Grants, Awards and Programs Coordinator

About Us

At Creative West, we build equitable technology, funding, advocacy, and policy systems to generate creative capacity in the West and beyond. We offer direct, practical support to state arts agencies, advocacy groups, artists, culture bearers, and creative organizations, serving a region that stretches from the Arctic Coast to the Desert Southwest, and from the Great Plains to the Pacific Islands. By building systems that change systems, we advance equity, justice, and regenerative action — seeing these values as essential as creativity itself.

Summary of Position

The GAP Coordinator provides coordination, systems, technology, and operational support across Creative West’s Grants, Awards and Programs portfolio. Reporting directly to the Director of Grants, Awards and Programs, the Coordinator helps translate departmental plans and decisions into organized, timely action by maintaining the systems, timelines, calendars, tracking tools, forms, and workflows that support the work of the GAP team.

The Coordinator maintains a broad view of departmental activity—what is happening, what is coming next, what is due, and where follow-up is needed—and supports the Director, Managers, Grants Specialist, contractors, and other collaborators in keeping work coordinated and moving forward. The position serves as a key departmental user of Asana, Zoom, Google Workspace, Formstack, GO Smart, Sigma and other technology platforms used to implement GAP’s work.

As a coordinator, the position requires relevant experience, strong judgment, technological fluency, and an understanding of how departmental work connects to Creative West’s larger goals. The Coordinator contributes ideas and operational knowledge to departmental planning while remaining a coordination and support role reporting directly to the Director.

Departmental Project & Workflow Coordination (35%)

• The Coordinator supports effective coordination and visibility across the GAP portfolio by:
  Maintaining GAP’s Asana environment, fiscal-year implementation calendar, program checklists, tracking tools, and shared project-management systems so responsibilities, deadlines, milestones, and status remain current and visible.
• Monitoring upcoming and overdue tasks, following up with team members on established commitments and deadlines, and bringing significant delays, dependencies, or capacity concerns to the Director and appropriate Manager.
• Coordinating departmental calendars and timelines across programs and identifying overlapping deadlines, scheduling conflicts, dependencies, and periods of concentrated activity.
• Translating decisions and commitments from meetings and communications into documented tasks, owners, deadlines, and follow-up actions within appropriate departmental systems.
• Supporting continuous improvement of GAP workflows, templates, checklists, and project-management practices by identifying recurring coordination challenges and recommending practical solutions.

Technology & Systems Coordination (20%)

• The Coordinator supports GAP’s effective use of technology and digital systems by:
  Serving as a key GAP user of Asana and Google Workspace, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Forms, and Google Sites, and supporting their consistent and effective use across departmental work. Coordinating GAP’s use of Formstack, including building, maintaining, testing, updating, and organizing online forms and related digital workflows in collaboration with program staff.
• Serving as GAP’s primary Zoom producer and technical coordinator for major virtual programs and meetings, including preparing sessions, managing breakout rooms, screen sharing and media, supporting presenters and facilitators, managing participants, and troubleshooting during live sessions.
• Supporting digital tools used for applications, surveys, registration, program communications, tracking, shared resources, and other program and administrative processes.
• Developing proficiency in Creative West’s evolving technology platforms, supporting routine troubleshooting and staff use, and recommending practical improvements that strengthen GAP systems and workflows.

Director & Departmental Planning Support (15%)

The Coordinator supports the Director and department-wide planning and follow-through by:

• Maintaining a forward-looking view of deadlines, deliverables, decisions, and commitments requiring Director attention and providing timely reminders and follow-up.
• Coordinating timelines and gathering information needed for departmental budgeting, projections, forecasting, reporting, contracting, annual planning, and other recurring processes.
• Preparing concise status information that helps the Director maintain visibility into upcoming priorities, outstanding items, decisions needed, and emerging workflow concerns.
• Supporting GAP meetings, planning sessions, retreats, and other departmental processes by coordinating materials, documenting decisions, and tracking follow-up.
• Supporting annual and longer-term departmental planning by maintaining implementation tools and helping connect program activities, budgets, timelines, and organizational priorities.

Program Implementation & Grant Coordination (25%)

The GAP team supports the success of grant programs and related initiatives by:

• Coordinating administrative processes across GAP programs, including applications, review and selection, agreements, payments, reporting, surveys, evaluation, and closeout.
• Supporting program staff with scheduling, documentation, communications, forms, agreements, and logistics for reviewers, advisors, coaches, facilitators, contractors, guest speakers, and other program partners.
• Coordinating logistics and technology for virtual and in-person orientations, panels, workshops, convenings, retreats, national sessions, celebrations, and other program activities.
• Maintaining accurate program records and supporting established processes and timelines with Finance, MarComm, Development, Operations, and other Creative West teams.
• Identifying opportunities for shared processes, templates, forms, and infrastructure across GAP programs while supporting the distinct needs of individual programs and communities.

Creative West Initiatives & Collaboration (5%)

Beyond core responsibilities, the GAP team contributes to broader organizational goals. Some examples include and are not limited to:

• Participating in relevant working groups and committees.
• Collaborating with teams across Creative West to align on shared goals.
• Supporting new staff onboarding and mentorship.
• Establishing and maintaining reciprocal relationships with community representatives.
• Enhancing Creative West’s awareness of community and constituent aspirations to ensure that our organizational goals reflect theirs.

Competencies

• Thrives in a fast-paced environment, effectively managing shifting priorities and working autonomously with quick thinking.
• Approaches challenges with a strong problem-solving mindset and a deep commitment to serving underserved communities.
• Demonstrates exceptional interpersonal, communication, and collaborative skills to build trust and foster strong community connections.
• Uses high emotional intelligence and an appreciation for diverse perspectives to ensure work remains inclusive and impactful.

Preferred Skills

Approximately 3–5 years of relevant professional experience in project coordination, program operations, grants administration, nonprofit or arts administration, project management, or related work is preferred. This experience level aligns with Creative West’s Coordinator classification, which recognizes greater depth of knowledge and experience, a strategic mindset, comprehensive organizational knowledge, and the ability to contribute directly to broader organizational strategy.

Experience with the full grant or award cycle—including applications, review, agreements, payments, reporting, and closeout—is highly valuable. Advanced experience with project-management systems, data management, spreadsheets, online forms, surveys, virtual program production, and grants-management systems will strengthen a candidate’s ability to succeed in the role.

A background in liberatory and accessible grantmaking practices is beneficial. A bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in arts administration, business administration, project management, nonprofit administration, or a related field is ideal. Event and convening logistics experience, strong math skills for financial calculations and spreadsheets, and experience working remotely and building professional relationships in virtual environments further strengthen a candidate’s ability to succeed in this role.

Compensation

This is a Creative West GAP Coordinator, and the hiring range is between $59,500 to $69,500 annually. 

Benefits

• Creative West offers a competitive benefits package for all full-time employees, including:
• Employer-paid health insurance
• Employer-paid life and disability insurance
• Dental insurance partially subsidized by employee
• 401(k) with up to 5% match
• 37.5 hour work week
• Generous vacation and sick leave
• 10 paid holidays, plus the week off between Christmas and New Year’s Day

Don't meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Creative West, we are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, equitable and authentic workplace. If you're excited about this role, but your past experience doesn't perfectly align with every qualification in the job posting, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles with us.

Creative West is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Creative West is committed to attracting and retaining a diverse staff and will honor your experiences, perspectives, and unique identity. Creative West strives to create and maintain a working environment that is inclusive and equitable.