Leverage Officer

Dogwood Health Trust•Asheville, NC

57d•Hybrid

About The Position

Founded in 2018, Dogwood Health Trust (Dogwood) is a private foundation based in Asheville, North Carolina. Its sole purpose is to dramatically improve the health and wellbeing of all people and communities of the 18 counties and the Qualla Boundary in Western North Carolina. As a funder, Dogwood invests in collaborative, innovative and equitable efforts that address the many factors contributing to overall wellbeing, especially in the areas of housing, education, economic opportunity, and health and wellness. Ultimately, Dogwood seeks to create a Western North Carolina where every generation can live, learn, earn and thrive, with dignity and opportunity for all, no exceptions. The Leverage Officer advances collaborative grantmaking strategies that strengthen nonprofit capacity and expand access to external funding for mission-aligned partners. This role translates impact goals into program design, funding recommendations, and measurable outcomes while stewarding relationships with grantees, consultants, and funding partners. The Leverage Officer leads ecosystem-strengthening initiatives, convenes partners for learning and collaboration, and identifies opportunities to leverage public and private resources that amplify community impact. Working cross-functionally, the role supports innovative capacity-building programs, improves grant processes, and ensures equity is embedded across all aspects of strategy and implementation.

Requirements

Undergraduate degree or equivalent years’ experience required.
Five years of increasingly responsible experience in resource development including grant-seeking, including three years of performing increasingly responsible project/program/portfolio management functions.
Demonstrated leadership of a transformational initiative or project with a measurable impact.
Advanced and adept experience with Microsoft Office suite; comfort in technology with the ability to learn and adopt new tools and resources as needed.
Experience with contract and statement of work review (SOW).
Experience establishing and managing complex internal and external relationships.
Budget management experience.
Proven track record of developing and fostering excellent relationships with internal and external stakeholders; able to find common ground, build consensus and strengthen collaboration.
Proven ability to work with government and agency partners, build successful relationships with local leaders and organizations, and engage people from diverse backgrounds in various settings.
Equity-Driven: Demonstrates a commitment to equity as a value, guiding principle and goal—actively working to eliminate barriers and ensure opportunity, dignity, and well-being for all.
Relationship-Oriented: Seeks to understand before acting, listens deeply, and practices empathy and hope in support of team members, partners, and communities we serve.
Integrity & Accountability: Acts with transparency, trust, and ethical responsibility; welcomes feedback and takes initiative to continuously grow and improve.
Collaborative & Curious: Builds positive relationships across teams; contributes to a learning culture through humility, curiosity, and a desire to share and grow together.
Courageous & Clarifying: Embraces change, takes smart risks, and pursues bold solutions with both urgency and patience in the face of complex challenges. Seeks clarity to move forward with focus, alignment, and improvement.
Respectful & Thoughtful: Engages with respect and purpose; listens actively, communicates thoughtfully, adapts and remains curious when encountering differences, assumes best intent, and thereby contributes to a culture of openness and shared understanding.
Demonstrate strong organizational and time management skills, with the ability to prioritize tasks effectively and navigate fast-paced, deadline-driven settings with focus and flexibility.
Promote a high-performance, high-support environment and have a track record of leading and inspiring strong, collaborative teams.
Demonstrate commitment to equity across ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural lines.
Display the highest level of personal integrity and transparency.
Comfortable in a fast-moving, fast-changing environment.
Exceptional writing skills to develop and refine proposals, agreements, and strategic documents effectively communicate complex ideas and opportunities, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and partner expectations.
Discerning communication skills that rely on active listening skills with the ability to develop rapport and engender trust.
Strong administrative, organization, time, and workflow management skills, as well as a familiarity with project management approaches and tools, as well as continuous improvement methodologies and process analysis.
Ability to think strategically about an issue outside their expertise, anticipate future consequences and trends, and incorporate them into the team’s plan.
Experience addressing and simplifying complex problems and creating a strategy to solve them.
Ability to analyze complex data, make assumptions, and proceed with imperfect information.
Knows their internal states, strengths, and limitations; maintains a professional demeanor.
Has established and managed complex organizational relationships.
Experience or ability to facilitate meetings, synthesize ideas, and provide sensitive feedback.
Ability to lead collaboratives of multiple funders and leaders, provide cross-sector learning opportunities for funders and grantees, and serve as staff lead for special projects or committees.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a startup environment or launching a new program, product, department, or initiative.

