Senior Program Officer, Education & Workforce Pipeline

Position Purpose:

The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta leads and inspires philanthropy to increase the vitality of our region and the well-being of all residents. The Senior Program Officer is a part of the Resource Deployment team and is critical to driving achievement of the Foundation’s education and workforce development efforts as a component of long-term strategic goals. She/he is responsible for managing the Education Impact Area portfolio and related work; providing community leadership related to the Foundation’s equity of opportunity efforts; and activating the Foundation’s donors to spur action. This position reports to the Director, Resource Deployment Team, Community Department

Key accountabilities of the position:

• Conduct portfolio planning and analysis including researching community needs; identifying key investment opportunities, new programs, initiatives, partnerships and sources for external funding to drive achievement of education, workforce development, and organizational goals; evaluating existing programs and initiatives and making adjustments where needed
• Lead the Foundation’s scholarship program including programmatic planning; analyzing costs of new scholarship programs as input into decision-making; overseeing the intake, design, and launch of new scholarship programs; running scholarship programs including assessing applications, preparing recommendations and producing annual reports
• Identify strategic opportunities for community collaborations and partnerships to achieve education, workforce development, and organizational goals
• Provide relevant, timely and accurate information and guidance to individual, family and institutional donors to facilitate learning and engagement opportunities with the Foundation’s education and workforce development efforts
• Manage the intake, design, build and launch of new grant and scholarship programs; includes scoping, determining capacity and how to best organize resources, creating process flows, forms, scoring, timelines, and internal and external communication needs
• Review proposals, conduct site visits and develop funding recommendations for education and workforce development portfolio, grant programs and Foundation donors
• Manage assigned special programs/initiatives as needed

QUALIFICATIONS

Skills:

Among other assets of interest, the Community Foundation will be attracted to leaders who embody the following:

• Clear understanding of education (early childhood, K-12 and post-secondary), local and national education trends (charter schools, educational attainment, post-secondary), workforce development and issues related to equity;
• Strategic mindset coupled with experience in grant, scholarship and program development/management with a proven track record of implementation success;
• Experience working with a variety of community, public and private sector partners and stakeholders, including individual, corporate and foundation donors;
• Flexible, resourceful, creative self-starter able to prioritize and manage multiple tasks and competing priorities and to use data in decision-making processes;
• Demonstrated capacity of translating ideas into action;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills; ability to distill and explain complex information, data and technical details to a multiplicity of audiences and partners;
• Good problem-solving skills with a willingness to be flexible and proactive in a fast-paced workplace;
• Strong strategic, creative and critical thinking skills using a diverse set of approaches and sources of insight and data;
• Proven ability to lead and influence others in a constructive and inclusive manner; and to build and sustain collaborative relationships;
• Experience with the operations of nonprofit organizations, including budgeting, board, and staff development, administrative and management systems;
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite including Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.  Experience in use of philanthropy records systems, e.g., Raiser’s Edge, Salesforce, Donor Central, FIMS and other Blackbaud philanthropy products preferred.

Experience:

• 6-10 years’ professional experience related to the key accountabilities outlined in this description
• Experience working in complex environments with multiple stakeholders and demonstrated a commitment to educational equity and high achievement for all students, particularly for students of color, low-income children and disconnected youth.
• Experience in the field of business and workforce development is also key, particularly in the areas of vocational training and work readiness efforts.

Education:

Bachelor’s degree (Master’s degree preferred) in education, education studies, education policy, social services, human services, public policy or related fields.

The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.