Role Title

Program Manager, Open Society Network Grants

Contract Type: Fixed Term
Program Duration: 8 years

Reporting To

Associate Director, Open Society Network Grants

Team Name

Open Society Network Grants

Role Purpose

We are seeking a full-time Program Manager, based in New York or Washington D.C., to support the refinement and execution of the strategy for Open Society Network Grants, including direct engagement with grantee partners in the field, and our globally dispersed internal teams.

The ideal candidate will have demonstrated excellence in all aspects of grant making from strategy development to post-award evaluation, preferably in more than one field and/or geography. Moreover, this candidate will possess a strong ability to utilize trends and conduct analysis that results in the formulation of impactful future areas of work for Open Society.

The role of Program Manager will emphasize support for grantees – both financial and beyond the financials – and developing and executing programming in collaboration with internal Opportunity Teams and Operations Teams, while seeding future facing areas of work. The successful candidate will also bring a track record of grant making marked by values of diversity, equity and inclusion (in the how, not just the what).

This role will report to the Associate Director, Open Society Network Grants and will work alongside other Program Managers and Administrative Officers dispersed globally.

Open Society Network Grants

The vision of Open Society Network Grants is to lead the field of philanthropy in nurturing co-creative partnerships with a range of actors across different fields. The impact we seek in the world is for people to experience greater equity, human rights, and justice as a result of stronger ecosystems that are more responsive and effective at: promoting human dignity, equality and rights; re-imagining democratic ideals and practice; advancing equity in governance systems; and envisioning the future world.

Open Society Network Grants partners are close long-term partnerships with groups around the world, key to upholding open society values in the spaces where they operate. These groups may be large or small, organizations or movements, urban or rural, but in their diversity, their missions and values align with our own. They form a trusted “network of networks” for promoting rights and dignity; democratic participation; advancing equity; and embracing transformative ways of envisioning the future across geographies, themes, and approaches.

Key Responsibilities

As Program Manager, Open Society Network Grants , you will:

• Craft and implement portions of the strategy for Open Society Network Grants, under the guidance of the Managing Director or Associate Director and in close collaboration with members of the Open Society Network Grants team.

• Conduct research and systems analysis and utilize trends to understand political systems, current and potential actors, and leverage points for change and innovation, and translate these into impactful future areas of work.

• Identify and foster new and transformative networks and partnerships, including with grantees, that promote the impact Open Society Network Grants seeks to achieve in the world.

• Work closely with internal Open Society programmatic and operations teams to select, engage, and sunset Open Society Network Grants partners, and to pursue areas of alignment and collaboration.

• Help create and advance a culture of learning within the Open Society Network Grants that enables the assessment of organizations and refinement of criteria guiding their inclusion in the Open Society Network grants portfolio, over time.

• Represent Open Society in philanthropic and other public fora.

• Guide and inform Open Society’s approach to grant making.

Key internal relationships

Directors, Opportunity Teams; Managing Directors, Programs; Operations Departments, including Grants Management and Office of General Counsel

Key external relationships

Grantee Partners; Peer Philanthropies

Qualifications

Essential:

• Educated to a degree-level (or equivalent)

Experience

Essential:

• Significant demonstrated relevant experience and expertise working with civil society groups and with the private sector in more than one area of focus and geography to advance rights-based strategies and campaigns.

• Lived and professional experience within government, international, private, or non-governmental organizations, in more than one focus area and geography, is an asset.

• Proven experience working with teams to develop strategies and budgets, improve grant making processes, and learn from program implementation as well as proven experience incorporating advocacy, communications, strategic litigation and other tools into grant making processes.

• Proven experience advancing system innovation, including through addressing systemic challenges or designing systemic opportunities as well as demonstrable evidence of promoting systems solutions by bringing together seemingly incompatible fields or areas of work.

• Demonstrable evidence of having crafted innovations through leading partnerships of seemingly disparate actors, including accompanying systems analysis.

• Proven track record of leading social innovation and entrepreneurship that is inter-disciplinary and intersectional, extending beyond any one sector, issue, or geographical expertise. Experience working collaboratively with social entrepreneurs and with movements.

• Experience of managing a portfolio of stakeholder relationships, including core partnerships, balanced across a range of attributes.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:

• Knowledge of grant making best practices and the field of philanthropy

• Knowledge of complex systems that self-organize for transformative change

• Ability to build alliances beyond the social sector and nurturing multi-actor platforms for systems change

• Ability to conduct research and analyze emerging thinking on social innovation, narrative change, and strategic communications tools

• Skilled in data analytics and drawing insights

• Clear written communication and ability to create and edit content with clarity and timeliness

Personal Competencies:

• Possesses cultural sensitivity to work respectfully and effectively in different settings

• Able to build consensus with diverse audiences/stakeholders

• Demonstrates commitment to OSF’s core values of humility, commitment, collaboration, respect, inclusivity and integrity.

• Proven experience in collaborating with multi-country stakeholders

• Commitment to continuous learning and growth in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, antiracism and social justice

• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision

• Demonstrates a learning mindset

Languages:

• An excellent knowledge of English

• Knowledge of other languages, appropriate to the locations and focus of the work of Network Grants, would be an asset

OSF is proud to be equal opportunities employer, we welcome applicants from all walks of life, please consider applying even if you do not meet all the criteria.

Subject to local laws, regular employment contracts may be converted to fixed-term contracts to align with the intended duration of the employment for the purposes of working on that opportunity; or alternatively the current permanent contract will be kept in place, with a side letter confirming the duration of the assignment to the time-limited project.

The salary range for this role in the U.S. is $102, 500 - $189, 600 (USD). The final offer is influenced by a wide array of factors including but not limited to skill set and level of experience.

Competitive rates of pay apply.

Open Society Foundations is committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion, and to building a diverse staff that reflects the movements, issues and communities that our mission serves. Candidates from all underrepresented backgrounds, identities and communities are encouraged to apply.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants and colleagues with disabilities.