The Organization
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is a family foundation established in 1944 by the man who started Hilton Hotels. We provide funds to nonprofit organizations working to improve the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people throughout the world.
Position Overview
International hotelier Conrad N. Hilton established the grantmaking foundation that bears his name in 1944 to help people living in poverty and experiencing disadvantage worldwide. Today, the work continues, concentrating on efforts to improve early childhood development outcomes, support older youth as they transition from foster care, ensure opportunity youth can access career pathways, prevent homelessness, identify solutions to safe-water access, help integrate refugees into society and lift the work of Catholic sisters. Additionally, following selection by an independent, international jury, the Foundation annually awards the $2.5 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize to an organization doing extraordinary work to reduce human suffering. The Foundation is one of the world’s largest, with assets recently growing to approximately $7.5 billion. It has awarded grants to date totaling more than $2 billion, $207 million worldwide in 2020. Please visit www.hiltonfoundation.org for more information.
Job Summary
As a key member of the Safe Water Initiative team, the Program Officer supports the Foundation’s grantmaking in Safe Water to accelerate the coverage of safe, reliable and affordable water services across three countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Reporting to the Senior Program Officer (SPO), the Program Officer serves as a key thought parter and will have responsibility for managing parts of the Safe Water strategy’s grant portfolio. The Officer will work closely with the SPO to design, implement, and monitor a portfolio of grants, as well as provide technical assistance to grantees and identify new opportunities that advances the strategy’s core goals and objectives. At the heart of the Safe Water strategy, the PO will work with the SPO to broker new partnerships as well as maintain collaborative relationships with peer funders, implementers, private sector entities, government officials and others.
The ideal candidate must be a proactive team player with excellent multi-tasking skills and bring an enthusiastic attitude and value of continuous learning. The individual must have strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to understand, interpret, and translate qualitative and quantitative data. S/he will be expected to resolve time-sensitive issues with a high degree of precision and exhibit strong organizational, written and verbal communication skills. Attention to detail and the ability to anticipate needs are a must.
Partnership is a key tenet of the Safe Water strategy, and therefore, this person should be adept at interacting with a range of diverse stakeholders in a professional, collaborative and diplomatic way. The candidate must also have relevant experience in issues and best practices in or related to safe water at the program, research, or infrastructure levels in sub-Saharan Africa. Attention to detail and the ability to anticipate needs are a must.
The successful candidate will also have a demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Responsibilities
Portfolio Development, Implementation and Monitoring:
- Participates in the identification of potential grantees and design of projects that align with the Foundation’s values of Thinking Big and Compassion
- Reviews proposals and works with the SPO to determine which ones will be further developed and recommended for funding
- Provides counsel and guidance to organizations invited to develop proposals
- Reviews and refines grant-write-ups and assists in writing, preparing other materials for the quarterly board of directors meetings
- Monitors portfolio of grants in the Safe Water Portfolio to provide strategic input on portfolio adjustments and decisions
- Monitors and evaluates grants and grantee performance with support from the Program Associate to ensure proper stewardship of the Foundation’s resources and provide technical assistance, including timely completion of progress reports
- Recommends for approval any deviations from approved work plans and budgets, and ensures that such changes are documented
- Conduct site visits/travel to identify new grant opportunities and monitor the progress of existing grant programs
Program Evaluation and Learning:
- Acts as thought partner and provides support to SPO in strategy planning, development, implementation and monitoring
- Supports the design and operationalization of processes and systems to feed data and evidence back into key strategy and portfolio management decisions, facilitating sector-wide learning
- Partners with the Strategy, Learning, and Evaluation Division team members on designing and managing the Initiative’s monitoring, research, and evaluation approaches
Partnership Development and Communication:
- In partnership with the Partnership, Communications and Advocacy (PAC) develops partnerships with external partners and strategies for advocacy and communications
- Actively collaborate and engage with grantee partners and peer funders to advance the objectives of the Safe Water strategy
- Foster a network of NGOs, thought leaders, private sector entities, and funders to align program targets, coordinate efforts, and broker partnerships
- Participate in coalitions and/or movements to align the Foundation’s communication and advocacy efforts with global frameworks and targets
- Support the development of, and participate in, conference sessions and workshops that speak to sector learning and the Strategy’s implementation
- Writes blogs/articles for the website and supervises website content and updates
- Support the development of presentations and other communication products including externally-facing documents and briefs
Contract Management Support:
- Works with SPO in identifying the need for consultants within the program area
- Carefully plans scope of work for contracts
- Develops terms of reference for contracts
- Effectively monitors progress and deliverables against timelines
Required
- Bachelor’s degree in engineering, environmental science, environmental health, international development, social sciences, or a related field, with a minimum of five (5) years of experience
- Five to seven years of relevant work experience in program development and/or program management experience
- Relevant experience in issues and best practices in or related to safe water at the program, research, or infrastructure levels in sub-Saharan Africa
- A substantive knowledge of international policy issues and the funding landscape in the water sector
- Ability to assess the leadership, track record, fiscal health and capacity of a nonprofit organization to lead a proposed program or project
- Demonstrated ability to think critically about program design, implementation and monitoring
- Can connect and incorporate program learning and evaluation into strategy and program decisions and technical assistance
- Resourceful and self-motivating, with a ‘can-do’ attitude’ and demonstrates a high degree of initiative; results-oriented
- Understands quantitative and qualitative data; ability to ask the right questions; experience with data analytics and evaluation
- Collaborative with an ability to work in a team-oriented environment; must be able to develop and maintain productive relationships and partnerships with a range of stakeholders
- Must be a proactive team player with excellent multi-tasking skills, an enthusiastic attitude and values continuous learning
- Creative, flexible and has the ability to continually seek information and look for new approaches to processes and practices
- Welcomes feedback as a means to personal and professional growth
- Excellent written and oral communication skills; strong presentation skills and the ability to clearly articulate ideas
- Ability to legally work in the United States
- Commitment to strategic philanthropy
- Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
Desired
- Graduate degree in environmental science, environmental health, international development, social sciences, or a related field
- Knowledgeable of international safe water policy at global, national, regional and local levels; leadership experience within the sector
- Experience living and working in sub-Saharan Africa or developing country context with similar safe water challenges
- An understanding of grantmaking and the non-profit sector
About our Benefits
We value the health and well-being of our employees, some of the benefits we offer include:
- Comprehensive and generous health and life insurance options
- Fitness benefits
- Paid holidays, time off, and parental leave
- Flexible work schedules and technology benefits
- Foundation-funded retirement savings plan
- Professional learning and development and educational assistance
- Employee matching gifts to qualified non-profit organizations
The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is an equal opportunity employer with values grounded in promoting equality and inclusion and embracing diversity. We welcome qualified applicants of all races, colors, gender identities, sexual orientations, economic classes, ages, religions, national origins, and ability/disability statuses. Veterans and individuals with lived expertise are encouraged to apply. We respect and seek to empower every member of our Foundation community. We support and celebrate our collective array of cultures, backgrounds, perspectives, skills and experiences; fully realizing that such diversity is what makes our organization flourish and better enables us to fulfill our mission in the world.
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How To Apply
Apply Online: https://www.click2apply.net/LYqQ5pcwopqKHmLqcqnJ7