Posted on August 1, 2012

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Senior Program Officer, Child Welfare

ABOUT THE STUART FOUNDATION

The Stuart Foundation is a private family foundation based in San Francisco.

The Foundation invests financial resources and staff time in a coordinated set of programs, activities, research, and policy analysis to improve opportunities for children and youth to become self-reliant, responsible, and contributing members of their communities.

The Foundation works toward the development of effective education and child welfare systems in California and Washington so that all levels of the systems have the capacity to provide opportunities for all students to be engaged, learn and achieve in school and develop the skills, knowledge and ability to be successful in further education or career choices. The Foundation supports programs and practices as demonstrations for system-wide dissemination that will inform policy. The Foundation supports selected school districts and systems of schools that provide comprehensive and integrated educational and developmental opportunities for young people and that consciously apply youth development principles in their work.

The Foundation’s work to improve systems in support of children and young people is intended to result in positive impact for all children and youth. The Foundation also recognizes that there are many children and young people who face much more challenging circumstances and who do not have families with the capacity to meet their developmental and educational needs. Therefore, the Foundation specifically directs significant resources, energy and staff to provide support to those in the child welfare system and may identify other populations for concentrated effort in the future, particularly those who may be most likely to benefit from additional support.

The Foundation has an asset base of $400 million, a staff of 23, and makes charitable expenditures of approximately $23 million per year for the benefit of children and youth in the states of California and Washington.

POSITION SUMMARY

This position is responsible for working in close collaboration with the Child Welfare Director, the Senior Program Officer for Foster Youth College Access and Success implementing the activities necessary to achieve the vision, direction and intended impact of the child welfare program. The position plays a connective, collaborative and facilitative role in fueling the advancement of the Child Welfare educational opportunities portfolio, and contributes to the program’s key strategies of building powerful partnerships, relentlessly improving irresistible information to drive practice and policy and overseeing the implementation and execution of programs to transform the lives and opportunities of children and youth in the child welfare system. The Senior Program Officer for Foster Youth College Access and Success is also responsible for identifying and recommending a set of investments to further the program goals.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Implementation & DEvelopment of Program Strategy

The implementation of the Foundation’s strategy depends on the planning and execution of the coordinated set of activities, investments and staff involvement with a range of partners working on several aspects of common issues. The Senior Program Officer for Foster Youth College Access and Success, under the direction of the Child Welfare Director, contributes to the development and management of the full scope of the strategic elements, including investments, partnerships, convenings, advisory councils, public policy elements and strategic communications.

• Works with Child Welfare Program team to implement program strategy and recommend further development of selected elements of the strategy.
• Contributes to the development of annual plans for the program that clearly outline goals, strategy, activities, and resource requirements.
• Articulates expected outcomes and identifies indicators of success for long term goals and interim indicators of progress.
• Identifies the need for consultants within the program area; plans scopes of work for contracts; develops terms of contracts; and monitors progress on contracts.

CONVENINGS, FIELD BUILDING & COLLABORATIONS

• Develops and maintains relationships with key decision makers and child welfare stakeholders at the local, regional, statewide, and national level to keep abreast of opportunities for Foundation investments to inform improved policies and practices.
• Identifies specific opportunities to provide relevant and useable information for the development of public policies that will have significant impact on Foundation objectives.
• Identifies and plans convenings to further program objectives, including convenings of stakeholders for the purpose of collective problem solving issues the Foundation has selected for focus.
• In partnership with the Child Welfare Director and Associate Director, designs, develops, and provides oversight to the formation of new formal collaborations and partnerships as part of the annual planning process or when new opportunities arise; documents goals and intended outcomes of new partnerships in writing for the President and Board.
• Shares information and makes connections among Foundation partners and colleagues to further program goals.
• Identifies data needs and works with the child welfare team to locate providers and systems to gather and disseminate needed data.
• Explore and recommend new technology and or/systems to increase the capacity of grantees to collect and report measurable outcomes for children and families in the child welfare system.

DEVELOPMENT & MANAGEMENT OF INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO

• Develops recommendations for a cohesive set of investments to organizations, government agencies, and public child welfare agencies that, in conjunction with other activities, are designed to collectively lead to improvements in the college access and success for foster youth and child welfare systems at the county and state level. While the primary focus of the Senior Program Officer is on Foster Youth College Access and Success, the position will be responsible for additional grants as needed and assigned.
• Identifies organizations and/or agencies that have the capacity and position to carry out elements of the program’s strategy and further objectives of the program.
• Reviews letters of inquiry and manages the grant application and evaluation process.
• Ensures that all grants administration policies and procedures are carried out in a timely manner.
• Provides a high level of customer service for existing and prospective grantees through transparent, accessible, and open dialogue about the Foundation’s strategy and prospective projects.
• Keeps grant applicants informed of the status of their proposals during the review and development process.
• Prepares written analysis of grant recommendations for the file, for internal review by program team, and for the Board docket.
• Maintains an open, ongoing relationship with grantees to assess the progress of grants and assists the grantee with challenges involved in implementation.
• Monitors grantee expenditures and operating capacity in meeting the goals of their grants; evaluates any changes proposed to plans and/or budgets and ensures that such changes are documented in the file.
• Monitors grantee reporting and third party evaluations, when applicable; ensures that grantee reports are received when due; reviews grantee reports and maintains documentation in files according to Foundation policies and procedures.
• Ensures that grant files are complete and contain documentation according to Foundation policies and procedures.
• Partners with grantees to craft or refine program goals, outcomes, and performance measures.

