential job functions, and access to benefits and privileges of employment. If you require a reasonable accommodation to perform the essential functions of the position, please make a request to your supervisor.

Minnesota Land Trust is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  The Company will not discriminate because of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, genetic information, sex, disability, age, or any other status protected by state or local law, for employees who fall within the jurisdiction of such law.