Responsibilities

Translate our impact goals into objectives, design, and metrics, with a focus on continually evaluating and improving partner capacity and success.
Regularly engage colleagues and consultants exploring new resource development opportunities for our partners.
Identify organizations with strong potential for partnership; conduct due diligence and recommend grantee partners with effective track records, internal capacity, and strategic skills.
Spearhead special projects, including, but not limited to: (1) pilot innovative capacity building initiatives in partnership with local CBOs (2) research existing national programs focused on capacity building, meet with key sector leaders , innovate on tailored programming that is culturally appropriate for the unique needs of WNC nonprofits (3) create proposals and timelines for long-term projects.
Engage with Grantmaking Operations and Learning & Evaluation team to guide the evolution of leverage fund application process, reporting process, innovations in data capture and management by seeking community feedback.
Set programmatic goals.
Embed equity and inclusion in all aspects of your work, considering all stakeholders' diverse needs and perspectives, promoting fair practices, and contributing to a workplace culture that values and respects diversity.
Advocate for equitable outcomes and ensure that all actions and decisions reflect our commitment to equity.
Participate regularly as a key team member in staff meetings to provide open communication about strategies and efforts.
Drive the production and oversee execution of various leverage fund programs, including but not limited to the Next Level Funding webinar series and the Grants Help Desk.
Serve as a point of contact for consultants and vendors involved in Leverage Fund work, including negotiating contracts and evaluating the efficacy of service delivery.
In collaboration with the Community Investment team, contribute to the development and execution of alignment of external funding opportunities.
Maintain an effective cadre of grant writers and consultants to bolster successful applications for our partners, evaluate the effectiveness of efforts, and make recommendations to ensure enhanced success and adequate resources.
As appropriate, convene grantees and others in the field to advance collective action, networking, and learning opportunities for mission-aligned partner organizations to increase their capacity as our most vital partners.
Represent Dogwood to a diverse array of partners including grantees, community leaders, business leaders, government officials, affinity groups, and collaborators in the region.
Represent the Foundation on external committees, coalitions, boards, and in field-building efforts (e.g., panels, convenings, sector learning), with prior approval and in alignment with organizational priorities.
Build and enhance relationships with mission-aligned partner organizations and funding partners across the state, especially with other foundations, other existing cohorts and cohorts that you foster.
Support, as assigned, grantee convenings and/or issue-specific cohorts to foster peer learning and strategic alignment.
Anticipate, analyze, and quantify the needs of mission-aligned partner organizations and proactively seek opportunities that leverage existing community strengths and assets for success in leveraging external funding.
Articulate Dogwood’s mission, values, and programs with external stakeholders, leveraging a partnership with the Communications team to tell effective stories.
Serve as a thought partner, remain well informed of current research, activities, and trends in the issues addressed by mission-aligned partner organizations.
Leverage public and private funding streams to optimize investments and impact of initiatives that address health equity and the social determinants of health.
Identify and disseminate emerging leverage opportunities in the sector with a particular focus on mission-aligned partner organizations and continually increase the number of opportunities being sought for these partner organizations.
Review and analyze grantmaking investments to ensure legal / regulatory compliance.
Evaluate grant and community investment proposals and develop funding recommendations.
Prepare strategy memos, briefs, reports, and presentations in a variety of formats to engage a broad range of constituents (e.g., community leaders, grantees, allied funders).
Prepare and contribute to written materials that communicate the alignment of grantee activities with portfolio goals and strategies, including grant recommendations and context papers.
Create meaningful metrics, track outcomes, develop strategy recommendations and process improvements, innovate service delivery models and data tracking.
Serve as a primary partner and point of contact for grantees and other collaborators around building leverage opportunities for external funding.