Senior Impact Officer Strategic Initiatives

Kauffman Foundation•Headquarters, KY

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About The Position

The Senior Impact Officer – Strategic Initiatives serves as a connective hub across the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s Impact Team, strengthening communication, collaboration, shared learning, and coordinated execution across the Foundation’s three grantmaking pillars: College Access & Completion, Workforce & Career Development, and Entrepreneurship. Reporting directly to the Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives, the role translates strategic priorities into coordinated action, creates structures for effective collaboration, and supports the sharing of learning across pillars. The position is part of the Strategic Initiatives vertical and partners with Impact Team associates to strengthen structure, accountability, and coherence across the team. The role supports strategic initiatives and grantmaking, including implementing the Collective Impact grant pathway; sourcing and evaluating potential grantees and proposals; managing an assigned grant portfolio; preparing funding recommendations, board updates, and grant-closeout analysis; and working with internal support teams throughout the grant process. It also develops relationships with internal teams and external partners, reviewers, consultants, and community stakeholders. The Foundation is a private, nonpartisan organization based in Kansas City, Missouri, focused on access to opportunity, financial stability, upward mobility, and economic prosperity. Its work supports new businesses, workforce preparation, and stronger communities and is grounded in racial equity, diversity, and inclusion. This position is Kansas City, MO based, and associates must reside in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Occasional business travel may be required.

Requirements

At least five years of work experience in roles emphasizing project coordination, team systems and processes, effective communication, and a structured, framework-driven approach.
Bachelor’s degree in education, business, liberal arts, or a related area of study, or equivalent years of experience; degree is preferred.
Ability to work collaboratively across teams and departments, take initiative, and work independently.
Strong organizational, prioritization, multitasking, and attention-to-detail skills, including the ability to manage urgent work while progressing long-term goals.
Experience with process management and administration of organizational budgets, financial functions, and grant management functions.
Knowledge and use of project management tools, technology, and methodologies, including requirements gathering, business analysis, and documentation.
Ability to function effectively in a fast-paced and sometimes stressful environment with shifting priorities and ongoing change.
Understanding of organizational and leadership dynamics to assess grantee capacity and potential risks.
Ability to analyze financial information such as budgets, forecasts, cash flow statements, and income statements.
Excellent interpersonal, written, listening, and other communication skills.
Strong judgment, humility, and ability to build trust and navigate difficult conversations thoughtfully.
Commitment to ongoing reflection, learning, and growth.
Integrity and positive ethics and values aligned with the Kauffman Foundation.
Commitment to the Foundation’s credo, standards, and values, including prioritizing racial equity, diversity, and inclusion in its culture and strategic work.
Computer literacy, including proficiency with Microsoft tools, project management software, Slack, and social media.
Must reside in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Responsibilities

Build communication and collaboration infrastructure across the three strategic pillars and facilitate shared learning, peer support, and knowledge transfer.
Serve as the Impact Team liaison to the Uncommon Leader Awards work group.
Work with the Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives, to ensure coherence across grant pathways and communicate alignment to internal and external stakeholders.
Strengthen team decision-making and alignment across shared grantmaking processes, surfacing risks and decisions requiring leadership attention.
Support change management and continuous improvement by helping adopt tools and processes consistently and identifying workflow gaps and opportunities.
Synthesize internal and external perspectives on cross-cutting issues and provide assessments and recommendations to leadership.
Develop relationships with internal teams, external partners, reviewers, consultants, and community stakeholders to advance strategic initiatives.
Represent the Foundation and advance its strategic priorities, grantmaking philosophy, goals, and opportunities.
Support implementation of the Collective Impact grant pathway.
Collaborate with Impact Team members to source and evaluate potential grantees and proposals based on strategic fit and organizational capacity.
Prepare clear, concise, and insightful written analyses and funding recommendations.
Manage and oversee an assigned grant portfolio, remaining attentive to field challenges, grantee needs, learning, and opportunities for impact.
Monitor trends, barriers, and areas for exploration in portfolio topic areas; provide leadership on specific subjects when requested and develop expertise across a broad range of issues.
Work with internal support teams, including grants administration, research, learning and evaluation, legal, and strategic communications, throughout the grant-request process.
Prepare requested data and updates for board reports.
Upon grant closure, provide written analysis of strategic and operational learnings to inform future grantmaking.