Director of Capacity Development

Who We Are

Coalfield Development is a West Virginia-based nonprofit working to cultivate opportunities for rural PEOPLE, transform disinvested PLACES, and generate new PROSPERITY for rural communities through workforce development, community-led construction projects, and social entrepreneurship. We believe people and communities should have the resources, relationships, and opportunities to shape their own economic futures. Our work brings together paid, on-the-job training and personal development; enterprises in fields such as construction, sustainable agriculture, and creative production; the revitalization of underused properties; and partnerships that connect workers, employers, nonprofits, and communities. Increasingly, our role is not just to deliver programs ourselves, but to help other organizations and employers adopt, strengthen, and sustain approaches that work.

Position Summary and Objective

Coalfield is seeking a Director of Capacity Development to help Coalfield’s staff, social enterprises, and nonprofit partners build the knowledge, relationships, systems, and resources they need to thrive. The Director will pursue funding directly, but just as importantly, will strengthen others’ ability to find, win, manage, and sustain funding. The role also will help expand our Empowered Employer Network, connecting more employers to Coalfield’s workforce approaches and training graduates.

Essential Functions

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.

Working collaboratively with the development, finance, workforce, operations, and program teams, the Director of Capacity Development will:

• Work with Coalfield’s internal social enterprises to identify promising public, private, and philanthropic funding opportunities; develop strong proposals and budgets; and pursue resources aligned with enterprise needs and long-term sustainability.
• Build the grant development capacity of Coalfield staff through coaching, shared tools, proposal planning, review, and hands-on support, so that funding knowledge and responsibility become stronger across the organization.
• Support external nonprofit partners in identifying and pursuing grants, particularly opportunities that strengthen their organizational capacity, staffing, systems, and ability to serve their communities over time.
• Connect staff and nonprofit partners with relevant funding information, technical assistance, training, peer relationships, and other resources; help them assess which opportunities are realistic and worth pursuing.
• Provide practical guidance and early problem-solving support to nonprofit subrecipients, helping them understand requirements, address emerging issues, and build their own ability to manage grants successfully. Coordinate monitoring and corrective action with appropriate Coalfield staff rather than treating compliance as a paperwork exercise.
• Help grow Coalfield’s Empowered Employer Network by building relationships with employers who want to invest in the work, hire program graduates, and/or bring Coalfield’s workforce-development and employee-support approaches into their own workplaces.
• Work with workforce staff and employers to identify useful partnership opportunities, including hiring pathways, employee support and retention practices, and ways to reduce turnover while improving job quality and advancement.
• Contribute to the broader development team’s funding strategy, proposal pipeline, funder relationships, reporting, and coordination of development priorities, helping connect what Coalfield learns through its programs and partnerships to future opportunities.
• Develop practical processes, templates, and shared knowledge that make grant seeking, partner support, and grant management more consistent, effective, and less dependent on any one person.

Competency – Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• You believe in Coalfield’s mission and in the ability of rural people, organizations, and businesses to shape their own futures. You see development as building lasting capacity, not simply winning the next grant.
• You bring substantial experience with grant research, proposal development, and grant management across foundations and/or government funding. You understand how budgets, outcomes, reporting, and compliance fit together from application through closeout.
• You are a teacher and collaborator as much as a practitioner. You enjoy helping colleagues and nonprofit partners learn new skills, strengthen their systems, and become more confident and independent.
• You understand the importance of grant accountability and can help others navigate rules and requirements with clarity, sound judgment, and a practical, supportive approach. Familiarity with federal grants and subrecipient monitoring is particularly valuable.
• You build genuine relationships across sectors. You can talk comfortably with a small nonprofit director, an enterprise leader, a workforce practitioner, a foundation officer, or an employer, and find where their interests and needs overlap.
• You are an effective writer, organizer, and problem solver who can manage competing deadlines, improve shared processes, and turn complex information into clear next steps.
• You value evidence, learning, and teamwork. You are comfortable in a growing organization where responsibilities cross departmental lines and the right solution is often developed with others.

Supervisory Responsibilities

None.

Work Location and Hours of Work

This full-time position is based in Charleston or Huntington, West Virginia, with travel to Coalfield sites and partner communities and businesses as needed.

Environment Conditions, Physical Activity, Physical Demands

Extensive computer operation and office-based work, including visits to enterprise sites and partner communities.

Travel and Transportation Requirements

Reliable transportation to the primary office is required. Travel expenses, excluding commutes, may be reimbursed in accordance with Coalfield policies.

Compensation and Benefits

Compensation: Starts between $65,000 and $67,000. Benefits package, flex-time and paid leave.

To Apply

Application instructions will be provided in the final posting. Candidates should be prepared to share a resume, a brief letter describing their interest in this approach to development, and a relevant grant proposal, capacity-building, or grant-management work sample.

EEO Statement

Coalfield Development Corporation provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

Other duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Background or drug test

Candidates for this position will be required to pass a drug test and consent to a background check as a condition of employment.