CAREERS
Position: Manager, Grants and Operations
Organization: The McLean Foundation
Location: Toronto, ON
Start Date: January 5, 2026 (flexible)
Salary: $80 000 a year, full-time (37.5 hours/week)
Deadline: Friday October 31st, 2025, by 5pm ET
ABOUT The McLean Foundation
The McLean Foundation is a private family foundation that supports charitable organizations in
Canada that help make life more fulfilling, communities more vibrant and our environment more
durable. The McLean Foundation was established in 1945 by James Stanley (J.S) McLean and
is one of the oldest private family foundations in Canada. The Foundation is known for its
willingness to fund projects that show promise of increasing the wellbeing of people,
communities and our environment but may be harder to fund or lack broad public appeal. The
Foundation provides funding for local arts and culture, economic and social wellbeing, and
environmental stewardship and conservation. In 2023, the Foundation began dedicating a
minimum of 20% of its annual granting towards Climate Action.
THE POSITION
The Foundation is in a time of renewal and strategy development, where it is working on
expanding its grantmaking approaches, strengthening its partnerships with grantees and
enhancing its internal and external communication strategies.
The Manager, Grants and Operations, is a new full-time position that will join the Executive
Director as the core staff team, working with a highly engaged Board of Directors and
committees. The Manager will work closely with the Executive Director to help ensure smooth
granting processes and operations, as well as exploring new approaches to our work.
The Manager is responsible for implementing the Foundation’s grant management processes,
communications strategies and supporting internal operations. They are the first point of contact
for the public, stakeholders, and potential grantees. They are responsible for implementing and
monitoring grant management processes including tracking grant inquiries and responses,
processing applications, processing approvals, and ensuring compliance with the Foundation’s
policies and regulatory standards. The Manager oversees the financial and record-keeping
requirements of the Foundation and provides operational support to the Foundation.
POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES
Grants Management
• Conduct the initial review and assessment of funding applications for alignment with
Foundation priorities
• Manage expression of interest and proposal review processes, including working with
internal and external reviewers, preparing meeting materials, facilitating review meetings
and taking minutes
• Manage the online grant portal, including creating application and evaluation forms,
supporting applicants, staff and volunteers with the grant portal
• Ensure timely communication of funding decisions with applicants
• Prepare grant agreements
• Prepare grant payment requests and track payments
• Ensure all grant files are up to date and meet legal and audit requirements
• Review grantee reports and updates, supporting continual learning at the Foundation
Communications
• Respond to general emails and inquiries from potential applicants
• Oversee website, social media and newsletter for the Foundation
• Develop communications materials for Foundation
• Assist with the planning and execution of the annual general meeting and the annual
report
• Assist with planning events and site visits
• Represent the Foundation at external meetings, grantee events and site visits as
appropriate
Operational Support
• Assist with general office administration
• Assist with annual audit, coordination with bookkeeping, IT and other service providers
• Assist with the preparation of Board and Committee meeting packages
• Assist with budget management
• Assist the Executive Director in other tasks as needed
QUALIFICATIONS
We are looking for:
• Extensive experience providing administrative and operational support to boards,
committees, and senior leadership
• Extensive experience managing granting processes in private, corporate or public
funding organizations, working directly with funding applicants and grant recipients
• Experience working with grants-management methods and grants management
software (ideally with Foundant GLM, the tool we use)
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and other digital tools
• A skilled generalist, that is comfortable working in a small team, taking initiative, filling
gaps, recommending process improvements and anticipating needs
• Involvement in charities, non-profits and/or your community
WORK ENVIRONMENT
We are a hybrid organization that works remotely and out of Foundation House at 2 St.
Clair Avenue East, Suite 300 in Toronto. Staff will have the ability to use this office space
as often as they wish, with the expectation of 1 day/week in the office
• We trust our team to get their work done and offer a flexible work environment
• Some travel, weekends and evening work may occasionally be required
• We provide additional compensation in lieu of retirement and health benefits
• We provide 4 weeks of paid vacation, as well as sick days and personal days
HOW TO APPLY
Applications will be accepted until October 31st, 2025
• Please submit your resume and cover letter combined in one document to
careers@mcleanfoundation.ca with the email subject line “Manager, Grants and
Operations”
We thank everyone who applies for this position and will only contact those under consideration
for the role.
For more information about The McLean Foundation, please visit www.mcleanfoundation.ca.
2 St. Clair Avenue East, Suite 300,
Toronto ON M4T 2T5