Grants & Contracts Development Intern

Position Overview

Amesi & Associates is seeking a proactive, highly organized Grants & Contracts Development Intern to work directly with the Founder & CEO in identifying and pursuing funding, grant, procurement, and contracting opportunities across our portfolio of businesses and programs.

This is not a traditional grant-writing internship. While the intern will assist with grant applications and proposal development, the position is broader and focuses on the full opportunity-development process—researching opportunities, reviewing RFPs and solicitations, assessing eligibility and organizational fit, coordinating application requirements, supporting proposal development, maintaining funding pipelines, and helping move applications from discovery through submission.

This position is ideal for a current undergraduate student, recent graduate, or early graduate student who already has some hands-on exposure to grants, RFPs, government contracting, procurement, fundraising/development, economic or workforce development, or proposal support and wants to deepen that experience.

The ideal candidate does not need to be an experienced professional grant writer. However, they should be comfortable conducting independent research, reading detailed funding opportunities, writing and editing professional materials, managing deadlines, and taking initiative with limited direction.

Key Responsibilities

Grant, RFP & Contract Research
Research grant opportunities, RFPs, RFQs, government contracts, subcontracting opportunities, corporate funding programs, and other funding opportunities from city, county, state and federal agencies, foundations, corporations, and community organizations. Monitor relevant procurement portals, funding databases, newsletters, agency websites, and opportunity announcements.

Opportunity Evaluation & Qualification
Review funding opportunities and determine preliminary organizational eligibility, alignment, competitiveness, deadlines, funding levels, required services, geographic requirements, and application requirements. Prepare concise opportunity summaries and recommendations for the CEO so decisions can be made quickly about which opportunities to pursue.

Proposal & Application Development
Assist with drafting and editing grant applications, letters of intent, RFP responses, scopes of work, organizational narratives, program descriptions, capability statements, past-performance information, and other proposal materials. Research supporting information and help translate program and business concepts into clear application responses.

Government Contracting & Procurement Support
Research city, county, state, and federal procurement opportunities. Review RFPs, RFQs, bid solicitations and contracting opportunities; identify mandatory requirements and submission criteria; assist with vendor registrations, certifications, compliance documents, and procurement-related research.

Application Coordination
Create application checklists and timelines, track deadlines, coordinate required materials, organize attachments, and help ensure submissions are complete and compliant. Assist with gathering budgets, financial information, organizational documents, résumés, licenses, certifications, insurance documents, references, and other required materials.

Funding & Opportunity Pipeline Management
Maintain a centralized Grants & Contracts Opportunity Tracker documenting opportunities identified, eligibility, funding amount, deadline, organization/program fit, status, next steps, submission dates, award decisions, and follow-up requirements.

Organizational Resource Library
Help develop and maintain a reusable proposal library containing company descriptions, mission statements, program descriptions, leadership biographies, résumés, capability statements, past performance, statistics, client outcomes, financial documents, licenses, certifications, and commonly requested application materials.

Post-Submission & Reporting Support
Track submitted applications and contracting opportunities, monitor award notifications and follow-up requests, maintain records of awarded and declined opportunities, and document reviewer feedback when available. Assist with basic reporting and compliance tracking for awarded grants and contracts as needed.

Strategic Research & Special Projects
Research funding trends, government initiatives, upcoming solicitations, agency priorities, and programs relevant to the company's work. Support the Founder & CEO with special research and proposal-development projects as opportunities arise.

Qualifications

Candidates should be a current undergraduate student, recent graduate, or early-stage graduate student pursuing or holding a degree in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, Economics, Public Administration, Public Policy, Political Science, International Relations, Nonprofit Management, Communications, Urban Planning, or a related field.

We are looking for someone who has had some hands-on exposure through employment, internships, fellowships, volunteer work, student organizations, research, or academic projects involving one or more of the following:

• Grants or grant applications 
• RFPs/RFQs or proposal development 
• Government procurement or contracting 
• Fundraising or nonprofit development 
• Economic or workforce development 
• Government or public-sector programs 
• Business development 
• Research and opportunity sourcing 
• Compliance or program administration 
• Proposal or contract support 

Candidates should also demonstrate strong research, writing, editing, and organizational skills; attention to detail; the ability to interpret detailed instructions and eligibility requirements; comfort working with deadlines; and proficiency with Microsoft Office and/or Google Workspace.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience working or interning with a city, county, state, or federal agency; nonprofit organization; economic or workforce development organization; university development office; consulting firm; chamber or business organization; government contractor; or fundraising/development department is highly desirable.

Experience with grant databases, government procurement portals, CRM/project-management platforms, Canva, AI research/writing tools, Excel/Google Sheets, or proposal-management systems is a plus