Program Officer, Regional
About the position As a member of the Fidelity Foundations’ regional program staff, the Program Officer will be responsible for developing, managing, and evaluating a portfolio of philanthropic investments focused on capacity-building in a few select regions. The incumbent will deeply understand the local context, contribute to strategy development, and actively cultivate and assess potential investments. They will represent the Fidelity Foundations and its Trustees to existing and prospective grantees, external stakeholders, and community members. The Program Officer will also participate in programmatic efforts that cut across grant portfolios and support organization-wide learning. This position reports to the Program Director, Regional.
Responsibilities
- Gain a deep understanding of your sector or region’s context and develop responsive and impactful grants aligned to a defined sector strategy
- Participate in and contribute to the research agenda and strategy development in collaboration with the Foundations’ Insights and Impact team
- Evaluate grant effectiveness against stated objectives and overall portfolio effectiveness
- Identify and cultivate potential grant opportunities by initiating and managing relationships with potential grantees and other prospecting activities
- Work to assess and advance promising proposals and organizations by conducting due diligence through site visits, in-depth material reviews, financial analysis, and other activities
- Steward relationships with active and past grantees by maintaining regular communication, offering thought partnership, and serving as a trusted resource throughout the grant cycle and beyond.
- Maintain an active calendar of networking and learning sessions with leading sector experts, nonprofit partners, and peer foundations
- Follow media and literature to stay abreast of nonprofit trends and best practices, and attend relevant conferences to broaden knowledge
- Develop and refine proposal requests, and prepare detailed written analyses and grant recommendations for senior management and Trustee approval
- Communicate clearly and flexibly—adapting to the audience, turning new input into actionable next steps, and showing strong presence and engagement in meetings.
- Support grant administrative processes, including inputting relevant and timely information into grants management system
Requirements
- Highly collaborative and collegial team player who listens and communicates well.
- A minimum of 8 years of related work; experience in philanthropy or non-profit management is strongly preferred, but not required
- Analytical skills and experience, particularly in conducting basic financial analysis and due diligence for organizations and capacity-building projects
- Excellent communication skills, including strong writing and the ability to develop and present compelling narratives on complex topics
- High-level relationship building and interpersonal skills (e.g., collaborative, diplomatic, able to tailor communication to varied audiences) and a customer-service mindset
- A proven track record of delivering against goals
- Developed areas of special knowledge or expertise and demonstrated interest and commitment to becoming expert in a variety of issue areas
- Ability to multi-task and work flexibly and creatively within a fast-moving, changing, and complex environment
- Experience developing and executing against strategic priorities
- Exceptional judgment, integrity, humility, and respect for confidentiality
- Ability to move work forward independently while collaborating with a team and applying a keen eye to detail.
Benefits
- Annual discretionary performance bonus
- Comprehensive benefits package