Program Officer Jobs

Role Specification

Program Officer

ABOUT ECHIDNA GIVING

Echidna Giving is a private funder with one sole aim: getting more girls into better schools to live better lives. Investing in girls pays dividends for us all: what she learns in school can transform her life, her family, her community, and her nation for generations to come. That’s why we’re committed to bringing quality, gender-responsive education to lower-income countries. Because when all kids learn equally, our world becomes more equal, too.

Echidna Giving has a small but mighty team and is looking to grow. We will be deploying our grant dollars over the next 40 years or so, growing from our current $25M annual grant budget to $50M in annual granting. Although we are one of the largest funders in the international education space, Echidna Giving is still a start-up in learning mode. We pride ourselves on our teamwork, our relationships, and our ability to move quickly. The Program Officer will need to be self-motivated to work independently, be flexible — including to take on unanticipated roles as required when working on a small team — and approach work with a proactive and collaborative spirit.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Echidna Giving is seeking a Program Officer to join the Echidna Giving team reporting to the Managing Director/Program Director. They will be responsible for helping to shape our grantmaking strategy, identifying grantees that align with this strategy, supporting and overseeing the existing grant portfolio, and conducting other related activities in support of grantees and the broader grant strategy. The Program Officer will oversee a grantee portfolio of approximately $10M.

Currently, for this role, Echidna is expecting that the Program Officer will be based in the San Francisco Bay Area. They will be required to travel 20%-30% of the time.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Develop and Execute Grantmaking Strategy (70%):

● Administer and support an existing portfolio of 20-30 grants.

● Help identify the highest leverage opportunities for advancing Echidna Giving’s goals, shaping the way the strategy gets implemented and contextualized.

● Expand the grant portfolio by identifying new grantees aligned with Echidna Giving’s strategy, with an emphasis on identifying organizations based in the countries in which they work and led by proximate leaders.

● Review and provide feedback on grant proposals, including assessing programs, outcome metrics, budgets, and leadership capabilities.

● Write funding recommendations and other materials for the board.

● Act as primary point of contact for Echidna Giving grantees. Support their work beyond the grant dollars, brokering connections (e.g. with other organizations, funders, policymakers, etc.).

● Work in ways that align with Echidna Giving’s principles (see https://echidnagiving.org/our-principles/).

External Relationship-building and Leadership (30%):

● Develop and maintain strong and trusted relationships with grantees, funders, and other actors in the gender equality in education space.

● Identify and support creative solutions to enable the success of individual grantees and the portfolio as a whole through collaborative working relationships.

● Represent Echidna Giving in key settings that help to support our strategy and goals, e.g. at conferences and meetings, in donor collaboratives, etc.

● Collaborate with colleagues and consultants at Echidna Giving to help iterate and improve on our internal practices in ways that align with our principles and strategic aims.

● Stay on top of current issues and trends in education and gender equity.

QUALIFICATIONS

● Commitment to gender equity in education.

● Knowledge and expertise in the education sector. Special expertise preferred in at least one of the following areas: early childhood development, foundational literacy and numeracy, and/or adolescent life skills. Experience and knowledge on gender transformative education programming is a plus.

● Strong understanding of the political economy in education in India.

● Fluency in Hindi language preferred but not required.

● Experience in the nongovernmental, governmental, and/or philanthropic sector with an understanding of how nongovernmental organizations operate.

● Ability to gather and synthesize information from a variety of sources, identify what is most important to consider and prioritize, and use it to make timely and confident decisions.

● Ability to see the “big picture” and translate ideas into practical actions.

● Ability to clearly and consistently communicate both verbally and in writing with diverse audiences and in a transparent, timely, and respectful manner.

● Commitment to Echidna Giving’s principles and overarching mission.

● Curiosity, interest, and ability to collaborate with people with different perspectives and styles, open to listening to and adapting based on feedback, as well as proven dedication to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.

● Excellent organizational skills, with a demonstrated track record of consistently meeting deadlines.

● Candidates that are flexible, mature, have a sense of humor will have the greatest success at Echidna Giving.

● Work collaboratively, building relationships, trust, and credibility with members of a team, board, management, and external stakeholders.

REQUIREMENTS

• Must be authorized to work in the United States.
• Should be willing to relocate to San Francisco Bay Area if not currently living there.
• Should be open to traveling internationally a few times a year.

RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Shortlist (www.shortlist.net) is our exclusive recruitment partner for this role. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until the position is closed, though early applications are strongly encouraged. If you believe you meet the attributes and skills above, please send a brief email with your updated CV or LinkedIn profile to:

Ashbira Singh

Principal Consultant ([email protected])

Alternatively, you can apply through our application portal. Click here: https://www.shortlist.net/jobs/6575