PROGRAM OFFICER
Applications Accepted Through Monday, December 7
Summary of Position
Our grantees transform communities by naming and addressing root-cause inequities to improve health. We are seeking a colleague with a commitment to racial equity and movement building to support our grantees in their work to change systems and conditions at the community level to improve health equity in our state. We want a leader who will thrive in and contribute to a collaborative environment and work cross-functionally with a politically and culturally diverse network of grantees and partners to implement, learn from, and refine our approach. This is a new position that will support our organization’s commitment to more specifically advancing racial equity to achieve our goal of making North Carolina one of the healthiest states in the nation in a generation.
You will be responsible for managing a body of work that includes multiple grantees, vendors, and other external partnerships across our four focus areas: Healthy Food, Early Childhood, Oral Health, and Healthy Communities. In addition, you’ll work as a partner to others on our program, communications, learning and operations teams as we diversify our network of grantees and make our grantmaking practices and processes more equitable. We will work together as a team, and with our grantees, to build a diverse and inclusive movement to elevate equity as a shared priority in our state.
The approach of the Foundation is to:
Identify and act on inequities at the root-cause level, with an explicit focus on racial equity;
Amplify community voice; elevate the experience and wisdom of, and accountability to, those who experience inequities;
Advance health equity as a shared priority in our organization, grantee communities, and state.
What You’ll Do
Support grantees and teammates as a thought partner and advocate.
Engage directly with grantees – at the individual level, and in cohorts – to support their work through capacity building, connections to resources, and facilitating introductions to support their goals with a particular focus on making programming and systems change work more equitable and inclusive of community voice.
Manage a dynamic portfolio of consultant relationships and contracts. Provide end-to-end management including needs assessment, scoping, developing RFPs, contracting, and contract oversight.
Plan and implement meaningful and reflective touchpoints (convenings, meetings, etc.) with internal and external stakeholders to support peer-to-peer connections and influence the work of the Foundation.
Lead with influence externally and internally, including: mentoring and engaging other staff; creating space for all to participate in learning and relationship building; and providing oversight to contractors, interns, or others as assigned.
Support individuals and organizations—both internally and externally—to implement, learn from, and evolve our grantmaking strategies to develop, deepen, and spread knowledge about practices that advance health equity.
Contribute to strategy development and grantmaking activities across our focus areas to develop a diverse organizational network and grantmaking practices that support equity.
Contribute to a culture of continuous improvement with respect to both strategy and operations to enhance grantee experience, engage in learning, and increase impact.
Develop learning and feedback loops to identify and adapt to emerging needs and develop insights to influence strategy.
Build internal buy-in and support for necessary changes to address emerging needs, trends, and context to both flexibly design and adapt grantmaking and other support for stronger impact.
Participate in meetings, convenings, and site visits around the state and nationally to represent the Foundation, stay current on new developments, influence the field, and bring back takeaways to the team to refine process, programming, and strategy.
Qualities We Love
Experience in community organizing, advocacy, advancing equitable practices in collaborations or organizations, movement building, and/or leadership development with an interest in developing new areas of expertise to support the mission.
Highly collaborative with deep listening skills and an asset-based approach; a champion for inclusion and collaboration.
Identifies and supports activities with an “all-hands-on-deck” spirit.
Commitment to systems change grounded by connection to community.
Oriented to supporting success of the team, grantees, and other external partners.
Able to delegate and work collaboratively on a team while supporting professional growth of colleagues; committed to increasing our culture of teamwork.
Brings curiosity and willingness to participate in our organization’s ongoing cultural transformation to advance racial equity.
Rooted in North Carolina.
Hiring Requirements
Bachelor’s Degree.
5 years’ experience in program management or demonstrated impact in community, with a strong preference for experiencing supporting organizations to implement strategies that increase racial equity.
Knowledge, networks, and experience in the social sector.
Strong writing and relationship development skills.
Ability to prioritize and manage multiple bodies of work, stakeholders, and deadlines.
Please note that the Foundation is currently implementing workplace and travel restrictions consistent with national and state guidance on COVID-19. Our offices are projected to be closed for on-site activities through at least June, 2021. Once we resume face-to-face work, this position will require ability to travel frequently – as much as 50% in-state and 10% outside North Carolina and including weekly team meetings in Durham.
To Apply
Please include at the end of your resume a one paragraph explanation of why you are a strong fit for the position (no cover letters please).
The posting will close at midnight on Monday, December 7.
Consistent with social distancing practices in place at Blue Cross NC, the selection process will be conducted via video conference.
