Grants, RFPs & Adoptions Manager

Description

The Manager, Grants, RFPs & Adoptions is a working manager responsible for leading Wayside’s grants research and RFP strategy while overseeing the Adoptions team. This role combines hands‑on execution with leadership responsibilities to ensure that Wayside’s submissions, correlations, and adoption materials are competitive, accurate, and aligned to state and national standards.

Wayside Publishing is a progressive developer of world language programs, resources, and materials for middle and high schools across the United States. We partner with educators to craft transformative texts and digital tools that engage students and foster successful communication and understanding across cultures.

• Lead the identification, monitoring, and evaluation of federal, state, and regional grants related to world language programs.
• Maintain a comprehensive grants calendar, flagging deadlines, eligibility requirements, and strategic opportunities.
• Produce fit analyses, ROI evaluations, and risk assessments to guide organizational prioritization.
• Advise Account Managers and leadership on ways to leverage grant opportunities to support business development.

• Serve as the primary owner of RFP review and analysis, including evaluation criteria, compliance requirements, procurement language, and submission logistics.
• Analyze RFP language against state procurement standards and Wayside product capabilities; identify gaps, opportunities, and mitigation strategies.
• Collaborate with Product, Legal, Marketing, and Sales to coordinate RFP responses and ensure alignment across stakeholders.
• Oversee quality control for all RFP submissions and ensure compliance with state‑specific adoption requirements.
• Maintain awareness of competitor offerings and use insights to strengthen strategic positioning.

• Oversee the creation of standards correlation artifacts (matrices, alignment tables, evidence statements).
• Ensure high‑quality alignment to state standards, ACTFL proficiency frameworks, and relevant content areas.
• Guide the Adoptions team on rubric interpretation, correlation best practices, and instructional alignment.
• Support product‑to‑standards alignment conversations with Product and Learning Design teams.

• Evaluate Wayside’s product components, including assessments, scaffolding, usability, teacher guidance, and student tasks, to support standards alignment and competitive positioning.
• Write or oversee detailed evidence statements supporting scoring decisions in adoption rubrics.
• Ensure accuracy and quality in research‑based rationales included in submissions.
• Support the development of product evidence packets, instructional descriptions, and evaluation documentation.

• Provide day‑to‑day management for the Adoptions team, including distribution of workload, coaching, performance feedback, and ongoing professional development.
• Ensure the team adheres to deadlines, maintains high‑quality standards, and follows consistent correlation and submission processes.
• Build team capability in standards literacy, RFP compliance, and product fluency.
• Collaborate with Sales leadership to forecast adoption needs, staffing requirements, and workflow adjustments.
• Act as the point of escalation for complex adoption requirements or correlation challenges.

• Produce reports on funding trends, win/loss analytics, RFP outcomes, and adoption results.
• Conduct data and market trend analysis, including monitoring new products, emerging AI tools, and evolving procurement practices.
• Recommend process improvements, resource enhancements, and strategic focus areas.
• Support the evolution of Wayside’s adoption strategy and readiness.

• Partner closely with Sales, Product, Customer Enablement, and Marketing to ensure consistency and alignment across submissions.
• Translate product features and instructional outcomes into language aligned with procurement and scoring…