The Water Institute is seeking a proactive, detail-oriented, and highly organized professional to support its Opportunities & Proposals (O&P) and Project Quality Management (QM) functions. This role is central to ensuring proposals and technical documents are developed, reviewed, and submitted on time and to the highest standards. The role will be reporting to the Senior Proposal and Project Specialist, and the time will be divided between two offices (O&P and QM) in approximate ratio of 60/40.

Roles and Responsibilities:

Opportunities and Proposals:

Quality Management:

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree, with preference for undergraduate experience in English and/or the Sciences
• Strong organizational, communication skills
• High attention to detail and accuracy
• Demonstrated experience in writing and proofreading
• Proficiency in Microsoft Suite (Teams, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Ability to manage multiple deadlines simultaneously and coordinate across teams.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience with proposals, grants, or project coordination
• Familiarity with budgeting and financial tracking
• Exposure to scientific research or technical proposals
• Experience with Adobe Creative Suite
• Experience with Asana and task management
• Basic knowledge of funding processes (government, foundation, corporate).

Successful candidates will desire to continue expanding their knowledge and skills, be results-driven and self-motivated, and are capable of effective cross-disciplinary collaboration in a demanding, fast-paced environment. Responsibilities will reflect career stage and previous experience. Workload will vary from week to week, and candidates will be flexible, willing to occasionally work evenings.

The Water Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.

We are headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the position will be located at our main office on the Water Campus in Baton Rouge. The hiring pay for the position starts at $50,000 and a final determination is based on the skills, education, and/or experience of the successful candidate. We believe in the importance of pay equity and consider the internal equity of our current staff as part of any final offer. We also offer a generous benefits package for full-time exempt positions.

Unique Benefits of a Water Institute Career

• Growth opportunity: We are always learning and developing new research methodologies and working with partners to solve problems. You will have ample opportunities to take ownership and flourish.
• Flexibility: We understand that our team members have different needs and do our best to work with their schedules and provide benefits and resources to meet these needs.
• Inclusive environment: We are committed to building an inclusive environment where all teammates feel comfortable and supported.
• Fun! We love to keep things fun, both within our work and at company-wide events.
• Work life balance: We are respectful of people’s boundaries and support that through Institute values so that our team has time to recharge and do their best work within the mission of the organization.
• The Water Institute Values: Scientific Integrity, Excellence, Transdisciplinary Collaboration, Accountability, Diversity, Work/Life Balance, Respect, Impact