Senior Program Officer, Immediate Impact and Grantmaking
About The Position
The Senior Program Officer, Immediate Impact and Grantmaking plays a key role in strengthening the Foundation's grantmaking practice by bringing rigor, analysis, and clarity to grantmaking decisions. This role is responsible for managing a portfolio of grants, supporting day-to-day grantmaking processes, conducting due diligence, monitoring grant performance, and coordinating with colleagues across Grantmaking, Philanthropy, Finance, and other departments to advance effective grantmaking. Reporting to the Vice President, Grantmaking, the Senior Program Officer serves as a trusted thought partner, helping translate strategy into grantmaking recommendations, navigate complex grant situations, identify emerging opportunities and challenges, and contribute to a culture of excellence, consistency, and learning across the Foundation's grantmaking work.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree and at least 7 years of related experience in grantmaking or a similar role, including executive or senior leadership in the non-profit sector, demonstrating evidence of mastery of managing increasingly complex projects.
- Demonstrated passion and knowledge for Cleveland, philanthropy and community impact, with experience managing a portfolio of donors, clients, or customers.
- Proven ability to build strategic, lasting relationships with donors, community leaders, and professional advisors.
- Experience fostering teamwork and collaboration across departments and diverse communities.
- Strong communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with a high level of integrity and professionalism.
- Technical proficiency in CRM systems, Microsoft Office Suite, and online collaboration tools.
- Ability to analyze and organize complex data to guide strategic outcomes.
Nice To Haves
- A master’s degree in non-profit administration, business administration, public administration, urban planning, or other related advanced degrees and/or professional certifications.
- Experience managing or serving on non-profit boards or committees.
Responsibilities
- Support the Foundation’s Immediate Impact grantmaking function, ensuring the investments are timely, rigorous, and aligned with the Impact Agenda and organizational priorities.
- Acts as a responsive, strategic, well-respected and public-facing partner to non-profits who are seeking grants, exercising excellent communication skills and relationship building.
- Delivers on key operational areas, including grant intake and portfolio assignments, reviewing grantmaking write-ups for rigor and clarity, ensures that grant reporting and metrics reporting is accurate and timely, and preparing board content in partnership with Grants Management.
- Manages a portfolio of Immediate Impact grantees around a variety of issue areas and disciplines related to the Cleveland community’s wellbeing, critical needs and stabilization.
- Acts as a senior problem-solver for complex or sensitive grant requests, bringing structure, judgment, and clear framing to ambiguous, high-risk, or high-stakes decisions.
- Contributes to building a high-performing, disciplined, and learning-oriented grantmaking department by modeling strong judgment, thoughtful due diligence, resonant leadership, and respectful partner engagement.
- Interprets and synthesizes grantmaking activity across immediate and long-term portfolios to identify patterns, themes, lessons, and tensions that inform leadership judgment and future decision making (sensemaking).
- Partners with the Philanthropic Services team to introduce high-impact grantees to donors.
- Helps refine, document, and socialize grantmaking guidelines, thresholds, and decision frameworks to improve transparency, consistency, and internal alignment across the department.
- Prepare and present clear, compelling, and decision ready materials for foundation leadership, the Board and Board committees, including translating complex grantmaking information into concise narratives that support effective governance and strategic decision making.
- Collaborate and coordinate across the impact team (including program and philanthropy), along with finance, communications, and operations to align immediate impact investments with available tools and resources.
- Other duties as assigned by the Vice President, Grantmaking.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
