FIRELIGHT FOUNDATION
Program Officer
Applications due December 6, 2009
http://www.firelightfoundation.org/job.html
OVERVIEW
The Firelight Foundation (
http://www.firelightfoundation.org/) is a private family foundation located in Santa Cruz, California and established in 1999. The mission of the Firelight Foundation is to improve the well-being of children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS and poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa. Firelight supports grassroots organizations that help families and communities meet the needs of their children.
Firelight provides grants between US$1,000 - 15,000 to community-based organizations that support families and communities to meet the needs and protect the rights of children. To date, Firelight has made over 880 grants totaling $10.6 million to organizations serving children in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2008, Firelight awarded 17 new grants and 160 renewal grants to community-based organizations in 10 African countries, totaling US$1.95 million.
Firelight seeks a Program Officer who brings a combination of intellectual curiosity, creativity, and a passion for supporting grassroots organizations. Program Officers hold a high degree of individual responsibility for maintaining relationships with grantee partners, anticipating and meeting deadlines, identifying opportunities and managing risk, documenting and processing high volumes of information, and producing high-quality written materials.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The Program Officer will report to the Director of Programs and work collaboratively with the Programs Team, which includes a Program Officer, Head of Capacity Building, Organizational Learning Associate, and Grants Administrator, as well as Interns. Program Officers also work with the Director of Communications and Director of Development to support Firelight’s fundraising and profile-raising efforts. Key responsibilities for the position include:
- Portfolio Management:
- Manage a portfolio of two countries (Rwanda and Tanzania), including developing and executing the country strategy, managing relationships with grantees, resource persons and developing partnerships with relevant in-country networks; develop portfolio budget and monitor expenditures.
- Review and evaluate funding inquiries, proposals and final reports; conduct due diligence on grant applications, and draft grant recommendations for team and Board review; monitor assigned grants to ensure compliance to the grant agreement.
- Provide partner support through timely and responsive communication, site visits, grantee partner meetings, and referrals to other donors.
- Identify capacity needs of grantee partners and facilitate grantee partner capacity building;
- Analysis, Reflection and Learning: Use a variety of action learning strategies, information coding and data analysis to identify patterns, draw conclusions, and synthesize knowledge in support of Firelight’s learning agenda. Participate in processes to use outputs of that learning to further the Foundation’s mission.
- Team Collaboration: Work collaboratively to meet team and Foundation goals by contributing to efforts to refine systems and procedures; document our work, and share information to support communications and fundraising goals.
- External Representation: Develop relationships and network with peer foundations and key external stakeholders. Represent the Foundation and make presentations in a variety of conferences.
- Special Projects: Undertake special projects, as assigned.
QUALIFICATIONS
Required
- Bachelor’s degree; successful candidate likely to have a master’s or other advanced degree in relevant field.
- Eight years of progressively responsible professional work experience, with a minimum of 3 - 5 years of relevant work experience with child, community development, or HIV/AIDS programming, preferably in Africa.
- Excellent writing and oral communications skills in English, including the ability to provide succinct summaries of large volumes of complex information.
- Written and spoken fluency in French.
- Ability to assess leadership, track record, community engagement, program design, and organizational capacity of community-based organizations.
- Ability to maintain regular contact and meaningful communication with a wide range of grantee-partners and other collaborators.
- Competency in project management with demonstrated ability to conceptualize, innovate, plan and execute ideas, as well as transfer knowledge and skills. Must have ability to multi-task, prioritize to meet deadlines and maintain a balanced perspective between the big picture and the details.
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively in a fast paced, multi-cultural environment. A high degree of professionalism, collegiality, and constructive interpersonal skills.
- Strong analytical, problem solving, and conceptual thinking skills.
- Experience with qualitative and quantitative data analysis.
- Awareness of current events and development issues in the sub-Saharan African context. Experience with and understanding of community development and issues facing vulnerable children.
- Commitment to the core values that inform Firelight’s work.
- Public speaking skills and experience.
- Ability to maintain fairly rigorous schedule during Africa travel; ability to travel up to 20% of time.
- A good sense of humor.
- Authorization to work in the United States.
Preferred
- Experience working in Rwanda and/or Tanzania highly desired.
- Familiarity with Mac applications, including Filemaker Pro.
The Firelight Foundation values flexibility, innovation and collaboration in our approach to grantmaking. We operate with a small, creative staff. We actively collaborate with other foundations to promote awareness of the issues facing African children and communities affected by HIV/AIDS, to engage in strategic problem-solving and to enhance our effectiveness as grantmakers. We work closely with our Advisory Board and Resource Persons in Africa to develop a grantmaking program that supports local expertise and enhances communities’ capacity to support children and families coping with HIV/AIDS.
COMPENSATION
Competitive salary commensurate with experience. Full benefits include: medical/dental/vision/alternative medicine coverage, generous vacation, and a retirement plan.
The Firelight Foundation is an equal opportunity employer.
Send updated CV, cover letter, and writing sample by December 6, 2009 to jobs@firelightfoundation.org or by fax to +1-831-429-2036 (e-mail submissions preferred). Please note “Program Officer” in subject line of e-mail or fax. Only persons short-listed for interviews will be contacted. No phone calls please.