FOSTER YOUTH COLLEGE ACCESS AND SUCCESS INITIATIVE MANAGEMENT

• Contributes to the planning, direction, problem solving, and support of the College Pathways Initiative within the Child Welfare program.
• Coordinates covenings and meetings of initiative partners.
• Identifies challenges and opportunities in assigned initiatives, and contributes to the creation of proactive solutions to identified challenges.
• Provides ongoing updates and reports on the College Pathways Initiative and related grants to the Program Director, Child Welfare for program and budget planning.
• Prepares progress reports and provide analysis of collaborations and initiatives.
• Participates in the development of new collaborations with external funding partners.
• Maintains strong collaborative relationships with current funding partners.
• Assists in the identification of grants ready for replication, deeper investment, or prepared for advocacy for reallocation of public resources.
• Supervises initiative project managers; clearly communicates expectations.
• Provides ongoing feedback about annual initiative work plans, and prepares timely written job performance appraisals for any internal initiative project managers in accordance with Foundation procedures.
• Ensures that College Access and Success grantmaking in Washington complements and leverages the College Pathways Initiative in California.
• Collaborates closely with the Associate Director of Child Welfare and the Education Equals Partnership to leverage opportunities and maximize collective impact.

• Supports the development of program impact measures and the periodic assessment, implementation, continuous development, and analysis of progress toward the goals and outcomes of the Foundation’s strategy.
• Completes periodic assessment of progress toward program objectives and manages third party evaluations.
• Identifies lessons learned from evaluation findings and formulates recommendations based on findings to increase program impact.
• Identifies opportunities to disseminate lessons for greater program impact and incorporates lessons into future program development.
• Prepares closing reports to document results and accomplishments.
• Prepares grant cluster reviews in conjunction with the Child Welfare Director.

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT & COMMUNICATIONS

• Contributes to the program’s knowledge management system to document, preserve and catalogue knowledge of staff, reports produced with invested funds, evaluations of Foundation projects and initiatives, and other reports created by program staff to inform the Foundation’s future program work and for external audiences.
• Identifies opportunities to advance program goals through the use of strategic communications and works with communications committee and/or consultants to develop implementation plans.
• Incorporates planning for strategic communications into ongoing program plans.
• Contributes to the preparation of communications materials and supports implementation of the Foundation’s communication plan.
• Identifies content for the website and ensures that the Child Welfare program’s website content is kept up to date.
• Ensures that the knowledge of the program area is documented, preserved and catalogued systematically to inform the Foundation’s future program work and is used to further the strategic goals of the program.
• Upon request, represents the Foundation at convenings, forums and conferences to communicate the Foundation’s strategy and program objectives.

SUPPORTING BOARD DECISION-MAKING & LEARNING

• Effectively communicates program goals and implementation plans to the Board, both in writing and in presentations; clearly articulates strategy and funding rationale; contributes to annual year-in-review report; presents reports and analysis of program progress.
• Prepares written grant recommendations and supporting materials for the Board docket.
• Participates in the identification and coordination of Board meeting program presentations and site visits.

SUPERVISION

• Supervises selected project managers, initiative managers and/or consultants in the Child Welfare College Access related programs.
• Provides ongoing feedback regarding job performance and timely written performance appraisals in accordance with Foundation procedures.

INTERNAL TEAMWORK

• Contributes to the development of a supportive and collaborative work environment through active participation in internal collaborations, teams and activities.
• Serves as a member of the Program Team and other ad hoc teams to improve the effectiveness of the Foundation in carrying out program and Foundation plans.
• Provides mentoring to Program Officers and engages in peer to peer support with fellow Senior Program Officers.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Seven or more years of professional experience working in the fields of college access and success, child welfare, and/or philanthropy.
• Direct experience working in child welfare or higher education systems preferred.
• Knowledge of college access and success strategies, and demonstrated ability to implement programs and/or policy.
• Experience with leading collaborative systems change and the development of progress indicators.
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to conduct research, organize report material, and translate its content and data into clear, accessible language.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills; ability to make public presentations and prepare concise and effective written content.
• High standards of professionalism and integrity, and a commitment to quality and excellence in all aspects of job performance.
• Strong conceptual and analytical abilities and capacity to manage multiple projects concurrently.
• Capacity to be entrepreneurial, work independently, take initiative, and be solution-oriented.
• Ability to thrive in a flexible and adaptive team structure with an intense focus on excellent customer service for internal colleagues and external customers.
• Capacity to work effectively in a fast-paced deadline-driven environment.
• Willingness to travel, primarily in California, with occasional travel to the State of Washington and national conferences.
• Experience in philanthropy or with management of grants desirable.
• A bachelor’s or master’s degree in social work, public policy, or similarly relevant degree.

COMPENSATION

The Stuart Foundation provides a competitive salary commensurate with qualifications and experience and an excellent benefits package.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Interested applicants should send a letter of interest and a resume to David Barlow, Chief Financial Officer at:

Job200@stuartfoundation.org

The position is now open. Review of applications will begin with resumes received by Friday, August 17, 2012, and will continue until the position is filled.

The Stuart Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. Foundation policy prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, physical disability, mental disability, military service, legally protected medical condition or any other consideration made unlawful by federal, state or local laws.